This plastic surgery procedure can treat different areas of the body that tend to sag after weight loss such as the buttocks, breasts, abdomen, and thighs.  But for patients who have lost a significant amount of weight, they will most likely benefit from combining “isolated” body lift techniques; for example, individuals who have an excess flap of skin around the hips, buttocks, and thighs are recommended to have lower body lift, while those who have sagging skin in the lower rib cage and back are best suited to have upper body lift surgery.

To perform the lower body lift, plastic surgeons create a belt-shaped incision around the waist and down the inner thighs.  In this way, they can remove the excess fats and skin, lift the buttocks, and improve the overall figure.

But since the procedure does not treat the excess skin and tissue around the abdominal area, plastic surgeons usually complement this with abdominoplasty or what is more commonly referred as tummy tuck surgery.

Contrary to a popular belief, tummy tuck and other body lift techniques are not just performed for aesthetic reasons.  In fact, this procedure is used to treat the physical symptoms associated with panniculus—hanging skin and fats around the abdomen—such as foul odor, breakdown of skin, ulcers, non-healing irritation, and back problems due to the weight of the excess tissue.

Meanwhile, massive weight loss patients may also need upper body lift in which plastic surgeons create an excision along the bra-line skin that will allow them to remove the back fat rolls and narrow the waist.  With this approach, they can also eliminate the excess skin under the breasts, and then lift the abdominal skin by suturing it to the lower rib cage.

For patients who have developed excess skin in their upper extremities, they are recommended to have upper arm lift surgery which involves an incision that is placed on the inside of the arm extending to the elbow, or across the underarm if there is only a minimal amount of hanging tissue.

As with any plastic surgery, body lift involves risk of scarring, although the incision lines are usually hidden to make them less noticeable.

This plastic surgery may target the abdomen, thighs, breasts, buttocks, arms, and other parts of the body that have excess skin and tissue and pockets of fats which do not respond to any rigorous exercise and diet.

As with any plastic surgery, body lift comes with certain risks such as excessive bleeding, unnecessary scarring, infection, asymmetrical appearance, and delayed healing.  For such reason, it is important for patients to only consult with board certified plastic surgeons who have extensive experience in this field.

To make sure that the result will most likely last a lifetime, most plastic surgeons only perform the procedure to patients whose weight has already stabilized for at least six months to a year.  However, certain individuals may be required to wait for more than one year since their body may be suffering from malnutrition due to the lower intake of food.

Because of the invasiveness of the procedure, plastic surgeons usually perform body lift under general anesthesia which puts people to a state similar to sleep.  Meanwhile, the surgery may take four to seven hours, or depending on which area needs to be treated.

If the surgery will target the lower body, doctors place a belt-like incision above the outer thighs and buttocks.  In this way, they can separate the skin in the thigh, remove any excess tissue, and put deep sutures to support the new contour.  After the necessary alternations have been made, they will perform tummy tuck to improve the abdominal region.

If needed, doctors also conduct liposuction to further smoothen out the appearance of the thighs and abdomen by removing the excess, bulging fats.

On the other hand, surgeons use a different incision site in treating the upper body.  To remove the excess skin in the back, they create an excision along the bra-line skin that will allow them to eliminate the sagging tissue and fats under the breasts.  Once the necessary alterations have been made, they will tighten the skin in the area and then suture the abdominal skin to the lower rib cage.

To target a specific body area, plastic surgeons have developed “isolated” body lift procedures such as arm lift, butt lift, thigh lift, neck lift, breast lift, abdominoplasty (more commonly referred as tummy tuck), and panniculectomy.

In most cases, massive weight loss patients—or those who shed more than 100 lbs. of weight—will benefit with a full body lift which targets the pockets of fats and hanging skin and tissue in the midsection, extremities, and lower body.  In this way, their body’s contour will appear “smoother” and slimmer.

Because of the invasiveness of the full body lift, some plastic surgeons prefer to use “isolated” procedures or at least perform these one at a time.  In this way, they can minimize bleeding, surgical trauma, and other risk of complications.

One of the most popular “isolated” techniques is the lower body lift since most of the excess skin and tissue and pockets of fats accumulate in areas such as the hips, thighs, and buttocks.  In this approach, plastic surgery specialists create a belt-like incision from the waist, across the lower abdomen, and down to the inner thighs.

Through these incisions, plastic surgeons can remove the excess skin and fats, lift the buttocks, and “smoothen” the contour of the lower body.

Because it is difficult to address the excess skin in the abdominal area through this approach, many patients choose to combine this with abdominoplasty or mid body lift surgery.

Mid body lift, which is also called as torsoplasty, is a plastic surgery procedure that treats the abdominal area all the way down to the thighs.  Meanwhile, this approach uses the same incision sites utilized in the lower body lift.

Through the incisions made around the waist, doctors can access the abdominal muscles which are then reshaped and pulled together to create a slimmer waistline and a flatter stomach.

While the result of body lift surgery can last a lifetime, this can be affected with weight fluctuations.  For this reason, patients are advised to engage in regular exercise and eat in moderation.

In a study conducted by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, arm lift is one of the most commonly performed plastic surgery procedures for massive weight loss patients who usually develop a significant amount of fat and skin hanging under their upper arms.  But in some cases, the procedure is also performed on thin individuals who have sagging arms due to aging and genetic predisposition.  (In some cases, even rigorous exercises and strength training cannot address the drooping skin in this area.)

The arm lift surgery, which usually takes one to three hours to complete (or depending on the extent of the procedure), involves the use of general anesthesia.  However, some plastic surgeons recommend the use of local anesthesia with intravenous sedation that will make their patients heavily sedated and numb but still awake.

Once the anesthesia has taken its effect, doctors will make incisions on the back or inside of the arm which may travel from the underarm to above the elbow.  In some severe cases of excess skin, the incision even starts in the chest particularly to massive weight loss patients or individuals who lost more than 100 lbs.

But for patients who only have a minimal excess skin, a shorter incision located in the area where the inner upper arms meets the underarm is enough to reshape this region.

Through the incisions, plastic surgery specialists can eliminate the bulging fats using liposuction, trim the excess skin, and reshape the tissue.  The remaining skin is then tightened and closed usually with absorbable sutures or stitches that should be removed one or two weeks following the arm lift surgery.

As with any plastic surgery, arm lift involves certain risks such as unnecessary scarring, excessive bleeding, delayed healing, infection, and asymmetrical appearance.  For these reasons, most doctors require massive weight loss or post-bariatric patients to wait at least a year after their weight has stabilized and their body is no longer nutritionally deficient.

To reduce the risk of serious complications, doctors also require smokers to quit the habit well in advance of their surgery since the nicotine and other chemicals found in the cigarettes can delay the body’s healing ability, thus predisposing patients to greater risk of infection and skin necrosis (or death of skin tissue that results to unnecessary scarring).

To address the excess skin and fats, plastic surgery often in the form of tummy tuck, arm lift, thigh lift, lower body lift, liposuction, and skin removal is the most effective solution.

In order to have a better understanding of the body lift for massive weight loss patients, here is the list of the most frequently asked questions:

(Thigh  Lift  Before  and  After  Photos)

1.)    Question:  When it is safe to have body lift surgery?

Answer:  It will depend on how long a patient can achieve a stable, ideal weight and adjust to the sudden change in diet, but for most people, it takes about a year although some would take even longer.

2.)    Q:  Is the cost covered by health insurance?

A:  If the hanging skin around the abdomen or entire lower trunk results to breakdown of skin, foul odor, back strain, and other medical problems, there is a chance that the cost of body lift for massive weight loss patients is covered by insurance companies.  But if the procedure is solely used to improve one’s appearance, this is generally not included in the policy.

3.)    Q:  Is it okay to perform several body lift procedures in one operation?

A:  It is not uncommon to have sagging skin in several parts of the body (e.g., thighs, upper arms, abdomen, and back) if a person has lost more than 100 pounds.  For this reason, some patients opt to have two or more surgeries performed at the same time; while this is sometimes acceptable, most doctors believe that an operation that is performed more than six hours can increase the surgical trauma and other risks.

4.)    Q:  What is the most common type of body lift for massive weight loss patients?

A:  Abdominoplasty or tummy tuck surgery is the most common procedure because the abdomen has the most tendency to develop hanging skin that may even reach the pubic area.

5.)    Q:  Why are smokers often turned down to have body lift?

A:  Smokers are extremely prone to suffer from delayed healing and skin necrosis (death of skin tissue) because the nicotine constricts the blood vessels, preventing oxygen from reaching the incision site.  However, quitting the habit at least two weeks prior the surgery can significantly reduce the risk of complications.

6.)    Q:  Is there any permanent scarring?

A:  While the formation of scar is a tradeoff for having a better contour, the incision sites are at least located in hidden areas (slightly above the pubic region, in the inner or back of the arm, and along the bra-line).

That specialty handles the surgical reduction of stomachs for the very obese. Bariatric surgeries, including lap band surgery, reduce the size of the stomach to only hold a few ounces of food.

The lap band procedure puts a restrictive ring around the entrance to the stomach while other bariatric surgeries surgically reduce the stomach or bypass the large intestines.

It is very, very serious business so the patients go through many months of counseling and testing to make sure they can adapt to life after the procedure.

Able to eat very little, the weight literally drops off the patient.

After the patient has lost 100 or 150 pounds, another problem develops: loose, hanging skin that requires a plastic surgeon for body shaping, which is also known as body contouring.

In one recent Big Medicine episode, an elementary school principle had the surgery on her 400+ pound body and later lost massive amounts of weight.

But when she held her arms out, about two feet of skin hung from her arms, a condition known as “bat wings.” A drooping apron of excess skin on her stomach hung almost to her knees.

For the bat wings, plastic surgeons make a long incision from the armpit to the elbow on the underside of the arm to hide the scar.

When she returned to work, she showed the school children where the surgeons used glue, instead of stitches, in the redundant skin removal procedure.

In one test, plastic surgeons used fibrin glue on100 face lift patents and stitches on another 100 similar face lift patients. One surgeon performed all the face lifts, using the same surgical technique.

Results? The glue group had fewer complications after surgery and zero percent of prolonged swelling, bruising and hardness. But 22 percent of the sutures group had those after effects.

It’s because surgeons seal muscle layers with glue as they finish the surgery. (Read more about the benefits of glue used in face lift surgery.)

The glue also resulted in much less downtime after surgery and a quicker return to the job.

Ever had surgery? Did you have stitches?