Hello,

So I am almost a year post op, I lost 74 pounds so far and I have extra skin on my arms, thighs and back.

Do I need to lose more before its time to get it removed? Or is it time to get it removed?

I can't seem to get a consultation.

Yes you need to lose more - or at least to most doctors - you need to be at or VERY close to goal weight. If you had surgeries sooner than that, you are at risk of having more loose skin and having to redo the procedures. I saw my plastic surgeon right at 1 year post-op and wanted to know if he thought I should lose more. (I am 5'10" and was at 180 at that visit.) He said he thought I looked fine but if I wanted to lose more, that I must do it before surgery (and even then he felt like 5 or 10 pounds more ONLY).

Most plastic surgeons will not remove loose skin until you are at goal and stabilized for 4 to 6 months. In some cases, costmetic surgeons will even require you are at goal and maintaining for a minimum of 1 year.

You can have your skin removed whenever you want and if you go to a plastic surgeon who requires you to be at a stable weight for a certain period of time, go to another surgeon. You are the client and they are the provider- it is not a doctor-dictated process. I have a healthcare background and I have zero tolerance for doctors who don't understand the concept that they are performing a service and we are paying them- they don't get to put limits on it when there is no medically valid reason to do so. They are absolutely right in that it is generally a good idea to be stabilized, but it's your call, and it's your money, and I have found that the doctors who want to dictate terms to me are not the doctors that I personally do well with.

That being said, if you aren't within 15% of your goal, you're wasting your money. I wanted to be at 129 as a goal, and I saw my surgeon when I was 157. I told him that I would still be losing about 20 pounds after surgery (I knew I'd be closer to 150 by the time I had the procedure) and asked him if he thought that extra loss would matter. He said that nope, that little bit wouldn't make a difference and he was completely right. I went into surgery at 153, I went into my second surgery at 147 and I went into my last surgery at 134. I hit goal of 129 about a month after that and have stayed there for about 15 months now. Your results within 15% of goal will be about the same when you hit goal, but as a matter of getting the best deal, you want to be as thin as possible so that any and all extra skin is gone. They are going to do some lipo, but they can't suck out all of it, so the less you have, the better the finished product.

Hello,

So I am almost a year post op, I lost 74 pounds so far and I have extra skin on my arms, thighs and back.

Do I need to lose more before its time to get it removed? Or is it time to get it removed?

I can't seem to get a consultation.

It is my understanding that you may need to be at a stable weight for a while before skin surgery, but a plastic surgeon really is the only one who can answer that question. Why can't you get a consultation?

You typically get the best results without having to revise if you are at goal/stable weight for six months and don't gain or lose more than 10lbs after the plastics

You can have your skin removed whenever you want and if you go to a plastic surgeon who requires you to be at a stable weight for a certain period of time, go to another surgeon. You are the client and they are the provider- it is not a doctor-dictated process. I have a healthcare background and I have zero tolerance for doctors who don't understand the concept that they are performing a service and we are paying them- they don't get to put limits on it when there is no medically valid reason to do so. They are absolutely right in that it is generally a good idea to be stabilized, but it's your call, and it's your money, and I have found that the doctors who want to dictate terms to me are not the doctors that I personally do well with.

That being said, if you aren't within 15% of your goal, you're wasting your money. I wanted to be at 129 as a goal, and I saw my surgeon when I was 157. I told him that I would still be losing about 20 pounds after surgery (I knew I'd be closer to 150 by the time I had the procedure) and asked him if he thought that extra loss would matter. He said that nope, that little bit wouldn't make a difference and he was completely right. I went into surgery at 153, I went into my second surgery at 147 and I went into my last surgery at 134. I hit goal of 129 about a month after that and have stayed there for about 15 months now. Your results within 15% of goal will be about the same when you hit goal, but as a matter of getting the best deal, you want to be as thin as possible so that any and all extra skin is gone. They are going to do some lipo, but they can't suck out all of it, so the less you have, the better the finished product.

All of this is accurate... But when you have lipo the recovery is harder. I lost all the weight had a very low body fat percentage and my recovery was FAR easier than most I read here and on Real Self. Plus my surgeon was able to do all my surgeries (arms, breasts, TT) at the same time because he needed less time not having to do the lipo.

Unless the skin is interfering with your ability to lose more weight, because it is restricting your ability to exercise, causing you limited mobility, or causing painful chafing and rashes, then it is best to wait until you are at goal and have maintained for a good 6-12 months. Your skin will bounce back a bit after a few months at a stable weight and you can be confident that you will not gain or lose significant weight once you've been maintaining. So it is definitely best to wait, if you can.