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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I'm new to this forum as well. I see a lot of posts about other people's post. I made a post about the 180 day weight loss trial and what kind of Protein shakes I should consider.

I felt so much support when I received responses. It made me feel like this is a place that will help me both before and after surgery.

Later I read a thread about how people are sick of questions that have been asked and answered over and over. They werent going to answer any more questions like what kind of protein shake, etc. anymore.

The point was that newbies should be using the search option. I would have been a lot less embarrassed if the person would have just posted that.

Anyways that is just my opinion as a newbie. Now I skip the my work here is done and tired of people ... threads.

Ironically, I actually clicked on this thread because I was hoping some of my questions about extra skin would be answered.

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Not to mention that the search function isn't the greatest anyway. I've tried many searches, but the results are always super weird.

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I think it's natural for mental roadblocks to appear when you're contemplating weight loss surgery, and that it's not trite or shallow to encounter one over concerns about loose skin. In a way they can be beneficial because you see the roadblocks in advance and are compelled to consider their challenges, rather than crashing into them post-surgery when you cannot turn back. Hopefully people will focus on the journey to vastly improved health, and will navigate around such roadblocks.

I contemplated potential problems with the VSG, including loose skin, prior to committing to it. It helped me to prepare. I talked with my husband about the risk, and how I might want to have plastic surgery in the future. I looked at the cost of that in advance and at my finances. I watched several YouTube videos and read accounts of people who were elated that they'd attained their goal weight, but struggling with both physical and psychological impacts from loose skin. It can cause sores and discomfort, so it's not merely about aesthetics. I follow someone on Instagram who went from over 300 pounds to 128 in a year, and is simply stunning now, but has been candid about how loose skin has been a source of distress. She certainly doesn't regret the surgery, but is honest about some of its struggles.

I lucked out and have experienced absolutely no sagging or loose skin. It looks better than it did before surgery, so I have to disagree with much of what is written in paragraph four of the OP. The only visible evidence that I had WLS are the faded incision scars on my stomach, and if I had to do things over I would have had the single incision to avoid those. Your age, genetics, nutrition and lifestyle post-surgery, the amount of time you were at your highest weight, and the pace of your loss are all contributing factors to whether you'll have loose skin. I started out at a lower BMI, lost very slowly due to having PCOS (it took over a year for me to reach my goal weight), and I'd only been at my highest weight for less than two months prior to having the VSG. If I had loose skin, though, I'd be grateful for having a plan in place for what to do about it.

I'll be honest, I'm a shallow a**hole, and I'm cool with it. My weight fluctuated a lot...I would be thin at around 140 for a few years, then fat at around 180-200, then back to thin, then back to fat, then back to thin, until the last time I somehow ended up at 237 and nothing I was doing was getting me thin again. I hated myself. I was so ashamed of what I looked like and I was miserable. I had the sleeve because I wanted to like myself again and I didn't want to feel as if I had no control over my weight. Also, I like being hot.

I'm now at 39 months post-op and I've been at goal for about 20 months, and within 3 pounds of goal for about 25 months. I had three major plastics procedures where I had pretty much all of me "fixed", but I actually did not really even think about the loose skin until I was within about 25 pounds of goal. Because I had lost weight before, I guess I just never really thought about being saggy, or more likely, I had not quite weighed that much before and I had gotten older, so my skin didn't bounce back like it had before. I only actually thought about it when I happened to wonder what fake boobs would look like. I scheduled a consult, with a surgeon who I think is totally awesome, and then a few days later I called and made another consult for a tummy tuck. Before I had that surgery with those two procedures I had no idea how confident I could feel in my own skin, since apparently I was pretty saggy most of my life and I just didn't realize it. I then had the rest of the 360 lift, a thigh lift, and a brachioplasty, and while yes, plastic surgery is a bit of a B, I would do it all over again in a second.

I would do so, not because other people now really have no idea I was ever fat, but because I can look in the mirror and not feel shame. I can wear tight clothing that I never could have worn before, I can run my hand across my stomach and feel tight, hard abs, which never, ever had I been able to do, and I can wear all of the backless shirts I never had the chance to before because the girls couldn't handle going without support. I am superficial and shallow, and I derive great joy from the fact that I wear a size 2 or 4 and I can look somewhat decent in almost anything. Plastic surgery though, while seems like it is all about shallow goals, for me was about feeling comfortable in my own skin. When someone is a jerk, I get dumped, or I have a really bad day, my first thought is never...well you're fat, so of course you're worthless...which is the way it always was before. Having my extra skin removed gave me confidence I never realized I was missing before and it has done wonderful things for my mental health.

Also, there is the very valid point made by Babbs that research indicates that people who do have plastics after major weight loss are more likely to keep the weight off. For me, I can look in the mirror and I see an attractive woman, not a deflated fat girl, and this may be shallow and stupid and I know that...but I have the right to do what makes me happy and a small luxury car in plastic surgery accomplished that. I imagine part of the reason that people who had plastics kept the weight off is because they aren't looking, everyday, at a reflection of the person they used to be. Also, for me, the removal of my extra skin made me WAY better at working out because nothing is flopping around anymore- I actually bested my 3 mile time a few months after my last procedure by almost 5 minutes, and I can definitively say that I noticed a HUGE difference in the way I felt working out when I didn't have any extra flubbiness getting in my way.

I will forever be grateful that I was in a place where I could have those procedures done and that I had such an awesome surgeon, because our goal may be to be physically healthy, but why can't the goal also be to be entirely happy in our own skin? Why shouldn't the former fat girl be allowed to feel...sexy...for the first time in her life? I don't think that wanting to be healthy means that you aren't also allowed to want to be beautiful, on your own terms, in your own way, and through whatever means you are able to accomplish that.

I am ok being shallow, because I am happy AND healthy, and I don't feel any great need to justify to myself or anyone else the road I took to get to the place I am now. So I'm as plastic as Barbie...good for damn me...and good for everyone else who does what they need to do, to be where they want to be. In the end, everyone's path is their own and how they get to where they want to be is hardly something I have any right to have an opinion about.

Yep, I would do the same. But I can't risk having any further surgery.

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Imma tie mine into a mid-drift shirt knot & call it summer fashionable! Lolol! If i EVER see my goal weight imma tattoo a banner on my extra skin "FIT LYFE" & use it as a parachute for hang gliding - imma be so happy to loose this weight yo!

Naw, but for real.... Yes we worry beforehand about this extra skin, but i think just the weight loss alone will change our perspective afterwards.

But um....here is a question i do have... Im on Medicaid & Medicare..these paid 4the sleeve.... What (if any) help does these two insurance's give for the skin? CAN i get plastic surgery on Medicaid /Medicare? If so - which body parts? Anyone on this forum know through experience the process?

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Edited December 27, 20169 yr by CStoned

You would think so. A bit of me feels that I have traded one problem for another. I can walk better but have to strap in my floppy thigh skin or I get sores then can't walk! lol

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CStoned,

I have Medicare and Champ VA due to my husband serving in the Navy. BTW I have better coverage and go to any Dr I want to without even a copay. All my meds are paid for thru Meds By Mail. Anyway, I had my RNY and it was covered 100%. Sept of 2115 I had my Panni. Now they did pay 100% on this too. But no other skin surgery. I can speak from experience that if you have any PS done please pay for the full Tummy Tuck with muscle repair on your own. My PS promised that he would pull my skin from around to the front and that the Panni is all I would need. Right after my Panni I started saying something about my upper stomach (I carried my weight on my stomach, not on my legs or hips) He just kept saying it was swelling!! But guess what it wasn't. My last checkup I asked him again, he said that I needed Lipo done that most people just need the Panni but I was blessed and carried it all over. Thank you!! He then told me that he would give me a deal, he would do the Lipo and a breast lift for a small price of $6,000. Breast lift/Lipo I feel like he wasn't honest with me and just drummed up more business for himself. I had a severe reaction to the muscle relaxant and spent 8 hours in ICU. I was paralyzed being shocked on my temple. I know what the name is and have it on my medical bracelet now but...I am a little leery have any more surgeries. Who knows I might get a windfall of money and just DO IT!!! With a different PS.

I will own up to being vain, too. I'm 48 years old and the last time I was skinny was in 1975. When I would talk to people about my upcoming VSG I would always say my biggest fears were ending up with a turkey neck and looking old. My fears have somewhat been realized.

I also knew going in I was going to have a lot of loose skin. And I do. I have met with a PS to discuss the three procedures I want done. And they are completely so I can look better. I freely admit it. But never would I have let those concerns hold me back from being sleeved. I went from having a fasting glucose level of 167 to a non fasting level of 78. That alone was worth it.

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You would think so. A bit of me feels that I have traded one problem for another. I can walk better but have to strap in my floppy thigh skin or I get sores then can't walk! lol

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That my friend is exactly how I felt when my Nutritionist told me to eat every 1/2 that I am awake!! Admitted I did have a huge problem eating, it started because I had Strictures after a month from my RNY. (I am 3 and 1/2 years out now)I had developed an aversion to food. So my Surgeon sent me to her. I just looked at her with disbelief. I then told my hubby that I felt like I had just traded one eating disorder for another!! I refused to become a grazer!!! All is great now. But your post just brought it all up again. She was a Bariatric Nutritionist. Why would she say that!! Oh well it is all in the past now. LOL It just makes me so mad!!

Holy hell! this is a long thread.

Some people for plastics, others not so much. I looked into it, I just can't afford them.

No one here has to apologize or justify the reasons they choose to have a medical procedure. Dang, how many of us have been judged for having bariatric surgery?

The only thing I want to leave here for newbies..... Is the loose skin is not as bad for me as being obese. it's livable. If your fortunate to be able to have insurance coverage or afford them. Go for it if it makes you feel better about your situation.

You would think so. A bit of me feels that I have traded one problem for another. I can walk better but have to strap in my floppy thigh skin or I get sores then can't walk! lol

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That my friend is exactly how I felt when my Nutritionist told me to eat every 1/2 that I am awake!! Admitted I did have a huge problem eating, it started because I had Strictures after a month from my RNY. (I am 3 and 1/2 years out now)I had developed an aversion to food. So my Surgeon sent me to her. I just looked at her with disbelief. I then told my hubby that I felt like I had just traded one eating disorder for another!! I refused to become a grazer!!! All is great now. But your post just brought it all up again. She was a Bariatric Nutritionist. Why would she say that!! Oh well it is all in the past now. LOL It just makes me so mad!!

Wow! I also developed food aversion and can't really taste food anymore. Everything tastes the same, sits like lead, spikey rocks in my sleeve etc.

The only foods that sit well are carby sliders which I refuse to eat. My Bariatric nutritionist has declared that I have an "abnormal fear" of carbohydrates and gaining weight because I won't.

So yes, for now, I have traded problems.

In my head, I had visions of wearing shorts in the summer, having a relationship where I take my clothes off, going swimming, moving around without compression garments etc.

I had planned to have plastics on my legs but it's just too risky.

I'm not saying that anyone shouldn't have wls at all.

I am just saying that you need to manage your expectations and plan for the unexpected.

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GinaCambell

The struggle to lose weight my whole life and to go to the extreme of having WLS, I run scared a lot!! I sure and the heck don't want to be a darn statistic!! Be someone that lost her weight but...look at her now Fat again!! It is enough to make ya crazy!!