Tummy Tuck: How Gastric Bypass Patients Benefit

While gastric bypass surgery offers a great opportunity for people who are morbidly obese to change their lives, they often find themselves not left with the body they imagined. In order to finally achieve a slim and toned figure, further cosmetic surgery such as a tummy tuck is the only way. The body can only undergo so much stretching and reshaping before it is unable to return to form, which is why surgical intervention is necessary. 

It isn't even necessarily a question of vanity, but rather physical comfort as well. When someone gains excess weight, the skin is stretched to accommodate the volume. The younger the patient and the less weight that was gained, the easier it is for the skin to bounce back as the pounds are dropped. People who have undergone a surgery as serious as gastric bypass have lost a very large amount of weight, though the mass of the skin remains, resulting in excessive stretching of the skin and subsequent loss of elasticity. When the pounds start to melt away, the skin can't snap back and people are left with sagging folds that hang downwards. This happens on nearly any part of the body but is most common around the stomach and thighs. Further weight loss will only complicate the issue more. Exercise can strengthen underlying muscle, but it will have no effect whatsoever on the skin that hangs from it.

Besides being aesthetically displeasing, the excess skin can cause other problems such as rashes, difficulty wearing clothing, and general discomfort. Some people erroneously believe that liposuction can assist the problem, but that procedure is for removing minor contour imperfections. Gastric bypass patients are much more suitable for "lifting" surgeries such as the tummy tuck. This type of surgery helps cut away excess skin that hangs and can tighten what is leftover. The procedures are quite intensive with long recovery periods and several risks, but most patients are willing to take the chance in order to finally achieve the figure they've worked so hard to obtain.

During a tummy tuck, an incision is made near the pelvis region, from hip bone to hip bone. The surgeon will cut the excess skin, often referred to as an apron, and then re-drape what is left to make the most natural-appearing stomach surface as possible. If there has been damage done to the underlying abdomen muscles during weight gain or in women after pregnancy, the surgeon can repair this which will in turn make exercise more effective. Many patients have also suffered from several stretch marks following a gastric bypass; some of these will be able to be removed if they are located on the removed skin areas, but some won't be positioned in an area that can be addressed by the cosmetic surgeon. 

Formerly morbidly obese patients may still have many medical hurdles to overcome in the aftermath of their weight loss, and for this reason, a tummy tuck and any other desired cosmetic surgeries should be discussed carefully with not only the plastic surgeon but medical doctors as well. There will also be risks and complications involved which should be given consideration.