Hello there,

I am about 5 weeks out now, and my wife just got sleeved 6 days ago,

She wants me to find a man girdle to help with the hanging skin and to tighten up the muscles in the stomach. I looked on amazon and did a quick google search but figured I would ask the PRO's..

So any men in here have girdles? C'mon now dont be shy send me a link in a private message if you have to LOL

Thank you guys also I am down to 405 i was 451 day of surgery and 485 before pre-op diet...

Congrats on your loss thus far ! ! !

I'm not a guy, but have 2 guy friends that had VSG about the same time I did. They both bought the Under Armor type short sleeved or tank/razor back shirts to wear for compression. You can find compression garments on amazon.com, but they both reported that the ones they tried were way to constrictive.

Congrats on your loss thus far ! ! !

I'm not a guy, but have 2 guy friends that had VSG about the same time I did. They both bought the Under Armor type short sleeved or tank/razor back shirts to wear for compression. You can find compression garments on amazon.com, but they both reported that the ones they tried were way to constrictive.

Thank you but underarmour does not carry my size!

Thank you but underarmour does not carry my size!

There's other brands outside of UnderArmour that are considered compression shirts. I'll dig around and see what I can find for you.

http://www.amazon.com/Underworks-Compression-Bodysuit-Mirdle-Shirt/dp/B004JX4JCY/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I32SMAJRGI3560&colid=10U63WLFSI79O

Underworks. Goes up to 4x bro!

Also I went to both Academy and bought some compression shirts fro $12 each, Walmart also has some, but they don't let you try them on at Walmart. Also my shirt looks like a child shirt when up up against my body, but man it really does stretch. And ITCH, I would suggest patting yourself down with Baby Powder (I use Gold Bond Medicated) and it does lessen the itch.

Good Luck!

I had to read your post 3x to figure out that it wasn't your wife wanting a man girdle (mirdle?)

I hate to be the dissenting voice, and hey -- maybe you just really want to wear a mirdle (a lot of people do find them comfortable) - but unless you're:

1) fairly young, and I mean teens -- maybe early 20s.

2) were only obese for a short period of time...

3) were not significantly obese...

4) are genetically inclined toward hyperelasticity (or perhaps even tolerant to scarring - though not as important)...

5) lose weight very slowly (and this doesn't matter nearly as much as 2 or 3)...

...then your skin'sprobably not going to be improved by wearing a compression garment. I won't say "isn't" because - you never know - but in all likelihood.

Skin is an elastic organ. It can stretch a little, or more - for a short period of time, and recover. Hence mothers can sometimes look as though they were never pregnant. This is not typical. The more that skin was stretched out, and for the longer, and the older you are -- the more the skin is damaged. Two things have happened -- your body has made more skin cells, and the skin that was there has been stretched. A heavy pannus, for example, isn't going anywhere without surgery.

If you're fair skinned, it's probably going to be worse than if you are not. If you smoke, it's probably going to worse than if you don't. If you're frequently dehydrated, it's probably going to be worse than if you aren't. If either of your parents scar easily, or were obese & showed signs of skin damaga (saggy skin, stretch marks, etc.) it's probably going to be worse than if they showed more resilient skin.

Also contrary to popular belief, you can't "tone up" wrecked skin. What typically happens is that the muscle under the skin is increased and "fills out" the saggy skin, giving the appearance that your skin itself has grown tighter.

But if you really want to wear one...

Spanx are great. I'm not sure how they will be for a man. I suppose you can have them altered to accomodate your different anatomy, e.g. notice the hole:

This company carries male compression garments in extended sizes (5x - 6x): http://www.makemeheal.com/

If what you say is true, then you're basically saying I have no hope!!

I'm 25, but I smoke and I've been overweight all my life. I naturally always had a small stomach (in relation to the rest of my body), but after I had my child I was completely stretched out, and have had to live with stretch marks on my stomach and hips since. And I naturally have extremely big thighs, so that would be a cause for concern in relation to what you are saying.

But I will say that, I've lost 20lbs so far, and in watching my stomach getting smaller, I can see my stretch marks coming closer together, and my lower abdomen area doesn't hang as much. So I can only assume that my skin is tightening back. I promise you it's not muscle; it still feels like putty.

I can understand that if your skin is ridiculously stretched (like someone having sextuplets, for example) that there's no way your skin can come back from that; but my legs have been massive for almost all of my life, (to the point where even if I were to reach my goal weight, I will not have stick thin legs), and I have no stretch marks on my legs. And I think the skin will tighten back, along with the muscle filling it out, as you said.

I've seen some heavy-set men who have great skin; no stretch marks or anything. So I think it's relative to the type of skin you have as well, even in some cases, your ethnicity can determine your skin-type and how well it can heal. Of course age would make a difference (As in the example of starr jones) but even in your 30's, I dont think it should make a huge difference in healing capabilities; maybe a little more difficult, but still very possible.

I had to read your post 3x to figure out that it wasn't your wife wanting a man girdle (mirdle?)

I hate to be the dissenting voice, and hey -- maybe you just really want to wear a mirdle (a lot of people do find them comfortable) - but unless you're:

1) fairly young, and I mean teens -- maybe early 20s.

2) were only obese for a short period of time...

3) were not significantly obese...

4) are genetically inclined toward hyperelasticity (or perhaps even tolerant to scarring - though not as important)...

5) lose weight very slowly (and this doesn't matter nearly as much as 2 or 3)...

...then your skin'sprobably not going to be improved by wearing a compression garment. I won't say "isn't" because - you never know - but in all likelihood.

Skin is an elastic organ. It can stretch a little, or more - for a short period of time, and recover. Hence mothers can sometimes look as though they were never pregnant. This is not typical. The more that skin was stretched out, and for the longer, and the older you are -- the more the skin is damaged. Two things have happened -- your body has made more skin cells, and the skin that was there has been stretched. A heavy pannus, for example, isn't going anywhere without surgery.

If you're fair skinned, it's probably going to be worse than if you are not. If you smoke, it's probably going to worse than if you don't. If you're frequently dehydrated, it's probably going to be worse than if you aren't. If either of your parents scar easily, or were obese & showed signs of skin damaga (saggy skin, stretch marks, etc.) it's probably going to be worse than if they showed more resilient skin.

Also contrary to popular belief, you can't "tone up" wrecked skin. What typically happens is that the muscle under the skin is increased and "fills out" the saggy skin, giving the appearance that your skin itself has grown tighter.

But if you really want to wear one...

Spanx are great. I'm not sure how they will be for a man. I suppose you can have them altered to accomodate your different anatomy, e.g. notice the hole:

This company carries male compression garments in extended sizes (5x - 6x): http://www.makemeheal.com/

I lost about 175 lbs with my AGB and didn't really notice the skin sagging until around 75 lbs were gone. I'm not sure why -- I suspect because it was some here and there - and a little sag was less noticeable that a whole bunch in one area. Also, my early on losses were concentrated on my upper body - face, neck, chest (our faces are more resilient than other areas, too) - where my skin was not significantly damaged nor stretched. I was still shrinking pant sizes, but 5 lbs in an area of little fat is way more significant than 5 lbs in an area of much fat.

Stretchmarks are a skin thing, not a fat thing. There are fat people who don't have them, and skinny people who do. I have a cousin who is stick thin, and always has been, and her hips are completely covered with stretch marks. I have tons of stretchmarks on my boobs, but only wear a B cup. It's rate of stretching, stretchability, etc. (and the things I noted above, plus more...) that makes the difference. And sometimes it's a third party medical cause. My cousin - puberty, her hips started to develop, presumably faster than her skin could keep up with DESPITE her youth, healthy lifestyle, etc. If skin can grow much more slowly (e.g. someome who becomes obese over a period of time) they may not scar. Then again, they may. As with most things in life, it's really going to boil down to two primary factors: heredity (race, predispositions, skin makeup, etc.) and history (obesity, longevity of obesity, lifestyle, etc.)

I'm not saying there's no hope, I'm saying compression garments most likely won't make a significant difference in the vast majority of cases, and I'd suspect in the OP's case given his stats. Once you wreck skin, it's wrecked. If your stretchmarks are coming closer together, and I had to take a guess, I'd suspect there are areas of "better" skin that are able to come back together somewhat - for example, some of the skin between the stretchmarks. Never developed a new stretchmark, even though I have unscarred areas of skin. I would guess that as you lose more weight, you will notice more and more sag.

As an analogy, if you take a baloon (stretchy latexkind, not mylar) and blow it up, leave it blown for a few days, and then deflate it -- it doesn't matter how long you let it sit deflated, it's never going to look the way it did before you blew it up.

As my surgeon once said, "It is a matter of fact. If you lose 150 pounds from an elastic organ such as skin, you’re going to have saggy skin.”

HTH.

But I will say that, I've lost 20lbs so far, and in watching my stomach getting smaller, I can see my stretch marks coming closer together, and my lower abdomen area doesn't hang as much. So I can only assume that my skin is tightening back. I promise you it's not muscle; it still feels like putty.

I can understand that if your skin is ridiculously stretched (like someone having sextuplets, for example) that there's no way your skin can come back from that; but my legs have been massive for almost all of my life, (to the point where even if I were to reach my goal weight, I will not have stick thin legs), and I have no stretch marks on my legs. And I think the skin will tighten back, along with the muscle filling it out, as you said.

I've seen some heavy-set men who have great skin; no stretch marks or anything. So I think it's relative to the type of skin you have as well, even in some cases, your ethnicity can determine your skin-type and how well it can heal. Of course age would make a difference (As in the example of starr jones) but even in your 30's, I dont think it should make a huge difference in healing capabilities; maybe a little more difficult, but still very possible.