Fight sagging after weight loss

For some patients, a weight-loss plan—whether through diet and exercise, surgery, or a combination—is the first step to starting to improve health and look good. But if a significant amount of weight is lost quickly, this often brings side effects that can spoil the final results achieved in our figure.

In this post we will address the issue of sagging and loose skin in areas where the reduction of fat has been most noticeable. This effect could also occur after a pregnancy. Of course, each patient is unique, and not everyone presents the same sagging after significant weight loss.

The areas of the body most affected by sagging after major weight loss are: the double chin, the eyelids, the inner thighs and upper arms, the abdomen, and the buttocks.

Why does sagging appear?

When our body gains weight, the excess fat stretches the skin. In addition, collagen and elastin generally decrease due to poor diet at that time. After rapid weight loss, the collagen and elastin tissues weaken even more; the patient’s age becomes another factor, since collagen production decreases over the years. Other factors such as poor diet, excessive sun exposure, alcohol consumption, etc., also have an impact.

What can we do to tone the skin and reduce loose skin from weight loss?

The optimal outcome would be for the skin to naturally return to its usual state. But it is a process that takes a long time, and in cases of greater fat loss, it is practically impossible to fully recover the figure in this way, since the skin also undergoes a stretching that cannot be reversed.

How can we help tighten the skin?

It can take from weeks to months, and even years. And if after one or two years the skin remains loose, it is possible that stretching has occurred and it will never tighten again on its own.

PROCEDURES TO FIGHT LOOSE SKIN DUE TO WEIGHT LOSS

If you have undergone a diet and the weight lost is quite high, you may have noticed sagging after weight loss. You will see that the skin is not firm and elastic, and therefore it becomes necessary to start a plan to firm up loose skin due to weight loss.

FIRST STEPS

4 tips to combat skin sagging:

1. Regular exercise: Beneath the loose skin are your muscles, which you should tone to regain firmness. They can lessen the effects of age-related changes in the dermis by improving tissue metabolism. However, it is not a foolproof method.
2. Nutrition: Diet is an important factor in skin health. Incorporate foods rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and biotin that stimulate the natural production of collagen into your diet. Drink at least 2 liters of water.
3. Exfoliants: Their goal is to promote your skin’s elasticity by removing dead skin and increasing blood circulation through exfoliating massages.
4. Cosmetics: cream, cream, and more cream. These types of cosmetic treatments provide the nutrients you need to regain firmness. Try to choose products that contain collagen or retinol-derived ingredients in their formula. Retinoids are powerful antioxidants that can increase collagen production.

All these tips require consistency and willpower, and even so, in cases where skin stretching is very severe, the desired results may never occur. Ultimately, non-surgical methods that help tighten the skin are generally not effective enough to firm the amount of loose skin that occurs with massive weight loss.

AESTHETIC MEDICINE

Aesthetic medicine offers various types of non-invasive resources and treatments that help prevent and eliminate skin sagging.

• • Mesotherapy (biorevitalization) with hyaluronic acid and vitamins: Helps improve skin density by hydrating it and stimulating the production of its own collagen.
  • Radiofrequency: Helps prevent aging and skin sagging, as radiofrequency works by increasing collagen and elastin.
  • Collagen stimulators (calcium hydroxyapatite, carboxymethylcellulose, polylactic acid): Restore skin density by providing volume and a tightening effect through the natural production of collagen.
  • Hyaluronic acid: provides a volumizing or hydrating effect depending on its characteristics.

The results obtained are truly significant in typical cases, and patients are usually very satisfied. However, the results offered for severe cases of sagging show that these techniques are not sufficient for them; this is where surgery comes in.

Remember that you can always visit our before-and-after gallery, with more than 2,000 results from cosmetic surgery and aesthetic medicine patients.

PLASTIC SURGERY

For all these more severe cases of loose skin due to weight loss, we always recommend this last measure: surgery. Post-bariatric surgery is responsible for removing excess skin so that the body’s morphology can regain its most natural appearance. Fortunately, today medicine has a large number of techniques and procedures that help reduce body mass.

The most common procedures to surgically solve this sagging problem are:

• Facelift: This procedure is indicated for any man or woman who presents a loss of skin elasticity, sagging, and wrinkles in certain areas of the face.
• Mastopexy (with or without breast implants): The chest usually sags after a drastic weight loss. The goal is to lift the breasts again and give them the desired volume.
• Gynecomastia: Whether due to fat deposits or an abnormally large mammary gland, it allows us to restore harmony to the male chest.
• Arm lift: Consists of the removal of excess fat and tissue on the inner side of the arms, correcting sagging and its unaesthetic appearance.
• Thigh lift: This procedure removes localized tissues and fats. It is usually complemented with liposuction to improve the final result.
• Abdominoplasty or dermolipectomy: One of the most in-demand surgeries, among other reasons for its wonderful results. With this body surgery we tighten the abdominal area, eliminating excess fat and skin.
• Lipofilling: autologous fat grafting in the face to add volume to hollow areas.

The ideal procedure for each patient will always depend on each individual’s circumstances and physique, and it is the doctor who, together with the patient, makes the best decision.

All these surgical techniques are useful when the weight loss has been massive and there is no possibility of improving the condition of the skin through any other procedure. That is, in severe cases, aesthetic medicine is not useful.

It can be said that today we have a good arsenal of medical-aesthetic procedures that offer excellent results against excess skin and sagging, giving a more aesthetic and natural appearance after the effort made by patients in their weight loss.