Hi guys! I wanted to put some minds at ease about excess skin. It truly depends on your body type, age, exercise level, Water intake...and about 20 other variables. That being said, I think most of the after photos people see show huge excess amounts of skin, and thankfully, it isn't that way for EVERYONE.

I drink tons of water, exercise a lot, and in general, have good skin. I also had rather good weight distribution - no one part of me was excessively larger than all the other parts (luckily!).

I had VSG almost 2 years ago - I'll be 22 months out on the 20th of this month. I'm 28 years old, my high weight was 330 lbs, surgery weight was 323 lbs, and current weight is 150 lbs - putting me at 173 lbs lost.

I know so many people decide WLS isn't for them, for fear of excess skin. Don't let that sway you - it might not be as bad as you think!!

You have done great! I am old, so I know my skin won't bounce back as well no matter what I do. Also, I have had 4 huge babies so even if I wasn't overweight I doubt my stomach would be perfect.

However, I do feel like I am fat all over. I have big arms and legs and hips and breasts. I agree, I think having it all over may mean my stomach skin won't be so bad after surgery. Or, I may just look wrinkly all over. Either way, it beats being obese!

Edited September 8, 201610 yr by laceemouse

Congrats on you weight loss.

When one's sagging skin pulls on one's spine or neck to the extent to cause severe pain and necessary spinal/cervical reconstruction , THEN the damage that excess skin can do will be realized.

Does it happen to everyone? of course not

Does it happen to enough to be a consideration to pre-op WLS folks? Absolutely!

Is skin removal surgery major and painful? WLS itself is a walk in the park compared to skin removal surgery. (MHO).

So, please don't take skin surgery lightly, but when needed, there is no choice.

It is not always for cosmetic reasons.

Congrats on you weight loss.

When one's sagging skin pulls on one's spine or neck to the extent to cause severe pain and necessary spinal/cervical reconstruction , THEN the damage that excess skin can do will be realized.

Does it happen to everyone? of course not

Does it happen to enough to be a consideration to pre-op WLS folks? Absolutely!

Is skin removal surgery major and painful? WLS itself is a walk in the park compared to skin removal surgery. (MHO).

So, please don't take skin surgery lightly, but when needed, there is no choice.

It is not always for cosmetic reasons.

EVERYTHING should be considered before deciding WLS is for you; my choice of words was "don't let excess skin SWAY you," meaning, don't let the chance of excess skin alone make you decide surgery isn't worth it.

Do I wake up in pain every day (despite not having loads of excess skin)? Yep.

Am I having neck surgery thanks to all the years I carried around 330 lbs? Yep.

Was my WLS still worth it? Yep! I'd still take my chronic pain over being dead in the ground due to obesity any day.

I absolutely don't think it's always about the cosmetics - my point with this post was just to let people know, the excess skin isn't always as bad as they think. Sure, sometimes it is. But I wouldn't want that fear alone to scare anyone away from saving their own life

Edited September 9, 201610 yr by dashofsunshine

You go girl! You look awesome!

And you're correct. A little bit of saggy skin is SO much better than fat filled skin. If one has to have surgery for non cosmetic reasons because of skin, I'd assume their condition would have been so much worse with the excess weight, too.

You look great. I'll be 31yrs when I get surgery and I hippie I don't have to many problems with skin.

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This is a great post. Thanks for sharing. The way I see it is, you can hide excess skin with clothes way easier than you can hide fat! [emoji3]

Hi guys! I wanted to put some minds at ease about excess skin. It truly depends on your body type, age, exercise level, Water intake...and about 20 other variables. That being said, I think most of the after photos people see show huge excess amounts of skin, and thankfully, it isn't that way for EVERYONE.

I drink tons of water, exercise a lot, and in general, have good skin. I also had rather good weight distribution - no one part of me was excessively larger than all the other parts (luckily!).

I had VSG almost 2 years ago - I'll be 22 months out on the 20th of this month. I'm 28 years old, my high weight was 330 lbs, surgery weight was 323 lbs, and current weight is 150 lbs - putting me at 173 lbs lost.

I know so many people decide WLS isn't for them, for fear of excess skin. Don't let that sway you - it might not be as bad as you think!!

Age also has a LOT to do with it.

Sent from my SM-N920P using the BariatricPal App

Age and genetics imo

Sent from my SM-G930P using the BariatricPal App