Time between reaching goal and plastic surgery?

I constantly read opinions in WLS groups that a person should wait a year between reaching goal weight and having plastic/reconstructive surgery.

I know many plastic surgeons and they all have different thoughts on this but only one, so far, thinks it has to be a full year. Most don't seem to have a set wait time and seem to use a combination of factors for each individual patient and surgery.

In my case, my upper arms where 22.5" around before surgery and 16" now. About 1/3 of my arm circumference is wrinkly, hanging skin with a small amount of fat. I can't shave my underarms unless someone holds the skin out of the way and the door is gross. Two plastic surgeons have told me I can have the extra skin removed as soon as I get to 180 pounds. I'm over 60 and my skin is never going to firm up 5", so i don't see any benefit in waiting.

I'm really curious about why the one year wait seems to be such a hard fast rule on WLS sites.

My plastic surgeon said he wanted me at a weight where I never would be more than 10 pounds larger or smaller for life.

That is because losing or gaining can affect the results of the plastic surgery.

Most people settle into their final weight at about year three.

I was 60 and did not wait a year. I had a tummytuck at 15 months after surgery.

I sort of wonder if the year is there on sites to make people really think about it and not rush?

I always said that I'd wait a year after reaching goal because your body settles and shifts and it makes sense to let that happen prior to investing in plastics. I still feel that way.

And I've got plastics scheduled in 8 weeks (from last Monday!) but I'm 12 pounds away from my pre-plastics goal. So.. yeah.

For me, there are a lot of factors going on, but the main one is available time. I'm finishing my AA in May and then my BSes will all be online, so I'll have time to recover at home without any regular commitments. I also want to start working in my field in January 2018 and, once I start working, it'll be hard for me to get the time off that I'd need for surgery because I'll be NEW. So this means there's a lot of "if I don't do it now, I'm looking at 3-4 years from now." I'm not okay with waiting that long because the big reason I'm getting plastic surgery is because studies show that people who have plastics post-massive weight loss are move likely to maintain that weight loss.

I figure that any extra weight I lose post-plastics will still leave my body looking better than it looks now, pre-plastics. And, worst case, I can always get a revision in 10 years, or whatever, if I decide I need it.

Part of me does feel like I'm being stupid and rushing into this before I've lost as much weight as I should. But the majority part of me knows this is the right choice.

And, best part, my surgeons (both bariatric and plastic) have told me that my body is ready for plastic surgery. Since I trust them, that eases my self-doubt a bit.

But I'm still going to work to lose as much weight as I can in the next 8 weeks.

Interesting fact about people who have plastics maintain their weight better. I lost a lot of weight (almost 200lbs) years ago and managed to keep most of it off for almost ten years but eventually well over 100lbs crept back on. I had looked into plastics at the time of my weight loss but didn't have the $$ or the ability to be out of work that long. I had always suspected that plastics would have helped me maintain that initial weight loss. I had my 3 month appointment today (at 3.5 months) and was asked if I was considering plastics eventually. I definitely am! And this time I won't hesitate when the time comes. I can take out loans if needed.

I definitely feel like plastics will help me maintain - not just because the whole "omg, I put myself through surgery" but also the "OMG, I SPENT $50000 on this?!" You bet I'm not going to "waste" that. I'm very financially driven :P I loathe wasting money on things. I almost think it's good for me that insurance is paying nothing, because that means I have an even greater buy-in. Literally.

I also think that plastics, for me, might be sort of like wearing clothes that are form fitting as opposed to loose clothes? Gaining weight becomes uncomfortable when my clothes are form fitting and I have the desire not to buy bigger clothes - ever. I wonder if having "form fitting" skin will have the same impact?

I got my arms done a month after reaching my goal weight (15 months post-RNY). The flappy batwings made me feel insane. I figured even if I did gain or lost a little it would not affect my arms much. I did wait 3 years before having my torso work done because I wanted to make sure I could maintain my weight.

The surgery I just can't wait a year + for is skin removal on my upper arms.

Partly because I need some orthopedic work done on one shoulder ASAP but mostly because the lose skin flops over my underarms and I can't shave them. Actually there is so much flapping skin that, if I put my hands up over my head, I can't even see my underarms!

That makes sense. Personally, I do not think arms change that much. If you do have any more loose arm skin as you lose more weight it will be nothing like you deal with now.

Ultimately, this is a decision between you and your surgeon--you know best. But, what if you lose more than you expect? I'm not sure what your goal is, but what if your weight ends up closer to 140 or 150 and you have more excess skin than you do at 180?

My surgeon wanted me at goal weight for at least at year (which I was). I only had a TT and breast lift (no arms).

The reason I was given was "what if you lose more weight". I had been obese my entire adult life so my skin was definitely not going to "bounce back".

My only recommendation is to make sure you go to a plastic surgeon who is expert in working with bariatric surgery patients.