Dallas Plastic Surgery Institute Plastic Surgery Center

  In the past decade, obesity has reached epidemic proportions. Fortunately, recent medical advances such as gastric bypass, gastric sleeve, or lap band have allowed patients to quickly and safely lose tremendous amounts of weight. However, weight gain results in changes in the skin which cannot be reversed with weight loss. These changes are evident in the face, arms, abdomen, breasts, hips, buttocks, and thighs.   There are numerous procedures designed to improve the body contour after weight loss such as face and neck lift (rhytidectomy), tummy tuck (abdominoplasty), breast lift (mastopexy), arm lift (brachioplasty), thigh lift (thigh plasty), and liposuction. It is critical for the surgeon and patient to prioritize these procedures and proceed with a safe and precise plan.   Safety is the most important issue and should never be compromised. A general rule of thumb is to limit the time for each surgery to six hours, limit blood loss to avoid a transfusion, and prevent blood clots from forming in the legs which can be a life- threatening condition (deep venous thrombosis). Generally, it is necessary to stage these procedures, giving the patient time to fully recover before undertaking another procedure.