Hi again. My dad asked me the other day what i was going to do about the excess skin. It got me thinking if i will have a lot or just a little. I don't think ins. co. cover that procedure and it's so expensive. Is there anything i can do to prevent it? Thanks!

Nope, depending on how old you are, how heavy you are and genetics... it is what it is.

I am certain that I will have to have something done once I have lost all my weight but I was VERY heavy and am 49 years old.

I've lost 154 pounds and have a ways to go, so far... my tummy isn't terrible but my arms and thighs bother me.

I agree with TKW. It is what it is, and depending on your starting weight, age, skin elasticity, and genetics there isn't a whole lot you can do to change the outcome.

I'm 39 years old and have lost 143 pounds in 8 months. I still have considerable weight to lose, too. However, I have a lot of loose skin, especially on my tummy. I also have it on my thighs and arms. Thankfully, my insurance will cover to have it removed from my tummy after losing 100 pounds so I'm hoping to have that done this coming spring.

not a bit........agree with the other posters

i would rather have saggy skin then be over 300 pounds again...

each person is different, our skin, so why not worry about it when you get to that stage..

Some insurance companies will cover removal of skin if it is for health reasons. For example, a lot of people have had a lower body lift/panniculectomy (spelling, but it means removal of overhanging skin in the stomach region) due to rashes and skin breakdown. This can leave you susceptible to infection; especially MRSA which is a very serious antibiotic resistant infection. Some surgeries are also considered reconstructive depending on how much loose skin one has. So it is possible that it could be covered, but I wouldn't count on it. A lot of people do body wraps and wear restrictive garments while exercising. However, like everyone has posted before me, I agree that it is certainly dependent upon genetics and amount of weight loss.

Hi Kitty,

Like everyone else said, it depends on many things, but exercising and weight training will help a great deal. The sooner you start the better. Good luck!

As the others have said there isn't really anything you can do to prevent it. The good thing about excess skin is that it is far easier to hide than fat. When you have clothes on nobody sees it!

But if you lose an huge amount of weight then you may find that you are left with excess skin which can be uncomfortable and pose health problems.

Why not start saving now. maybe just pop the couple of dollars that you save by not buying junk food into a jar, it will soon start adding up. Then if you need the op and it is not covered you will have already saved a good proportion of the money required, if it turns out that you don't need any further surgery you can spend the money on a nice holiday or something instead.

my doctor recommended to wait three times the time it took to lose the weight. so if it takes you one year to lose your weight. then wait three years to see of you container the weight and to give your body time to at least try to bounce back

Thanks everyone for all the info! I hope i have good genes, LOL Tonight i went to my 1st support group and was AWESOME! Everyone was so nice and the Dr's were there to answer any Q's. I got a lot of my Q's answered so i feel a lot better now about it. The pt coordinator was there and she even remembered me. I only had 1 visit and that was almost 2 mths ago! It's nice to know they really care about their patients. At the end people stood up and said what procedure they had and how much weight they lost. Very encouraging. Good luck to everyone and i can't wait to share our success stories!

Kittylove when I was your age I lost 100 pounds and my skin bounced back. I think its great you are dealing with this now, your very smart. I'm now 53 and I'm going to have to have surgery to remove skin, no matter how much I exercise.

Good luck and I hope you get through the process soon! I have my surgery tomorrow, yeah!!!

I have been overweight most of my life, so I am expecting that I may have some loose skin. I'm already halfway to my goal, and the only thing I can gripe about is that my upper arms seem a bit more jiggly, although it seems like it is fat in the skin....

I'm not too worried about the skin issue now, as I am 100% focused on losing the weight. If I have lose skin, I'll deal with it when the time comes.