loose skin

Hi Stacey, Dr. Sonnanstine did my gastric bypass last November.  In my opinion, he's the absolute best!

One thing I was also concerned about before surgery was hanging skin.  So far, I've lost 171 lbs and have 95 more to go.  I do have loose skin.  My arms are saggy.  My stomach is saggy.  And my boobs...well....let's just say my underwire bra is my new best friend!   So far I've been lucky that I've not had any medical issues with it (rashes, back pain, etc) so it's all cosmetic for me.   This would be a question to ask the doctor, but it's my understanding that there's really very little you can do to prevent loose skin.   That you can tone the muscle underneath the skin but once the skin is damaged...it's not going to go back to the way it was originally.  And that a lot of things play into how much or how little loose skin a person will have such as how much they weigh starting out, how long they've been overweight, genetics, luck.....that kind of thing!  But, in all honesty, I'm much more aware of the loose skin than anyone else is.  I've been very self-conscious of it and a couple of guys I've dated didn't think twice about it.   They didn't know me before surgery so I was afraid the hanging skin would be a big turn off....it wasn't.   And as another example...this summer I wore a sleeveless top when I was with my family.  I raised my arm to do something and could feel my 'batwing' starting to take flight.  My niece looked at my arm so I knew she saw.....I made a joke acknowledging that I knew she saw and that it was okay.  Just know that this niece is VERY outspoken and always says what is on her mind.  All she said was "I was just thinking that your arms look skinnier than they used to look."    That's when I first realized that I was much more aware of the skin than other's were.  (And that's when I told my niece that she was my favorite niece!)