Question about loose skin

[Lanie992 168]

So at my four month post-op appointment - I was complaining about still having fat on my stomach. My doctor said some of it is loose skin and that no amount of exercising will help with that. ( I exercise at the gym a minimum of 1½ hrs per day, at least 6 days a week). When I got home I really looked at my tummy & agree with the Doc.. a lot of it is just loose skin. My stomach is where all my weight goes, so of course I will have sagging skin there.. not sure why I thought I wouldn't.

Anyway, I know some people have surgery to correct this.. I do think my loose skin has improved in the past few weeks since my last appointment with him, but did time help with the loose skin issue? I don't have enough loose skin to feel like surgery would be worth it.

FYI -- I am about 4½ months out now...

If your skin did "bounce back"... how long did it take? I forgot to ask him about how long it takes for things to settle into place..

TIA.

[catwoman7 11,212]

mine didn't bounce back, but after I'd been at goal for awhile, things kind of re-distributed a bit so it didn't look quite as bad (I eventually had mine removed anyway, though...)

[Hop_Scotch 1,630]

It can be a while before skin tightens as much as it is going too, I think I read somewhere up to two years (but could be wrong about the time frame).

How much skin tightens will depend on genetics, age, environment plus history of yoyo dieting that may have resulted in big losses/gains so as the skin loses elasticity.

[Lanie992 168]

Thanks guys. This whole time I thought my weight was just being stubborn in my belly area & it was fat but when the Doctor looked at it - he said most of it was loose skin. I was surprised for some reason - I hadn't even thought of that..

So frustrating to lose all this weight and still have a roll. I might take pictures of it sometime this week and post them to see what you guys think... whether it is possible for it to shrink back up... or if you think that down the line---- if things stay the same--- I should look into getting it removed. I definitely don't want to go that route, but ugh -- I hate seeing that roll.

[catwoman7 11,212]

16 minutes ago, Lanie992 said:

Thanks guys. This whole time I thought my weight was just being stubborn in my belly area & it was fat but when the Doctor looked at it - he said most of it was loose skin. I was surprised for some reason - I hadn't even thought of that..

So frustrating to lose all this weight and still have a roll. I might take pictures of it sometime this week and post them to see what you guys think... whether it is possible for it to shrink back up... or if you think that down the line---- if things stay the same--- I should look into getting it removed. I definitely don't want to go that route, but ugh -- I hate seeing that roll.

I had a DEXAscan (not a medical one - those just tell you your bone density - this was one that also gives you your body composition. You can get them at commercial places like DEXAFit, or some universities have them in sports labs for their athletes - and sometimes the public can get them there for a decent price). I weighed 146 lbs at the time and thought I had a good 15 or so lbs to go. The technician said after the scan, "no - you're done losing". She said my body fat was 22%, which is considered lean for a female. I about flipped. All that "fat" was actually loose skin. So yea - I get it!

[catwoman7 11,212]

1 hour ago, MsMocie said:

To be honest, if you are "skinny" after 4 months you are very lucky loose skin or not. We are people here a year or more out that still have fat to loose. Count yourself lucky. Start maintance diet, take up exercise, enjoy your new body and health instead of focusing about something that no other than a partner and you will see..

^^^ she's right. For some reason I didn't catch that you were only four months out and started at 192 lbs. Most of us on here started at WAY more than that and would therefore have A LOT more loose skin - skin that will never bounce back because it's so stretched out. I lost over 200 lbs - so I was in a very different place skin-wise...