About forty-five million Americans diet each year and Americans spend approximately one to $2 billion a year on weight loss programs. It is believed that consumers spend about $30 billion per year trying to lose weight or prevent weight gain, and 55% of Americans are actively trying to maintain or lose weight. In the last five years weight loss surgery has experienced a tremendous resurgence. Over fifty thousand patients in the United States will undergo some form of gastric bypass surgery during 2005, and the positive effects of this surgery are immeasurable. The health benefits of massive weight loss are numerous and profound.
However, after a patient experiences massive weight loss, the body skin is not able to retract to the smaller size of the body underneath. This results in large pendulous hanging breasts, significant excess underarm skin (sometimes known as bat wings), and significant lower abdominal skin and laxity that causes rashes, impairs the ability to wear normal clothes and sometimes even daily activity. In the face, this excess skin often leads to significant signs of aging when the skin is no longer able to retrace following massive weight loss. Body Contouring is a safe and effective group of procedures that can help a patient drastically improve their appearance!
In 2004, nearly 17,000 people in the United States underwent what is called an expended abdominoplasty, a procedure used to eliminate the mid body excess skin and fat. This represents a 9% increase from the year before and nearly a 50% increase from five years ago. Breast surgery, upper arm surgery and thigh lift surgery account for nearly forty thousand operations and this represents a nearly 50% increase from just the year before. More and more Americans are discovering the incredible benefits of body contouring after massive weight loss.
The best candidates for body contouring are people who have undergone massive weight loss and are dissatisfied with the appearance of their body, are in general good health, and have realistic expectations of what the procedure can accomplish.
Every type of surgery carries some form of risk. Speak to your board certified plastic surgeon about the potential risks of eyelid surgery before you decide on your procedure.
it is often performed in either an office based surgery center or a hospital. Patients generally require one to two nights in the hospital following the procedure and the procedure can often be combined with other procedures although it usually is done with only additional minor procedures given the large nature of this surgical procedure itself.
This operation takes anywhere between four and eight hours and is performed under either general anesthesia or epidural
You will most likely meet your surgeon for initial consultation to discuss your desires for massive weight loss related surgery. During that time the surgeon and you will come to a conclusion of what surgeries are required, and you will go over a discussion of the risks and benefits of those surgeries. You will then have a second appointment, which is called a pre-operation appointment, whereby you will be carefully examined and the details of the surgery reviewed one more time.
Before the surgery, you will given prescriptions for postoperative medications and instructions of what time to show up and where for your surgery. On the morning of surgery it would be wise that you wear loose fitting clothing, button-down type shirts so you don’t have to lift your arms up after surgery to get into your shirt as well as pajama type bottoms and slippers are also a good idea.
On the morning of surgery you will show up at the designated location which is most likely an outpatient surgery center. You will then be taken to a preoperative holding area where most likely an IV catheter will be placed and you will change your clothes and prepare for going into the operating room. Your surgeon will meet you preoperatively and shortly thereafter, you will be taken to the operating room where the procedure will start. You will likely be placed under a general anesthetic or given some sedative medicine and the procedure will begin.
It is important that you have someone who will bring you to the Surgery Center, and if your procedure will be performed as an outpatient, to take you home and spend the first few nights with you following surgery. You will likely return to your physician’s office on the first couple of days following surgery to check and ensure that the wounds are healing up appropriately and then will continue to follow-up according to that surgeon’s postoperative protocol. It is important after surgery to wear the appropriate garments and that provides support for the soft tissues as they heal.
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