Is this normal after LBL

I am 5 weeks post LBL and find that I am very tight when I am standing but if I sit or lean over I still have  loose skin under my breast down to my bellybutton..I did not notice this until most of the swelling went down..I was wandering how common this is and what is involved to correct it.
Thanks,
Sherry

Hi Sherry,

Did you have the anchor cut with your lower body lift?  I am 4 1/2 weeks post op, and I know I will still have some loose skin in the same area as you do.  I knew I would because I chose not to have the anchor cut (vertical cut) on my tummy.  I would ask your Dr about it if you are not completely happy.

Jessica

Thanks Jessica for the quick reply.... I did not..just the LBL with butt lift..I am happy with the results but  thought I would be totally flat with no excess skin left.
Thanks,
Sherry

Nope, I'm the same way. I think the only way I was going to get rid of that was w/ the anchor cut and I didn't want to have the big vertical incision. Totaly not bad at all, I just have to remember to sit up straight. I think mine got a little bit better when I had my breast lift and gets a little bettter each month. I just keep working out and doing crunches and hopeing that will help w/ tighen the skin.

Sonya

Hi Sherry -
Yes,  I had  the same issue, but did not have an anchor type cut.  When I had my arms done on Halloween, they extended my incisions down my flanks to my old scar and removed 4 inches of additional skin from each side. I love the new shape!

yes I have the same issue I didn't want the vertical cut, so I stand straight, but from the belly buttton down it is so tight it always feel like I have a girdle on I love it

Im glad to hear Im not the only one with this problem. Im about 15 months out and I still have loose skin when I sit or lean over from my belly button up. When I get my breast lift Im going to have the doc pull the skin up and remove some. The 2 docs Ive seen about my breast have agreed to do it. Now I just got to save a little more and pick a doc. :)   Brandi

My surgeon cautioned me that this could be a problem because the skin of massive weight loss patients is severly compromised and is non-elastic and stretches.  Fortunately for me, I am very tight all the way around at over two years out from my LBL.  I give most of the credit to my surgeons - I had two board certified plastic surgeons who worked on me for this procedure and they did a great job.  I was very fortunate. 

This is a very common issue.  While the lower body work will effectively address excess skin and loose muscle......the surgery only works on the area that is addressed by surgery.

As weight loss patients, we have several areas that do not retract as the weight is lost....consequently we are left with lots of excess skin. 

Your upper abdomen looseness can be addressed in a couple of ways.  For me, mine was taken care of during my breast lift.  The surgeon simply pulled the excess skin up and removed it, did some upper ab muscle tightening and gave me a nice breast lift.  It's good to be rid of the rocks in socks breast, but also nice to have a tight upper ab area.

It depends on your skin distribution: did you have a vertical excess or horizontal excess of skin before surgery ?

Vertical excess is corrected by loosening the skin all the way to the ribs during TT, and designing a direction of pull that smooths the skin. Like smoothing a bedspread in multiple directions. A reverse TT can also be done.

Horizontal excess is addressed by an anchor or Fleur-de-lis TT.

On http://www.drlomonaco.com/houston-body-lift-surgery.shtml

Cases 1, 7, and 9 are examples of vertical excess, corrected by simply "loosening high" and "pulling low" using the high lateral tension technique. (developed by Dr Ted Lockwood)

Cases 7 and 13 are examples of significant horizontal excess that would traditionally be corrected by an anchor or Fleur-de-lis. I managed to escape the vertical cut because of these individuals'  good skin elasticity.