What is body contouring surgery?
Body contouring is surgery that removes excess sagging fat and skin, usually following massive weight loss, to return the shape and contour of a persons body to a more normal shape.
Why would I choose to have body contouring surgery?
Following weight loss, not all patients want or require body contouring surgery. However excess sagging skin can fitting into clothes difficult, can lower someones esteem, and can cause medical problems. These problems include sweating, chaffing, soreness, infections and even ulceration between folds of skin that rub against each other. Excess skin folds can also make walking, sports, sex and other activities difficult to perform.
What types of body contouring surgery are there?
This depends on the arm of the body needing attention:
- upper arms / bingo wings: excess skin can slap against the side of a persons chest wall, and is visible in short sleeved tops. Surgery to remove this excess skin is call brachioplasty, and leaves scars hidden on the inside of arms.
- breasts / upper body: depending on the extent of weight loss, peoples breasts may become empty and droopy, or there may be folds of excess skin extending all around the upper body. When just the breast are involved a breast lift, possibly combined with placing an implant to provide fullness, is all that if required. When the whole of the upper body has excess skin then an upper body lift is required, which goes right the way around the chest as a band. When this is performed, fat and skin removed from the back can be used to augment the breast and give them a fuller look.
- apronectomy / abdominoplasty / lower body lift: these are all terms used to describe surgery to improve the shape and contour of the lower abdomen. An apronectomy simply removes an flap of abdominal skin and fat overhanging the pubis, or even down to the thighs, without lifting up the rest of the abdominal tissues. There are several types of abdominoplasty. All involve elevating some abdominal tissue off the abdominal muscles, and the tissue is then pulled down to give a tighter appearance to the abdomen. However this normally leaves a lot of fullness in the flanks and around the back in patients with patients with massive weight loss. They will usually require a lower body lift (or belt lipectomy) which involves removing a band of tissue from right around the body, like a band.
- thigh lift: a thigh lift involves removing tissue from the inner thighs. In mild cases this leaves a scar hidden in the inner groin crease. In massive weight loss this usually involves another scar running down the leg between the thighs.
Body contouring is surgery that removes excess sagging fat and skin, usually following massive weight loss, to return the shape and contour of a persons body to a more normal shape.
Why would I choose to have body contouring surgery?
Following weight loss, not all patients want or require body contouring surgery. However excess sagging skin can fitting into clothes difficult, can lower someones esteem, and can cause medical problems. These problems include sweating, chaffing, soreness, infections and even ulceration between folds of skin that rub against each other. Excess skin folds can also make walking, sports, sex and other activities difficult to perform.
What types of body contouring surgery are there?
This depends on the arm of the body needing attention:
- upper arms / bingo wings: excess skin can slap against the side of a persons chest wall, and is visible in short sleeved tops. Surgery to remove this excess skin is call brachioplasty, and leaves scars hidden on the inside of arms.
- breasts / upper body: depending on the extent of weight loss, peoples breasts may become empty and droopy, or there may be folds of excess skin extending all around the upper body. When just the breast are involved a breast lift, possibly combined with placing an implant to provide fullness, is all that if required. When the whole of the upper body has excess skin then an upper body lift is required, which goes right the way around the chest as a band. When this is performed, fat and skin removed from the back can be used to augment the breast and give them a fuller look.
- apronectomy / abdominoplasty / lower body lift: these are all terms used to describe surgery to improve the shape and contour of the lower abdomen. An apronectomy simply removes an flap of abdominal skin and fat overhanging the pubis, or even down to the thighs, without lifting up the rest of the abdominal tissues. There are several types of abdominoplasty. All involve elevating some abdominal tissue off the abdominal muscles, and the tissue is then pulled down to give a tighter appearance to the abdomen. However this normally leaves a lot of fullness in the flanks and around the back in patients with patients with massive weight loss. They will usually require a lower body lift (or belt lipectomy) which involves removing a band of tissue from right around the body, like a band.
- thigh lift: a thigh lift involves removing tissue from the inner thighs. In mild cases this leaves a scar hidden in the inner groin crease. In massive weight loss this usually involves another scar running down the leg between the thighs.