Post-op ? about skin?

Hello everyone- After you have the surgery and lose the weight I hear that if your young and your skin still has elasticity then you won't have to have any surgery done on ur arms, thighs, breasts, butt or anywhere except maybe the stomach. How true is it? Please tell me. I'm 21 and the excess skin will be an issue at least on my tummy bc of the stretch marks. I heard where there are stretch marks the skin doesn't go back. Thanks ~April~ May 13, 2005 surgery scheduled.

Sometimes being young can help, but it depends on the person, and genetics, and how long you've been big, etc. Stretch marks are like scar tissue, so they have 0 elasticity, so you are right, whereever there are stretch marks, your skin isn't going to bounce back. I'm 23, and I am no where near goal yet, but I think that I am going to want to have my tummy, thighs and breasts done. I've heard that the arm surgery is the most painful one (probably because a person uses their arms so much, and moves them more after surgery), so I want to avoid that one if at all possible.

I would have to argue the stretch mark comment. My sister was very heavy growing up and has stretch marks, lost all of her weight and now has a flat and very nicely defined tummy. I had surgery in december, am down to 145 and my stomach is for the most part flat. The only thing I'm working on now is toning. I think it's different for everyone and depends on how much weight you have to lose. So, what I've experienced so far is that yes, even if you have stretch marks, your skin CAN go back just fine, but the stretch marks are with you forever. Everything though depends, like mentioned before, mainly on how much you have to lose as far as if you'll have hanging skin or need plastic surgery. I was 224 the day of surgery, so I wasn't very big at all and since December I'm already down to 145. But then there's my boyfriend (he's 29) who was 405 the day of surgery and now he's down to 248...he's going to have to have plastic surgery...not only on his stomach, but also his underarms and inner thighs. It's different for everyone.

Another thing to keep in mind is how much you exercise! You can't just expect it to go back on it's own!! I'm working out like crazy and I've only been out 7 weeks. My trainer told me that if I keep up this workout then my skin will strech back because I'm only 20, and my skin has more elasticity!! Good luck!