The soft skin is often confused with fat. We recieve hundreds of patients each week asking about their tummy and why it is not getting better eventhough they hit the gym 5 times a week?

The answer is simple, because it is not FAT! You can surely burn that fat by liposuction or hardcore cardio etc. But this nightmare does not goes anywhere if it is loose or saggy skin.

For example, after you have had breastfed, now your breasts feel like they lost its perkiness, or they are sagging, breast lift surgery would help removing the excess skin and repositioning the areola. However, after breast lift surgery, your breast size will become smaller a bit, if you want to keep the same size or go even a bit more fuller, you would need to consider breast augmentation option with breast implants.

On the other hand, if you feel like your breasts are big, heavy and saggy, you should look into the breast reduction option. Now, breast reduction surgery sounds scarier than breast lift, because everyone is looking to have big boobs and why have them reduced? Do not listen to what anyone says, this is your choice, if you feel like your breasts are a burden to you, of course you should consider removing that excess skin. After all, big and heavy
breasts limit the physical activity as well as it creates back pain.

Now, this also applies for abdominal area as well, post partum, of course the abdominal muscles get ruptured, when the abdominal muscles become seperated, the muscle wall expands(together with the abdominal skin), and the only way to make the tummy area flat is to tuck the muscle wall together. And this is possible through tummy tuck surgery. The tummy tuck surgery helps removing the excess flappy skin and corrects muscle deformities as well.

Imagine the abdomen like a baloon, while being pregnant, the abdomen skin expands and when the baby is given birth to, the baloon shrinks, but of course it does not go back to the way it exactly used to be. When a balloon shrinks, you can see the wrinkles on it, this is the same issue with the tummy area as well.

Is loose skin permanent?
-Yes, the loose skin is unfortunately permanent, going to the gym or massages do not make it go away. Unless, that loose skin is removed through surgical interventions.

Will loose skin shrink?
-After pregnancy, of course it shrinks a bit, but not in a good way, after giving birth, the tummy area shrinks, but it becomes more wrinkly. Once again, this loose skin can be treated by surgically removing it. That excess tissue can only disappear by removing it.

Loose skin after weight loss
-Gastric sleeve or gastric band surgeries are massive weight loss surgeries and if a patient loses massive amount of weight, then term for this situation is called Post- Bariatric. Just like the baloon example mentioned before, when body shrinks after weight loss, some areas become wrinkly, especially under arms, abdomen, breasts and maybe inner thighs for female patients. Female patients tend to have more saggy skin compared to males after massive weight loss period. All these areas can be treated via lifting procedures, for abdomen tummy tuck, for breasts breast lift, for arms arm lift, for thighs thigh lift…

How is the loose skin removed? Would I have scars?
-Of course there are disadvanatages to be encountered while removing this excess skin tissue. While this tissue is being removed, it has to be cut off, this would end up with scarring like vertical or horizontal scars around the body. Of course, these scars fade away in time, but these scars are permanent. Of course, they are hidden in the pubic area for abdomen or right under arms for arm lift…

But, if you want to achieve a flat&smooth look for these areas, you have to pay the price by having scars… I only have one question for your here, would you rather have a tight&flat abdomen with a scar on the pubic area or have a loose abdomen without scars?

Can loose skin look like fat?
-Yes, loose skin is often confused with fat. One way you can analyze this is through doing exercise. If you have a healthy lifestyle and doing exercise regulary and still have this stubborn ‘tissue’ in the abdominal area, then this is probably excess loose skin tissue.

You can also visit your plastic surgeon to have your case analyzed closely and your surgeon can help guiding you.