Suffering from excessive or loose skin in the breast, underarms, and abdomen post weight-loss surgery

Are you suffering from excessive or loose skin in the breast, underarms, and abdomen post weight-loss surgery?

‍

In a study done on patients who underwent excessive weight loss, 86% of the participants stated that their body image adversely affected their socializing before skin lift surgery.¹

After excessive weight loss, weight gain, or aging, patients suffer from excessive or loose skin in the breast, underarms, and abdomen.^2,3 There are plastic surgeries that effectively reduce the amount of loose skin, increasing firmness and providing an aesthetically pleasing result for the patient. Table 1 highlights some of the most common side effects of extra or loose skin in patients.

An arm lift, or brachioplasty, tightens the underarm area by removing excess tissue and reshaping the region. The same technique is performed in the breast and abdomen through mastopexy and abdominoplasty. In some cases, the excessive tissue removed from these areas can augment the breast. This is known as auto-augmentation, which is a process that uses the patient’s tissue to augment and reshape the breast after substantial weight loss. Breast autogemination surgery can be done safely and efficiently when patients undergo an arm lift or abdominoplasty.⁴  Table 2 highlights the different surgeries to treat loose skin and excess fat.

 In a Swedish study done in 2021, 70% of post-bariatric patients asked for an abdominoplasty to treat their excessive or loose skin.⁵ A typical abdominoplasty patient might lose between 4 to 15 pounds of body weight, depending on the amount of excess skin and fat removed from the area.

Potential risks may involve difficulty in wound healing, risk of infection, excessive bleeding, harm to lymphatic tissue leading to swelling in the arm, damage to adjacent nerves, complications arising from anesthesia, persistent pain, and the possibility of blood clots such as pulmonary embolism, as well as the formation of thick or widened scars.

Qualifying exams should be done to ensure the patient is fit to undergo these surgeries. Please consult your surgeon.

‍

Table 1: Side effects of extra or looseskin

Inflammation and rash symptoms

Increased chances of infection of the area

Difficulty in keeping the area clean which increases the chances of bacterial growth

Increased low self-esteem

Table 1: Side effects of extra or loose skin

Table 1 highlights some of the most common side effects of extra or loose skin in patients.

‍
References

1. Alzahrani KJ, Kattan AE, Ezzat LA, Alsaleh SA, Murad KA, Alghamdi BA. A Psychosocial Analysis of the Effect of Body-Contouring Surgery on Patients After Weight Loss.; 2017.

2. Elander A, Biörserud C, Staalesen T, Ockell J, Fagevik Olsén M. Aspects of excess skin in obesity, after weight loss, after body contouring surgery and in a reference population. Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases. 2019;15(2):305-311. doi:10.1016/j.soard.2018.10.032

3. Biörserud C, Olbers T, Staalesen T, Elander A, Olsén MF. Understanding excess skin in postbariatric patients: objective measurements and subjective experiences. Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases. 2016;12(7):1410-1417. doi:10.1016/j.soard.2016.01.033

4. Swanson E. Letter to the Editor A Critical Appraisal of Breast Autoaugmentation in Post-Bariatric Surgery Patients. doi:10.1093/asj/sjz360

5. Elander A, Biörserud C, Fagevik Olsén M. Excess skin after weight loss following bariatric surgery: focus on the abdomen. Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases. 2021;17(5):986-993. doi:10.1016/j.soard.2021.01.005