Post Bariatric Body Contouring
What is body contouring surgery?
Body contouring surgery is removal of excess sagging fat and skin following major weight loss to improve the shape of the underlying support tissue and to give more natural appearance with smoother contours.
Why do you need body contouring surgery?
Although massive weight loss has several benefits, but after weight reduction surgery, or any substantial amount of weight loss, the skin and soft tissues often lack the elasticity to conform to the reduced body size, so excess sagging skin and fat need to be redraped.
What are the types of Body contouring surgery?
- Facelift: sagging of the mid-face, jowls, and neck
- Breast lift: sagging, flattened breasts
- Tummy tuck: apron of excess skin hanging over the abdomen
- Lower body lifts: sagging of the abdomen, buttocks, groin and outer thighs
- Medial thigh lift: sagging of the inner, outer and mid thigh
- Brachioplasty (arm lift): sagging of the upper arms
Who are the ideal candidates?
- Adults whose weight loss has stabilized
- Healthy individuals with no medical illness
- Motivated individuals to live healthy lifestyle with proper nutrition and fitness with realistic expectations.
Can you give a brief outline in body contouring surgery?
Body lift
A complete lower body lift treats sagging buttocks, abdomen, waist, hips and outer thighs in one procedure.
Incision patterns vary, and may include a circumferential incision around the body to remove the “belt” of excess skin and fat.
Breast lift
The incision for breast lift of sagging breasts will depend on the amount of excess skin to be removed. Sometimes breast implants may be recommended to enhance breast shape and size.
Arm lift
The upper arms sagging skin is contoured with an incision extending from the underarm area along the inside of arm or back of the upper arm.
The smoother, snug contours from upper arm contouring surgery are appreciable immediately, although initially obscured by swelling and bruising. The final scar will be obvious when the arms are raised.
Thigh lift
Thigh contouring is achieved through incisions in the groin extending downward to the knee along the inner aspect of the thigh.
The outer thigh contour can be improved through an incision extending from the groin around the hip.
What is post operative protocol and how recovery happens?
Initial post operative period specific instructions given about how to care for the surgical site, medications to apply or take orally to aid healing and reduce chances of infection, specific nutritional supplement to improve your general health. Small tubes may be temporarily placed under the skin to drain any excess blood or fluid.
You are advised to avoid bending, straining or lifting for few weeks.When tightening of the abdomen or thighs is involved, you should avoid standing fully upright and straining any internal sutures and to sleep with pillows elevating knees.
To minimize the risk of DVT (blood clots in the legs) patient should be given instruction to start walking as soon as possible, and drink plenty of liquid.
You may need specialized compression garment to contour the body to get final result depending on which part of body surgery underwent.
What are the Body contouring risks and complications?
- Bleeding, Infection,Fluid accumulation
- Poor wound healing, Skin loss, Unfavorable scarring
- Residual skin laxity or contour irregularity
- deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism
- Anesthesia risks
When final results of Body contouring are appreciated?
The results of body contouring following aggressive weight loss are visible almost immediately; however, it may take few months to 2 years to see final results.