Hi all, I'm 43 and am meeting a surgeon in 2 weeks to hopefully get on the road to having a gastric sleeve. Im hopeful & excited vistualising how i will look after - tummy flap and all. One thing though has been on my mind, will I look older after surgery when I've lost weight? I'm curious to hear your experiences post surgery and if there were any supplements you were recommended to help prevent your face looking like a deflated balloon full of wrinkles?

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Why don't you have a look at the before and after photographs on the forum. There are pages and pages of them. I have never seen any with a deflated or wrinkly face !

it depends on how old you are, your genetics, and how much weight you lose.

I'm in my 60s and lost over 200 lbs - so yes, I looked older. But on the other hand, when I was super morbidly obese I looked young for my age - people were always surprised when they found out how old I was. But after I lost all that weight, I think I just looked my age.

P.S. Supplements won't help with loose skin - on your face or anywhere else, unfortunately. I like the suggestion summerseeker had about looking at before & after pictures. And I agree, most people's faces don't look old and wrinkly. And you can always get a facelift if you don't like the way your face looks afterward - but most people don't because it's not bad. Excess skin is usually worse on the body - where it's easy to hide in clothes.

Edited April 9, 20224 yr by catwoman7

My face definitely looks older. I don’t have a lot of wrinkles or look like a deflated balloon; my face just looks kind of boney. I think the plumpness in the face (chubby cheeks) from being overweight makes one look younger, so losing a lot of weight has the opposite effect. (I feel lucky that my double chin tightened itself up as I lost weight; I wouldn’t have been surprised to end up with a big wattle, but I didn’t.) My hair also looks horrible. It’s normal to lose a lot of hair after surgery (telogen effluvium) but mine never got back to normal.

But you know what? People are constantly telling me how great I look (but sometimes they first ask if I’m sick). I think it’s kind of a sad commentary on how the world views weight, but in terms of overall appearance, losing weight will outweigh (ha ha) the negative changes. I’m not aware of any supplements that will help, so your best bet is probably just normal anti-aging skin care products. And maybe Botox.

OK.

So here was my experience. But I do want to stress that this may or may not be the same for you or anyone else.

During weight loss phase and a few months after I was in maintenance, I looked pretty haggard (and older). This was my own opinion, as well a as a select few who who had the balls enough to say to my face. There were likely others who thought the same way, but had the grace to not say so to me, lol.

What i did find that in after a little bit more time into maintenance, i looked much, much less skeletor-ish, and I attribute that to as increase in carb consumption.

And now, 3.5+ years out, i *think* I look younger than I actually am. Im 50 this year. Mind you I do think I look older than before I started the road to obesity, but that was like 15 years ago!

I think alot of people who at first thought they looked pretty run down in the face after weight loss phase find that they start to fill out a little more as time goes on. You'll know when you know.

Good Luck! ❤️

Edited April 9, 20224 yr by ms.sss

36 minutes ago, ms.sss said:

OK.

So here was my experience. But I do want to stress that this may or may not be the same for you or anyone else.

During weight loss phase and a few months after I was in maintenance, I looked pretty haggard (and older). This was my own opinion, as well a as a select few who who had the balls enough to say to my face. There were likely others who thought the same way, but had the grace to not say so to me, lol.

What i did find that in after a little bit more time into maintenance, i looked much, much less skeletor-ish, and I attribute that to as increase in carb consumption.

And now, 3.5+ years out, i *think* I look younger than I actually am. Im 50 this year. Mind you I do think I look older than before I started the road to obesity, but that was like 15 years ago!

I think alot of people who at first thought they looked pretty run down in the face after weight loss phase find that they start to fill out a little more as time goes on. You'll know when you know.

Good Luck! ❤️

^^^ that's true. Especially for people that make it down to a normal BMI. They often look a bit haggard for a few months, but then things kind of shift around so you start looking a lot better, even though your weight is about the same. Happened to me as well.

Just think positive thoughts about your face. Didn’t you look more youthful with a defined jaw line or sharper cheekbones? Retin A is your friend if you are not sure. (I wonder if retinal could work on my baggy tummy lol, but the inner scientist in me will try it just because I’m now curious.)

Thanks so much everyone, I suppose I've always been told I had a pretty face and while I need the surgery for my overall health and to change my life, I want to minimise the impact on my face. I'm looking forward to seeing my cheekbones. I was reserching collagen supplements and now I'll include retinol too.

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Why don't you have a look at the before and after photographs on the forum. There are pages and pages of them. I have never seen any with a deflated or wrinkly face !

I'm new on here so must have a look. Thanks so much.

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I found that the better my skin care routine, the better my skin responded back. Stay hydrated and if you are looking for collagen, my dietitian suggests the brand "Vital Proteins". You can add to coffee, soup, smoothies etc and it comes in flavors or unflavored. I found it helps me also to keep up with extra protein. She also recommends biotin and it helps hair, nails and skin. I started it 3 months prior to surgery and have continued to take it now.

Since I am a more mature lady (tomorrow I will be 63) I have studied Youtube videos just to learn better make up techniques and this has been the best to make me feel better about myself. There is one person I follow that has 25 years experience as a makeup artist for movies, TV, commercials etc and her advice if fabulous and designed for women over 40. For myself I think knowing how to enhance and disguise my flaws gives me more confidence and this has improved my personal look. If you feel good and believe you look good you smile more and that is the ticket for me.

https://www.youtube.com/c/CleanBeautyBabeMichelleSpieler

Over 60 here and I don't look older except that well, I am old already lol. I just look thinner, perhaps more gaunt, tired. I think months of low calorie diets do that in general.

I recently went back to having a vial of sculptra in my cheek area which has always helped me. I put it off for a few years. All I needed was one vial as per the dermatologist. After 4 to 5 weeks, I don't have that tired look anymore.

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On 4/10/2022 at 4:01 AM, lolah said:

Thanks so much everyone, I suppose I've always been told I had a pretty face and while I need the surgery for my overall health and to change my life, I want to minimise the impact on my face. I'm looking forward to seeing my cheekbones. I was reserching collagen supplements and now I'll include retinol too.

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My grandmother used to say I had a pretty face too. It was years before I realized she was essentially saying that was the only thing about me that was pretty (because I was so fat).

People are telling me I look younger now, and people also used to tell me I looked younger than my age (42). I don't use ANYTHING on my face. No makeup, no products, just water to clean with.

I think it depends your age. I just turned 27 and I looked younger when I'm not so heavy.

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This sh*t aged me ten years but that’s why people go on to plastics next probably. So there’s always that for you to read about :)

I think genetics and your age has everything to do with this, and there's not much beyond eventual plastics if you want to aim for that.

I'm 50, have always had good facial skin and still don't have wrinkles. I have started developing the jowl-lines, though. Almost 8 months out, and my face has slimmed down and my cheekbones are back in business, skin clear and redness gone. I've always maintained a good skincare regime, but it's mostly my fortunate genes and shunning of the sun in my twenties and thirties.

Where I HAVE aged post-op is my neck. My god. The turkey has landed! The loss of my double-chin and neck fat is a boon, but the skin there has not bounced back. I very much look my age there. So I could either live in turtle-necks and scarves, or embrace it. I'm embracing it. I look happier, and I think that takes years off too. Even my surgeon was startled when I reminded him of my age, and I had a face mask on! Clearly the turkey-neck was outshone by my clear and sparkling eyes!

On 4/9/2022 at 12:05 AM, lolah said:

Hi all, I'm 43 and am meeting a surgeon in 2 weeks to hopefully get on the road to having a gastric sleeve. Im hopeful & excited vistualising how i will look after - tummy flap and all. One thing though has been on my mind, will I look older after surgery when I've lost weight? I'm curious to hear your experiences post surgery and if there were any supplements you were recommended to help prevent your face looking like a deflated balloon full of wrinkles?

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I worried about this too! I had my dermatologist prescribe a 1% Retain A (I have been on .5% for awhile) just to help jic. I worked in a dermatology office for years, there are things if you truly are worried that you can do besides a face lift; laser, fillers, retinoids etc...much cheaper and they work!

I do agree, most ppl going through wls afterwards do look older (especially if they're older to begin with - fat hides wrinkles) but, being healthier is a far better trade off, after all we're all getting older and eventually just go gracefully and enjoy who you are..or get plastics and look like a stretched canvas!! ??