In a Gastric Bypass surgery....?

Question

I noticed that alot of the patients after losing the weight have these grotesque looking folds of skin around their entire body. Take a look at these pictures: http://www.plasticsurgery4u.com/a/after_weight_loss/

I was wondering if this also happens if you lose weight naturally, through diet and exercise for example.

If a doctor, nurse or someone who has lost weight be it throgh gastric bypass surgery or diet can answer would be great. But all opinions welcomed.

Answer 1

Hi there, I'm not a Doctor or a Nurse but i've had some medical training, but one has to ask the question of your age. If you are younger, 20's, early 30s and you loose a lot of weight, chances are after you've lost the weight you should not see your skin sagging. But I believe if you are in your later 30's, 40's, 50's then your body's skin elascity can't bounce back and that is when you get the "skin sagging." I also believe it has to be a significant amount of weight loss in order for that to happen (like just not 10-15 pounds). I"ve heard a lot of times people get this, because they have just had a Gastric Bypass and after they do, they loose so much weight so fast (sometimes without exercising) that is one reason they get the "skin sagging."

Answer 2

Yes, you can get all of those folds if you lose a very large amount of weight very quickly, whether it's naturally or through gastric bypass. A lot of it has to do with your age and skin type. If you're younger and have more elastic skin you might get by with less extra skin folds. I work with a girl who has recently lost 70 lbs very quickly, and she doesn't have any loose skin. She's only 23, though, and never had a baby.

I have to tell you something about gastric bypass, though.

Our hospital's ICU hasn't been getting very many patients lately, because we aren't doing a lot of cardiovascular surgeries anymore. The lack of ICU patients is causing a major problem with the hospital budget. They need a lot of extremely ill patients, and they need them fast.

Guess how they've decided to remedy that problem?! They hired a guy who's going to start doing gastric bypass surgery. That's a surefire way to get a lot of critically ill patients very quickly.

Even though he's a good surgeon and has above-average results, gastric bypass surgery is extraordinarily risky. All the ICU nurses and ER nurses have to go to seminars now, where they learn about all of the complications of the surgery and how to deal with them.

Rather than having the gastric bypass surgery and risking your life, you could try just going on the gastric bypass diet. It would have all of the positive effects and none of the negative effects of the surgery.

Answer 3

The only reason we know about the extra skin on bypass patients is because it has been advertised. Depending on your size and the amount of weight you lose there is always a chance of "extra skin". Obese people that lose enough weight to be considered in normal weight ranges for their height and age most certainly will have the extra skin.

Remember that exercise while loosing should help lessen this if you only need to lose some weight and not an entire persons worth of weight.

Answer 4

When a person is grossly obese, their skin has stretched to accomodate all the extra fat. The skin also loses it's elasticity. When a large amount of weight is lost, the skin cannot shrink down to the new body shape, so what you are seeing on the person is all the extra skin. The only way to fix the problem is to have it removed.

Answer 5

If you lose weight too fast you will have the problem of sagging skin. Losing weight at a rate of .5-2 lbs per week is the safest and gives your body the chance for the skin to accomodate. Depending on how much weight you plan on losing, you might have extra skin even if you lose at a safe rate. make sure to drink plenty of water to keep your body hydrated, it affect the body on every level, including the elasticity of your skin.

Answer 6

Gastric bypass surgery is done to either improve or resolve life - threatening obesity and the co-morbidities associated with it. You would want to find a bariatric surgeon. Check out his credentials and experience closely. A board certified bariatric surgeon would be your best bet.

Answer 7

A friend of mine has lost 150 pounds (50%) w/o the surgery. She's lost it at roughly 1-2 pounds a week, so it's not a "rapid" weight loss.

She has saggy skin in all of the usual places -- thighs, tummy, breasts, etc.

She's saving up for the surgeries to remove the extra skin.

Answer 8

Anytime you lose weight rapidly your skin doesn't have time to shrink with you so you have excess skin. If someone is very large and loses weight slowly they still have the possibility of having excess skin from the skin being so stretched to start with. It really depends on the person and their age. Younger skin has more elasticity.

Answer 9

If you are obese or very overweight you need to massage daily to get the skin to bounce back into shape. If you are a very large person yes this does happen but massage does help but you need it everyday for long amounts of time, it helps bring back elasticity to the skin but being so big you will not be flat unless you seek professional help.

Answer 10

No if you diet and exercise to lose the weight your skin would be more toned and tight. People who have this surgery obviously cant lose the weight on there own and this leads to all the extra skin.