Question:
just wondering why people get loose skin?

Hi, i am now 4 1/2 mths. post and have really bad loose skin in my arm area {upper part}. I was just wondering why that part stays and does not go away after losing weight, and all the other loose skin everyone talks about too in other areas? Thanks abunch for the info I was just curious!    — Melodee S. (posted on June 16, 2003)

June 15, 2003
Think about a balloon. Before you blow it up, it is small. Then you blow it up and leave it that way for 30 years (ok, this is just an example). Then you let the air out. Yes it will get smaller but not as small as it was to begin with. Same thing with skin. It looses its elasticity after being stretched for a long period of time. As you lose weight, you lose the fat beneath the skin and even some of the skin will tighten, but depending on the elasticity of your skin, some won't -- hence the loose skin.
   — Kimberly L.

June 15, 2003
I'm only pre-op, so I haven't experienced the loose skin yet. Someone on this site answered that question not too long ago, and I thought her answer was very clever. She said something to the affect of.... take a small rubber band and put it around something large, like a drining glass. Leave it like that for some time (days/weeks). Remove the rubber band, you'll notice how much larger it is from when you first put it on the glass. Skin is very much like that. Once it is stretched out, it rarely ever shrinks completely back down. All of the excess weight that's in the "package" (skin) goes away, but the package doesn't always conform to what you've lost. Keeping muscle tone, from what I understand, is very important... it'll make plastic surgery (if that's desired) very much easier. Hope I helped... :)
   — sunneegirl

June 15, 2003
Age has a lot to do with it too. Skin loses it's elasticity with age. If they live long enough, even skinny people will get loose skin.Younger people can usually tighten up their skin with a little exercise.
   — V R.

June 15, 2003
There are a lot of factors that play into skin elasticity - the ones mentioned already, such as age, genetics, smoking, length of time one has been obese, and (for women) pregnancy, and possibly other disease processes. (Episodes of severe edema can stretch the skin also.) Don't forget gravity!
   — koogy