Some things just don’t bounce back. Extra skin after high weight loss is one of them. Weight loss is celebrated as the end line of a race. But what speaks much less is what happens then when your body does not pull back the way you hoped. So when should the loose skin be tightened?
For those who fall into serious weight, over 100 pounds, either through GLP-1s or with a dedicated diet and fitness program, excessive skin can be a not-so-excited reality control. You can match and then leave with a reminder of your past self hanging, literally.
Even bodybuilders, especially those who pour in extreme sizes and then cut, can deal with loose skin when losing significant muscle volume. However, Dr. Leif Rogers, A plastic surgeon certified by the boat explains that while extreme muscle loss does not usually cause the same degree of loose skin as fat loss, it can still leave some areas stretched, especially chest, hands and thighs. “Bodybuilders who lose significant size sometimes observe relaxation in areas where their skin was stretched over extreme muscle mass,” explains Dr. Rogers.
But it’s nowhere as bad as it can be with fat loss.
Dave AspreyA writer with the best sales and often offered as “Biohacking’s father”, he knows this race very well. Once it overturns the scale to 300 pounds (from fat, not muscles), it is now the weakest ever, about 5% body fat. He has also tried every trick in the book to get his skin to tighten naturally: collagen, stem cells, red light treatment. Radio frequency technology, laser, vibration of the whole body, even peptides and extracurricular.
But after years of optimization, he hit a wall when he came to tighten the loose skin.
Not anyone to hide his interventions, he recently shared an Instagram cylinder with his swollen, bruising and bandits covered. “I had 20 square inches extra skin removed from my face only”, Asprey shares. “This is two passport covers the value. And this is after trying everything.”
New Africa/Shutterstock
Is the tightening loose skin just a cosmetic issue?
Some people reject surgery surgery of the skin as “vain” or “unnecessary”. But according to Dr. Rogers, loose skin is not always just an aesthetic issue.
“If the skin relaxes significantly, it can trap moisture, leading to rashes, irritation or even infections,” explains Dr. Rogers. “In some cases, it can cause mobility problems where skin folds are rubbed together and create discomfort.”
Asprey adds that it could affect body function. “You have an extra surface that your body must manage,” he points out. “It can affect circulation, lymphatic drainage and even temperature adjustment. Your body now has all this extra tissue to cool and warm up.
And we know that biohackers are not the ones to want to lose energy.
When is the skin removal surgery necessary?
If you are in the middle of a weight loss journey, you might be wondering: I can avoid surgery entirely? Perhaps. Maybe not.
According to Asprey, for most people who only had moderate amounts of obesity and lost about 40 pounds instead of 100 pounds, they can do things such as radio frequency or laser treatments to tighten the loose skin around the neck and face. He also mentions a process-named by the non-cut facelift-with which he experimented. However, he says, “at a certain point, if you find that all these treatments are simply not going to do it because you have too much skin, then I would consider surgery, but I would wait two years.”
Dr. Rogers agrees that the safest timetable is to wait two years before surgery should cross your mind. “In general, you want to give yourself a minimum one year after hitting a steady weight before considering skin resection. In some cases, you might want to wait even more.
Patience can save you a few scars and thousands of dollars because it says: “The skin remodeles quite a bit over time and the younger you are, the better it often does.”
However, be careful about stretch marks because it says that you will stop your skin to shrink maximum. “If you have a lot of stretch marks, the skin is not going to pull back no matter what.”
Pormezz/shutterstock
Tightening loose skin without surgery
Radiofrequency micro -scale (RF)
“This is perhaps the most effective non -surgical option right now,” explains Rogers, adding that it does not only help stimulate collagen production and tighten the skin, but can also help cut more fat. But the results vary depending on the age and health of the skin. It will take at least three or four treatments to see any progress. And, he says that the rule is one -third of patients have amazing results, a third have incorporated results, and a third one sees no results or anything that is remarkable.
Laser treatment
Lasers, he says, are more effective for those looking for surface improvements. They can improve skin texture and elasticity, especially on the face. “It is better for improving texture and fine lines and work better on the face, partly because the face can handle laser energy better than the body.”
Ultrasound treatment
This was popular, but Dr. Rogers he says, he’s down to favor because the results are inconsistent. It is more effective in younger patients with mild relaxation.
Internal RF devices
For people in the middle, where the skin is loose but not bad enough for surgery, these treatments heat the deeper layers of the skin. He says he will not remove the inches of loose skin, but can make a remarkable difference. These devices provide the energy under the skin in a surgical environment where the fiber will tighten, which are collagen zones that hold your skin in place. It connects you to the deeper tissues. “When you gain weight, they get stretched out. When you lose weight, they become very loose and the skin gets very relaxed, so when you can shorten them with heat, it shrinks the skin closer to the muscles down and that sometimes it is a good solution,” explains Dr. Rogers.
However, even the best non -surgical choices have limits.
“These treatments work best for mild to moderate skin relaxation,” says Dr. Rogers. “If one has large quantities of excess skin, especially if there are stretch marks, it is unlikely that some of them will provide enough improvement to replace surgery.”
And if you are over 40, after menopause, or have significant skin damage, your effects may be less predictable.
“The younger you are, the better your skin will respond,” he explains. “But if you lose over 100 pounds, especially later in life, your skin may not recover – even with biohacking.”
Peter Porrini/Shutterstock
How much does the skin removal surgery
The recent ASPREY process was not cheap. The non -cut facelift he made in the US, he says, will cost about $ 60,000 and the longevity protocol, including the stem cells he made in Costa Rica, would start at $ 35,000. Adding to this, Dr. Rogers says surgery as a belly starting at $ 6,000.
The aforementioned non -invasive options can run from a few thousand per pack, according to Dr. Rogers, but the cost can vary in any clinic.
Is it worth surgery with skin removal?
At the end of the day, this is a personal decision. Some will choose the surgery to restore comfort and function, while others may find that non -invasive treatments offer a lot of improvement. And, of course, the depth of your wallet will play an important role as these interventions are not cheap.
But beyond the functional and aesthetic aspects, there is another part of this puzzle: the ability to feel whole and “you” again. Loose skin can be a daily reminder of the past, a disconnection between how powerful and capable of feeling inside and what you see in the mirror.
Asprey puts it bluntly: “I haven’t removed my skin for other people, I wanted to recognize my face again, now I see my valley in the way I always looked and created a change in my energy state that was very important and I think it is underestimated in the world of longevity.
