Body Contouring after Massive Weight Loss in Ventura County
Severely stretched skin often result from massive weight loss following weight reduction surgery.
As a result, arms may sag, breasts may flatten and hang with nipples pointed downward. An apron-like overhang may extend around the abdominal area, and the buttocks, groin and thighs can sag with hanging pockets of skin. In addition, the face may loose its youthful volume while the jawline and neck sag, giving even younger patients an aged look.
Surgical body contouring after massive weight loss in Ventura County and facial rejuvenation procedures removes excess sagging fat and skin, restoring the smoother, more youthful contours of the face and body. This is the final phase of your weight loss journey, and is the most rewarding and exciting part of your transformation.
Before you decide to undergo body contouring after major weight loss in Ventura County, your weight loss must be stabilized. If you continue to lose weight, sagging may recur. If you regain the weight, you may loose improvement in contours and cause visible stretch marks and wide scars.
Good candidates for body contouring after major weight loss in Ventura County are:
- Adults of any age whose weight loss has stabilized
- Healthy individuals who do not have medical conditions that can impair healing or increase risk of surgery
- Non-smokers
- Individuals with a positive outlook and realistic goals for what body contouring can accomplish
- Individuals committed to leading a healthy lifestyle including proper nutrition and fitness
Procedures recommended by your Plastic Surgeon in Ventura County may include:
- Face and Neck Lift: to correct sagging and restore youthful fullness of the midface, correct sagging of the jawline, neck; the use of fat transfers and soft tissue fillers may also be used to restore volume to lips, cheeks and soften wrinkles
- Lower body lift: to correct sagging of the abdomen, buttocks, groin and outer thighs
- Breast lift (Women): to correct sagging, flattened breasts; often combined with Breast Augmentation
- Gynecomastia Correction (Men): to remove sagging skin around the chest area
- Arm lift: to correct sagging of the upper arms
- Thigh lift: to correct sagging of the inner, outer thighs
These are performed in stages, depending on your goals, as well as your plastic surgeon’s best judgment. All body contouring after major weight loss procedures in Ventura County require incisions to remove excess skin, and often, these can be extensive.
Incision length depend on the amount and location of excess skin to be removed, as well as personal preference and your doctor’s surgical judgment. Most incisions will be placed in strategic locations that can be hidden by most types of clothing, but this is not always the case.
Lower Body Lift
A complete lower body lift treats sagging buttocks, abdomen, waist, hips and outer thighs often in one procedure. This combines an Abdominoplasty incision that is continued to the sides and back to remove a “belt” of excess skin and fat.
Breast Lift
The incision patterns for lifting a woman’s sagging breasts will be determined based on the amount of excess skin to be removed.
These may include one or a combination of incisions in a circular pattern around the areola, in a line extending from the areola to the breast crease, and horizontally along the breast crease.
A breast augmentation may be performed at the same time to enhance breast shape and size.
Arm Lift (Brachioplasty)
Sagging skin in the upper arms is treated with an incision from the underarm area extending along the inside of the upper arm. Additional incisions on the arms may be necessary anywhere overhanging excess skin has formed. Brachioplasty results in smoother, tighter contours almost immediately and dramatically.
Thigh Lift
Thigh lift in Ventura County results in reshaping of the thighs through incisions in the groin that can extend downward to the knee along the inner portion of the thigh. Improving contours of the outer thigh may require an incision extending from the groin around the hip. Through these incisions your Plastic Surgeon in Ventura County will tighten tissues for a smoother, better toned thigh.
Possible risks of Body Contouring after Massive Weight Loss in Ventura County may include:
- Unfavorable scarring
- Bleeding (hematoma)
- Infection
- Fluid accumulation
- Poor wound healing
- Skin loss
- Blood clots
- Numbness or other changes in skin sensation
- Anesthesia risks
- Skin discoloration and/or prolonged swelling
- Fatty tissue found deep in the skin might die (fat necrosis)
- Major wound separation
- Asymmetry
- Recurrent looseness of skin
- Pain, which may persist
- Deep vein thrombosis, cardiac and pulmonary complications
- Persistent swelling in the legs
- Possibility of revisional surgery
Recovery following body contouring after major weight loss in Ventura County
After your body contouring procedure is completed, dressings or bandages will be applied to the incisions. A thin drainage tube may be temporarily placed under the skin to drain any excess blood or fluid that may collect.
You will be given specific instructions that may include: How to care for your surgical sites, medications to apply or take orally to aid healing and reduce the risk of infection, specific concerns to look for at the surgical site or in your general health, and when to follow-up with your Plastic Surgeon in Ventura County.
Following your surgery if you experience shortness of breath, chest pains, or unusual heart beats, seek medical attention immediately. Should any of these complications occur, you may require hospitalization and additional treatment.
The results of your body contouring after major weight loss in Ventura County will be long-lasting and visible almost immediately. Swelling may last from a few weeks up to a few months after surgery, and special garments to control swelling will be recommended by your Plastic Surgeon in Ventura County. Scars will fade over time, but will never completely vanish. The overall results of your body contouring after major weight loss in Ventura County are long lasting and rewarding, provided that you maintain a stable weight and overall general fitness. As you age, it is natural to lose some firmness. However, most of your initial improvement should be relatively permanent.