Sagging After Weight Loss

Weight loss can happen for a number of reasons. A change in your diet, perhaps. Or maybe you have been working out continuously. Whatever the reason may be, if your weight loss is sudden, or if you have lost a lot of weight, your skin might start to falter. That is called sagging after weight loss.

For many people this is a completely normal aftermath. Aside from being the largest organ in our bodies, our skin is also highly elastic. This elasticity allows your skin to grow around the areas where you gain weight. Once you lose the fat under your skin (whether you burn it or get it removed), this stretched skin becomes an excess of your body, thus, it starts to sag. In this article, we will look over the reasons for sagging after weight loss and ways to recover from it.

Your skin is a wonderful piece of your body. So much that it is almost magical. On top of everything, it is a protective suit of armor around your body. It regulates the temperature of your body, absorbs water, and provides Vitamin D just to name a few things. And as we mentioned above, your skin also has a protein called elastin, which causes your skin to be flexible. It is the reason why your skin grows around the areas where you gain weight. However, upon being stretched for a long time, the skin loses its ability to heal itself to go back to its previous shape, which causes sagging after weight loss.

Think about it like this: you have a rubber band at hand. You wrap it around a large object, a box for example, and leave it like that for a long period of time. The rubber band might be very tight at the beginning, but over time, it starts to loosen and dilate. And once your remove the rubber band from the box, you will see that it will take some time to go back to a smaller size, and even if you leave it to shrink for the exact same time period as its expansion, it will not go back to its same size. This is what happens to your skin as well.

Upon gaining weight, your skin starts to grow around the areas where excessive fat is stored. And on top of that, it also begins to stretch, leaving what we call “stretch marks”. When you lose weight, and subsequently lose that excessive fat, your skin will already be damaged and will not return to its previous state fully.

Also, while weight gain is a major reason why your skin loses its ability to heal itself, it is worth to mention that smoking, over exposure to the sun, and aging also contribute to this. Now, let’s discuss how you can save your body from sagging after weight loss.

Although there are a few ways to get rid of the excessive skin hanging from your body, the best method in today's standards is plastic surgery. In this section, we will talk about natural ways of tightening your skin and elaborate on these surgeries. Please note that natural way might not be as effective if the weight loss is major.

We know that losing weight by working out and trying different diets is hard and challenging at times, but on the long run it is effective. Tightening your skin on natural terms is no different. Going back to the rubber band example, it is already as hard as it is for the rubber band to go back to a state that is close to its natural shape. As such, you must do special things for your skin to regain its ability to tighten itself.

One thing you can do to help this is taking collagen supplements. Why collagen, you might ask. It is because that is what makes your skin tight in the first place. Upon gaining weight and leaving your body stretched for a long time, the collagen essentially is what’s damaged. By taking supplements, you can help your body heal itself naturally.

Another natural way of getting rid of sagging after weight loss is, you guessed it, working out. Yoga and Pilates routines are highly recommended for this, as they not only will tighten your skin after weight loss, but they will also increase your mental and physical health. Another exercise you may want to try is weightlifting, but that is generically used for improving the muscle mass.

While the natural way might be the cheaper option, there is no denying that cosmetic surgeries is the one in which the result is fast and guaranteed. There are many different surgeries for this. Many of them focus on one area of your body at a time. Typically for major weight loss cases, the areas where you will experience sagging are:

• Stomach/Tummy
• Neck
• Back
• Thighs
• And arms.

The corresponding cosmetic operations in these areas are Tummy Tuck, Neck Lifting, Back Lift, Thigh Lift, and Arm Lift respectively. These operations are typically followed by a Liposuction, if necessary. Once the excessive fat is taken from the body, the aestheticians will then contour the body in the desired way and the skin will be stitched accordingly. There is also the option to get a Mommy Makeover, as pregnancy is also a huge factor in sagging after weight loss. In this operation, the aestheticians will work on the deformed body parts all at once. Yes, you read it right! With simultaneous procedures going on all in the same surgery, this process may take up to 5 hours.

Sagging after weight loss, while completely normal, is still unhealthy and unattractive. While you may want to get over this on your own terms, cosmetic surgeries promise fast and effective results for this problem. Here, in Milano Clinic, we offer all of the surgeries listed in this article. It is your right to be in your best shape. You know it, and our experienced aestheticians know it too. For additional information regarding our services and much more, please contact us.