Question:
Excess Skin, Concerns, Rumor and Urban Myth?

Hi everyone- I'm still quite new here so please bear with me. Is it dangerous to have loose empty skin just hanging around after surgery? Several years ago, I saw a talk show with a woman who had WLS. After she lost all of her weight, I remember she had a problem with gangrene infesting the excess skin, so obviously she needed it removed for medical reasons. Has anyone else heard of something like this? Any other medical issues related to excess skin? I also heard that hospital burn centers will work with you to remove excess skin if you donate it to burn victims, for those of us who might not have insurance for skin removal. Anyone heard of this? Thanks a bunch- Mea    — Mea A. (posted on February 1, 2003)

February 1, 2003
The question over if burn centers or other facilities will take your skin is totally a myth. That question came up at my last support group meeting. We had a guest speaker, who was the new plastic surgeon where I had my WLS and he said that the skin that is removed from someone that had WLS is so stretched out and thin that it is not usable at all.
   — DRutherford

February 1, 2003
Hi. My name is Rona and I am the Bariatric Surgery Program Coordinator for a large hospital in Alabama. I am also an RNY patient. The only reason I am telling you my professional position is so that you'll feel comfortable and secure in the answer I'm going to give you. First - it is ABSOLUTELY an urban myth that you can donate your excess skin to a burn unit. Our skin has been stretched to carry so much excess body fat that it no longer has the integrity necessary for donated skin. In addition to this - skin that is harvested for grafting is done in a totally different manor than a panniculectomy is done. In a perfect world it would be a great idea but we simply are unable to donate our excess skin to burn units in exchange for free tummy tucks or even just as a goodwill gesture. As far as getting gangrene in excess skin....it is very common to develope yeast infections in the fold of the panniculous which hangs down in the lower abdominal area. However, the only way to really become septic (develope gangrene) would require horrid hygiene practices and very long term skin infections that were left untreated. It would be unbelievably painful and I've never, ever heard of it happening. Even in that event I'm not sure if sepsis would be the likely outcome. You can basically put your fears to rest. The excess skin is mostly just a pain in the neck that we think up creative ways to diguise. Best wishes to you!!!
   — ronascott

February 1, 2003
I'd agree with Rona on not having the excess skin cause gangrene, but the yeast infections can also be very painful and are not always easy to clear up. A couple of other things that can happen with excess skin are back pain because it is pulling on your back muscles, and, if you really have a lot, it can hang down and interfere with your being able to walk correctly. Many insurance companies won't approve the panniculectomy because they consider it 'cosmetic', but may approve for medical reasons. I'm also glad to see people debunking that horrid old myth about excess skin being donated in exchange for its removal. I know there's more than just the fact that our skin has been stretched. If you do a search on Shriner's and then look for burn units, there's some information from them about that particular urban myth. I had the URL for it, but can't find it now.
   — garw

February 1, 2003
Here's the URL for the answer from Shriner's on skin donation. http://www.shrinershq.org/WhatsNewArch/Archives02/skin4-02.html
   — garw