Does every one need reconstructive surgery?

[intelirish 714]

so i was some what under the impression that by having the band you lose weight slowly enough that you shouldn't need reconstructive surgery.. judging by the posts here more than a few of you have under gone some sort of surgery.. is there any one that has not had to do this?

[HotButterFly 981]

It depends how much do you have to lose, age, genetics and a whole lotta stuff.

[line-dancer 810]

exercise helps the skin replace fat with muscle but the above post is so very true. I am 65 and was 250 for 30 year so I have sagging from age as well as losing 63 lbs if I were younger I would look into surgery at this stage I am just thankful I am healthier.

[GoingforGoal 1,734]

It's a misnomer that slow exercise yields taught skin. What happens, as line implied, is you are replacing the fat with muscle thus maintaining some stretch in the skin. Whereas without weight training, there is more elasticity in the skin. However, no matter how much you workout , there are some areas where the skin has been so excessively streteched (stomach is most common) that you cannot build enough muscle there to counteract this effect.

Many factors like how overweight you are, how long you have been overweight, where you carried your weight, your age, your genetics etc all play into how well your skin will rebound.

I am making no claims here, but so far, the only woman I have seen with taught looking skin are the young 20s who had no babies and havent been overweight as long as my peers in their 30/40s after kids and holding 100+ lbs for 20-40 years.

I have been overweight all my life, but obese for 18-20 years, have had 3 kids. I just lost 100 lbs and am now going in for cosm surgery. I need a Tummy Tuck, breast lift and implants (part wl part breastfeeding) and an arm lift (I carried alot of weight in my arms and some are fortunate to not)

[Sojourner 2,446]

Hazelsbliss shared some comprehensive information which is quite accurate IMO.

The only additional thoughts which I would like to add are that the age, motivation and financial resources of the individual to have the more aesthetically pleasing body post weight loss are factors as well.

Realistically, I probably would benefit from a TT, but do I have the motivation to go through the trauma and recovery for an optional surgery? A resounding NO. My husband has put that choice in my court, and for the relatively small amount of excess skin I have post weight loss to date, I'm just not motivated to go through another surgery unless it is medically necessary. If the individual has large amounts of excess skin, then it could be considered medically necessary, especially if there are chronic skin irritations.

So for my age, the history of having 5 surgeries within 14 months(band placement was the only optional one), I am quite content with just a small amount of excess stomach skin.

I have no doubt that other's mileage does vary...