I have been on this forum for about a year and a half. I have seen so many posts of people worrying about excess skin after weight loss. I find this to be incredibly trite and shallow, a roadblock thrown up in the mind to justify the subconscious reasons why we put on and hold the weight to begin with.

First of all, there are of course permanent consequences for getting so big that your skin has to stretch to be twice the size it would be if we were normal weight. It doesn't go back to a state in which it was as if we never were overweight. And so what? What is often unspoken in these forums is that a very overweight person worrying about how they are going to look if they lose weight because of sagging skin, is silly in a society in which obesity is considered ugly to begin with.

More importantly, most of us have the surgery because our bodies and lives were becoming unmanageable due to excess weight, not to look better at speed dating.

For those who are asking the question I have seen posted on this forum a million times, no your skin will not go back to being how it was before your weight gain. There is no cream, no wrap, no swanky magic that's going to make it be as if you were never overweight. The only real option for getting rid of excess skin if you are very overweight when you start, is plastic surgery.

And that comes with its own price. I am not knocking people who choose to have that, I might even choose that eventually, as vanity is one of my flaws. That said, plastic surgery is very very serious, and fairly savage. And still, your body cannot look like it would have if you had never put on weight. They will be scars. Big ones. Surgery of any kind is a serious injury to the body.

The point I am trying to make is that if you are considering having weight-loss surgery to save your life, stop worrying about your skin. Worry about the inner conditions that have led you to the point where this is necessary. Focus instead on changing your behaviors. Focus instead on health, not looks. We have such a distorted view of bodies in this country. Body diversity is beautiful! Stop thinking that you have to look a certain way. Be healthy. Be you.

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Thank you for this post, which says a lot of what I personally find annoying with the constant excess skin questions. Very on point!

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I agree with a lot of your sentiment, but let me make one thing perfectly clear.

Most people who have skin surgery after WLS are NOT doing it out of vanity, but out of necessity due to infections and the skin just being a hindrance in functioning normally. So to say it's 'vain' to have surgery to remove skin after WLS is insulting and frankly quite ignorant.

And even if it's done out of vanity, so what? People feel amazing after large losses, and they want to feel even more amazing and have things tightened up and removed. That's their prerogative. And did you know that statistically people are more likely to keep the weight off after having plastic surgery?

@@Babbs totally agree with you that sometimes the skin can cause health problems and also I could not care less if someone gets plastics for vanity, their money their body in my opinion. I'm too old to care.

However, I LOVE this post by @@JupiterinVirgo LOVE IT! When someone comes on here worrying about excess skin or scars I just wonder if they think they look good at 300 pounds? I mean, if the idea of loose skin is so repulsive to them they should just stay obese.

And the fact that they think they are going to look perfect, like they were never obese, after losing 100 plus pounds is just crazy. Do they think they are going to be modeling for Victoria's Secret after they lose the weight? It's crazy. That's why I always tell them to go to YouTube. You can see hundreds of people who have lost weight (most of them young and healthy) and they strip down and show you all their excess skin. It's pretty gross. It happens no matter what we do.

Honestly I think there should be some program where they go into the schools and talk to young people before they get so heavy. Show them what a naked obese body looks like. Show them what a tiny amount of food is considered healthy eating. Show them what WLS entails. AND show them what people look like after they lose massive amounts of weight. Kind of a "scared straight" for obesity.

I almost didn't open this post because I thought, "oh no no no, I can't read another illogical post from someone who thinks it may be better to stay overweight rather than deal with excess skin" haha. glad I opened it and I agree with you. I hope that people who may be considering WLS read this and understand that when you weigh the pros and cons, excess skin is on the con side, but it is a tiny tiny factor when compared to better health, longer life, improved functionality, and increased social activity.

On the other hand, commiserating about it down the road after weight loss, is something we can all share together. I'm not there yet, but I imagine it is hard to have constant reminders of an old life hanging around and plastic surgery would feel like a bit of closure. I plan on doing it when the time comes.

You said a mouth full!!! Thank you

I'll take the post bariatric WLS surgery weight loss Shar-Pei look on the green side of the grass over the alternative.

People, after losing the excess weight, should not be surprised by the excess skin due to the years of stretching it out by being obese. Also we lose the elasticity of the skin as we age too.

If someone wants to get plastic surgery because they would like to feel better about how they look, then that is their decision. For me, not seeing that obese man look back at me in the mirror is more than enough. My improved health, self esteem, improved or eliminated comorbidities due to no longer being obese, more NSVs than I can even write about on one page, etc., is all I need.

@@JupiterinVirgo

As a person that has lost over 170 lbs and has to deal with skin every day. You are really ignorant as to what living with excess skin is like.

My need to remove skin is not just vanity. The skin I have is painful. If I don't clean my belly button very carefully multiple times a day it gets infected.

Skin is something worth worry about. I spend a lot of money on shapewear to hold it in so it doesn't hurt when I move. I have to be careful and spend a lot of $$$$ buying bras so they work with my skin issues. I have to deal with balancing wearing shapewear all the time and not ending up with constant yeast infections.

Vanity come dead last in my concerns about my skin. I wish I had thought about the skin issues and considered them long before I let myself sit at over 300 pounds for half my life but now I am paying the price.

It isn't a frivolous concern, the health benefits far out weigh the skin issues but there still are skin issues and they are serious issues.

Next time post your rants, in rants.

Edited December 2, 20169 yr by OutsideMatchInside

@@JupiterinVirgo

As a person that has lost over 170 lbs and has to deal with skin every day. You are really ignorant as to what living with excess skin is like.

My need to remove skin is not just vanity. The skin I have is painful. If I don't clean my belly button very carefully multiple times a day it gets infected.

Skin is something worth worry about. I spend a lot of money on shapewear to hold it in so it doesn't hurt when I move. I have to be careful and spend a lot of $$$$ buying bras so they work with my skin issues. I have to deal with balancing wearing shapewear all the time and not ending up with constant yeast infections.

Vanity come dead last in my concerns about my skin. I wish I had thought about the skin issues and considered them long before I let myself sit at over 300 pounds for half my life but now I am paying the price.

It isn't a frivolous concern, the health benefits far out weigh the skin issues but there still are skin issues and they are serious issues.

Next time post your rants, in rants.

That's definitely not what I got out of the original post... she was talking about people who use the "threat" of loose skin as an excuse not to lose weight/have surgery in the first place. I do see posts like that here all the time... people tipping their toes in the Water and trying desperately to find an excuse not to change their behavior, lose weight, or have surgery.

After weight loss, I don't any person here would deride someone for having plastics to remove excess skin. I understand we're all defensive, but I think that y'all are jumping the gun and reading what you want, not what was actually said.

I agree with the OP regarding the intent of this post. I have always said, I will take loose skin over my unhealthy morbidly obese body every single time. Those that whine about it, clearly don't get it and may be looking for excuses to keep their round plump selves. It might take them some time, but if the weight continues to creep on, their health will be the driver in the end. I know it was for me and my only regret is waiting too long to have the surgery before it damaged my body further.

That being said, removing the extra skin is not just about vanity. And she is right, plastics is a very serious high risk procedure that is absolutely barbaric and leaves you with very large scars. The scars are the trade off for the loose skin.

I will take the scars over the pain from dragging around all this low hanging skin anyday.

It hurts and pulls on my body. Having had 4lbs of skin removed from my arms has helped me with the pain in my neck. Yes, i did have my arms done because they were so big and embarrassing.

In January, I will have my tummy and breasts done not only to look and feel better but to tighten my core and support my back. I have a very bad back and this skin that drops lower as you lose weight pulls on your body.

At the end of the day, I agree......the extra skin is better than all that unhealthy fat, the scars are better than all that loose hanging skin.

I would do it all again in a heart beat. I am 47 days away from having my TT and breast lift with augmentation done. I am NOT looking forward to it. Plastics is way more painful than WLS but I am dreaming about have a nice tight core again and cannot wait to see if it helps my back.

Just sharing some before plastics and after so people get a sense for how loose hanging skin can effect you.

Before:

After:

I had loose skin as a fat man to start with! I agree that the mentality of I will just stay fat because of skin issues is ludicrous. Even with the weight that I've already lost I can see that a tummy tuck is in my future because of a Betty Crocker apron of skin. I do believe that the OP wasn't intending this in a negative way for post op, just for those with their craniums up their rectum who would choose to stay fat because THEY are so vain that they don't want to risk saggy skin.

I agree, my support of the OP was about all of the comments that I have seen about how people are scared of loose skin. And usually they aren't scared of it from the standpoint that it's a serious or painful medical issue. It's usually about the vanity of fact that it's perceived as "gross". That frustrates me because obesity and all of its co-morbidities seem much more life-threatening to me. It seems like the people overly worried about loose skin pre-op, to the point that they choose not to lose weight, are just scared of the long term lifestyle change that they would have to make for WLS or any massive weight loss.

But yes, I know a few people who have had loose skin from massive weight loss and they have gotten plastics because it was giving them back pain and causing infections. I'm likely going to get my WLS in late January, but I have already created a plan to save up for plastics. I've been over 300 lbs for about 5 or 6 years, and heavy most of my life, so the fact that I'm fairly young won't "save" me from loose skin.

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@@Babbs totally agree with you that sometimes the skin can cause health problems and also I could not care less if someone gets plastics for vanity, their money their body in my opinion. I'm too old to care.

However, I LOVE this post by @@JupiterinVirgo LOVE IT! When someone comes on here worrying about excess skin or scars I just wonder if they think they look good at 300 pounds? I mean, if the idea of loose skin is so repulsive to them they should just stay obese.

And the fact that they think they are going to look perfect, like they were never obese, after losing 100 plus pounds is just crazy. Do they think they are going to be modeling for Victoria's Secret after they lose the weight? It's crazy. That's why I always tell them to go to YouTube. You can see hundreds of people who have lost weight (most of them young and healthy) and they strip down and show you all their excess skin. It's pretty gross. It happens no matter what we do.

Honestly I think there should be some program where they go into the schools and talk to young people before they get so heavy. Show them what a naked obese body looks like. Show them what a tiny amount of food is considered healthy eating. Show them what WLS entails. AND show them what people look like after they lose massive amounts of weight. Kind of a "scared straight" for obesity.

Just wondering, would you go into the schools and give them a lecture to scare them straight? I sure wouldn't!! But my body could scare someone straight for sure!! Like you said I'm to old also. I think that most of us don't have PS because we want to LOOK GOOD> I did have a Panni done a year ago last Sept. I can tell you it wasn't for my hard natural body!! If only I was younger and had the money I would have nips and tucks done in a NEW YORK minute!!

I agree that it seems absolutely ridiculous when people post that they're considering not having surgery due to excess skin. Really, it's just stupid. You would rather stay obese and risk death (and as someone mentioned earlier, being obese itself is generally considered ugly in our society). It most often feels like these people are looking for an excuse to continue with their unhealthy ways.

HOWEVER, I will say that I'm absolutely shocked at the amount of excess skin I have, and it bothers me so much more than I thought it would. I figured I would have some excess skin on my stomach because that's where I carried most of my weight, but I couldn't have been more wrong!

I mean, I do have a ton of excess skin on my stomach, but I also have it on my upper arms, thighs, sides and I totally have a shar pei butt. It sucks, and really detracts from my ability to see myself as "thin". It's hard to feel thin when you can literally grab handfuls on most parts of your body.

Would I do it all over again? OF COURSE! And I am SO much more healthy, which was my goal. I feel better, I have more energy, and my co-morbidities are gone. The skin is a small price to pay. It's just a much bigger price than I was prepared for.

How much does plastic surgery cost as I am sure I will have a skin problem

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@@mariernest

If you have it done in the US and multiple places on your body $20,000-40,000.