Skin, Skin and More Skin

So I am still just starting out my weight loss journey and I am wondering how much excess skin people have. My sister had a RNY about 7 years ago and she lost about 100 pound and does not have much extra skin. I am wondering how it has worked out for others.

Thank!

I still have a bit to go, so I expect my loose skin will get much worse.  Right now it is mostly on my stomach, arms and a little on my thighs.  Small price to pay to a new, healthy life.

When I was 38 I lost 83 pounds by diet and exercise alone... it took me 9 months and I didn't have a single inch of sagging skin anywhere!  Of course, I gained all that back and more *sigh*.  Now I'm 52 and have lost about the same amount but in only 5 months - and even though I still have 50+ more to go this time, I am seeing lots of extra skin this time around.  Especially my arms and neck.

So - I think age has a lot to do with it... as well as how fast you lose the weight.  

In classes prior to surgery, they said to give it an extra 6 months after you lose all your weight to know whether or not some of that skin will shrink up on it's own.  

I was 41 when I had my surgery, and had been M.O. for over 20 years at that point, so I knew I was in for melting candle syndrome. I lost 153 lbs total, 140 after surgery. (I had a 13 lb regain that is half gone, was never so happy to see the saggy tummy skin again. )

Most of the time, I find my bat wings, flying squirrel wings ( my sides ), and wrinkly tummy highly amusing. Sometimes it gets me down, but then I remember how absolutely miserable I was when all that skin was filled with fat...and I get over it.

"... melting candle syndrome..."  LOVE THAT!

From personal observation after attending many bariatric support groups and seminars, my best guess is that about 80% of us have enough loose skin to warrant plastic surgery. We are a lumpy bumpy group of people. Some learn to live with it but many of us have plastic surgery. I had plastic surgery to address my worst parts and have made peace with the rest.

Thank you all for sharing. I've also heard that muscle tone helps with making the sink look less "saggy". I will just have to wait and see. :)

Age is always a factor.. but also body type. My friend had WLS before me.. she carried a lot of weigh in her arms/legs.. when she lost weight her stomach looked pretty decent but her arms especially were still very large. I carried most of my weight in my stomach... I still had excess on my arms/legs at goal but my stomach was by far the worst... as years passed thou, the excess skin has started to sag more/look worse... my arm skin started to get more stretch marks and hanging down further... my wrists/arms are very small so the excess hanging off looked worse than if my arms were a little bigger.

Either way I tell everybody start saving for PS now.. I wish I had started early. I hit 9 years last month and so far had an extended TT, lipo with fat injections into my buttox, arm lift, breast lift, breast augmentation, scar revision on the arm lift and am hoping for a thigh lift and maybe some revision work on my TT (if I can afford)... I have a TON of stretch marks on my stomach, sides... I had the TT back in 2011 and the skin has relaxed... there is no way its going to be super smooth tight because of all the damaged skin but a touch up would help. My friend on the other hand has a perfect stomach after her TT... she has a little bit of stretch marks, but not a lot and her skin has stayed tight even after all these years.

Thanks so much for sharing! Its so hard to tell. My sister said that she flet like working out really helped with her skin (she is 7 years post op and looks great with very little extra skin). I hope that our skin shares simular genitic code! lol

It's virtually certain you will have some but no one can really predict how much.  The heavier, older, and more time you've spent overweight, the less elasticity your skin will have.  However, there are also completely independent factors like genetics.