Extra Skin After Surgery --- - ThinnerTimes

smilesarepriceless · 03-23-2005, 01:53 PM

hi ladies ( and gentleman) -

I hope all are having a fantastic day! if not, tomorrow brings a fresh start.

I have a question regarding skin after surgery from your personal experiences/knowledge base.

Do all who have this surgery have huge excess folding skin all over?

If so, is tummy tuck that i hear so often about post surgery, the reason for this?

My questions mainly stem from the thought of are there people who have this surgery and don't need to have more skin removal surgeries (due to their exercising, etc..) are the odds high that the excess skin is everywhere and problematic for a normal life?

bridgetgirl · 03-23-2005, 02:16 PM

I have alot of hanging skin over some of my 2000 parts. I had a tummy tuck and a thigh lift. Exercise will not elevate your excess skin no matter what. Some people believe it does, if thats the case then Barbara Rutherford should be tighter than a drum.... she's not and either a i or the majority of folks i know. Some people elect to haveit removed such as myself because i was very uncomfortale, getting sores, etc with the excess skin.

you could look at some people and think that they dont have skin, we get good at tucking it in.

Not everybody does it,(plastic surgery) no everybody has to either. Hanging skin is relative, only your genetics can determine how your skin will firm up if at all. Its really not that bad in the short of it, I would much rather have lean muscle under loose skin that fat under tight skin! you will feel just the same.

Christina · 03-23-2005, 02:41 PM

My Insurance deemed all four proceedures for me Medically Necessary and they are paying for it.. (with the exception of the hospital bill which has yet to be determined) and the thing is I do exercise and I am 32 years old and I couldn't get rid of the skin on my own merit, so I am going under the knife once again. Some people can learn to live with it and some can't. For me I can't because of the strain on my back from the excess skin. This may be what caused my disc to get out of place in the first place. I don't know.. all I know is I need to have this done so I can feel less pain.

Hope this helps.

Christina · 03-23-2005, 02:50 PM

One more thing.. today was the first time that I have been to the Dr.'s with my shoes on and fully clothed and stepped on the scale and he never had to put it over 150!! It felt so great to have the scale sliding thing on the 100 mark and when they went down to the end it plummeted.. so they had to scoot it back to make it level.. wooo hooo!!! Sorry but that kind of made my day..

Also a word of caution.. MAKE SURE YOU GET YOUR FLUIDS IN!!!! Just sayin is all.. even if you are a year out.. you still need to get your fluids!!

watergirl · 03-23-2005, 06:41 PM

OMG! The scale thing! I can totally relate. I'm so looking forward to that!

TabFox · 03-23-2005, 06:49 PM

I think the amount of excess skin depends upon genetics, of course, but also how much weight you have to lose, skin elasticity, etc. I do have some skin (slight bat-wings and belly). My upper stomach and sides, back, and legs shrunk right up...no sagging at all. My boobs sag, but Victoria's Secret makes great liars out of us. Their bras put things back up where God intended. My lower belly is somewhat flabby, but it's not hanging at all, so at this point, I'm not having a tummy tuck. I may change my mind next week, but I seriously doubt it, plus I feel soooo dang good, I just hate the thought of going through another surgery.

Tabitha
Open 5/26/04
321/181/???

lealphachienne · 03-24-2005, 07:37 AM

Plastic surgery, just like having WLS is a personal choice and decision based on what you want for yourself.

bridgetgirl · 03-24-2005, 09:59 AM

Tabitha: Victorias Secret DOES make liars out of us... lol That made me lol... Thanks! i was out with a guy friend of mine recently (no I havent talked about him cuz I dont wnt to jinx anything) and he kept looking at my chest and teling me how good they looked, then he copped a feel (over the shirt) and said they felt good too... i told him not to get excited, as It was my amazing bra that was making it all look and feel amazing.. lol I told him, underneath these clothes lies a different story! Too much fun... I sagging, im hanging, and Im loving it.... loose skin fits into booths and turnstiles much easier than fat.

barbana64 · 03-24-2005, 10:29 AM

You are all so wonderful! I love the sharing of experiences, the laughter, the eloquence, the advise, the humor of all of you here on this forum. I have sagging, bagging too, but am not quite where I am going yet. Of course, some of mine comes with age, but most of it is from losing the burden I carried for a lifetime. How I am loving the compliments, looks, ability to move and feel better. What a blessing this surgery has been for me! My husband loves his LITTLE wife and I LOVE his being able to wrap both of his arms around me in hugs I only dreamed about before.

My family is happy for me too. They only see that I am smaller now, but can move around better. Good energy level is wonderful for having a real life.

Sags and baggies...ok by me. Who knows how I will feel about it tomorrow or next week? For now, I feel great and loving it.

I also signed up for the Summer Challenge at Curves...who knows what will happen as muscles appear?
Barb C.

brutherford · 03-24-2005, 02:18 PM

Bridget - I think I'm going to love you forever for that "tight as a drum" comment!

Smiles: I spent a lot of time, energy, and money trying to avoid the skin issue. You can check old posts to see that it's true - almost every form of exercise known to man, creams, scrubs, vitamin and herbal supplements, spa treatments, cold showers (still do that every day), blah blah blah But, it really doesn't make a whole lot of difference. I look at it this way - I've lost almost 130 inches in the last 11 months so the skin could be MUCH worse than it is. I could still have a lot more inches around my body in the form of loose skin. It's not attractive, it's burdensome, and it can easily make you feel bad about yourself. I'm currently working with my doctors on a hernia repair that will probably turn into a tummy tuck, but I also need an arm, breast, and thigh lift. I don't know if I'll be able to get any of those, but Christina's letter and approval give me hope.

Some additional thoughts:

Absolutely no one in my life can tell that I have 15-20 lbs of loose skin when I am dressed. Becoming a normal size gives you an enormous amount of clothing options and you can definitely dress yourself to flatter the parts you are proud of and hide the rest. I wear a lot of v-neck and off the shoulder tops because I LOVE my collar bones and shoulders and I just started wearing shorter skirts (3" or so above the knee) because I'm becoming a lot more comfortable with my legs. There's only 2 or 3 short-sleeved shirts that I'll wear to work without a shrug or jacket because I have HUGE bat wings (seriously, I measured and there's almost 6" of skin hanging under the muscle).
Even though I said that the creams, scrubs, treatments and supplements didn't work, there's really no way to tell. I don't know what my skin would have looked like by now if I hadn't tried all that stuff. Ultimately, I get a lot of compliments on how good my skin is - at least what skin I choose to show. Flax seed oil, Borage oil, and fish oils all have an affect on your skin, hair, and nails - they're cheap to buy and if you were going to try anything, I would try that.
I think that my skin looks better overall when it's tanned. I know this is controversial with how damaging sun exposure can be, but I just started going to a tanning salon once or twice a week and I'm definitely a lot more comfortable with the way I look now. I'm very active and outdoorsy, so I'll stop the tanning when summer comes.
I know one of my main fears was having someone new see me naked. I didn't worry about it when I was married, but I'm going through a divorce and started dating a few months ago. I've realized a few things: A) Guys like sex and I really don't know many who will turn it down if the girl's body doesn't turn out the way they imagined. Of course, hooking up with someone you're not in a relationship with is taking the chance that he will not call you after the hook up because he was bothered by the extra skin - but he could also not call you for a dozen other reasons. It happens to girls with perfect bodies all the time. B) If someone wants to be with you, they're going to be with you no matter what you look like naked. If they love you, they will love you regardless of your body. I now have a boyfriend who's 7 years younger than me, has a perfect, lean, surfer body and who I've tried to convince that he needs a young, fresh, perfect-bodied girlfriend. He's not having any of it because he loves me and thinks I'm the most beautiful thing in the world.
When I talk to people about the extra skin, I'm always sure to add, "But this issue is one on a very small list of cons." Seriously, my life, my health, my outlook, my body is SO MUCH BETTER at 165 lbs than at 327... Extra skin "ain't no thang."