Post Weight Loss Surgery

After major weight loss, whether through bariatric surgery, weight loss injections or diet and exercise, skin that has been stretched for years rarely shrinks back fully. Exercise builds the muscle underneath but cannot remove the skin, which is why surgery is the only way to take it away; our guide to loose skin after weight loss explains why it happens. Matching the area to the procedure:

• An overhanging apron of skin on the lower tummy: a panniculectomy, which removes the apron, or an extended tummy tuck, which also tightens the muscles and continues round the flanks.
• Loose skin across and down the tummy: a fleur de lis tummy tuck, which adds a vertical scar to the horizontal one.
• Loose skin all the way round the waist, hips and buttocks: a lower body lift, or a buttock lift for the buttocks alone, with a male body lift planned around a male build.
• A sagging pubic area: a mons lift.
• Rolls of skin on the back: a bra line back lift or lower back lift, or an upper body lift for the back, sides and chest together.
• Loose skin on the upper arms or inner thighs: an arm lift or thigh lift.
• Deflated, sagging breasts: a breast lift.

If you are not sure where to start, our page on excess skin removal surgery sets out every option in one place.

Once your weight has been stable for several months and you are at or close to your goal. Operating while you are still losing weight means more loose skin appears afterwards, and a stable weight also means better healing. If you are taking weight loss injections, your surgeon will discuss when to pause them around surgery, because they slow stomach emptying, which matters for anaesthetic safety. Our article on skin removal surgery after rapid weight loss covers timing in more detail, and our guide to skin removal surgery on the NHS explains the eligibility criteria if you are considering that route.

Most people need more than one operation, and they are usually staged rather than done at once. The tummy and waist are commonly treated first, with the arms, thighs, back or breasts at a later operation, so that each one stays within safe limits for operating time and blood loss. Your surgeon agrees the whole plan at consultation, and each stage is consented separately. Our guide to body lift surgery after massive weight loss explains what to expect at each stage.

Every post weight loss operation is performed by a GMC-registered consultant plastic surgeon, and the surgeon who assesses you at consultation is the surgeon who operates. Operations take place under TIVA or local anaesthetic with sedation, depending on the procedure, at our Baker Street hospital, rated Good overall by the Care Quality Commission. Excess skin is often a medical problem as well as a cosmetic one, causing rashes and infection in skin folds, and we assess both.

You can see real patient results in our tummy tuck before and after photos, arm lift results and thigh lift before and after photos, and prices in our cosmetic surgery cost guides. We recommend a two-week cooling-off period before any surgical procedure.