Fasting Growing Plastic Surgeries - ThinnerTimes

Dara · 06-05-2006, 06:34 PM

According to Forbes.com:

Last year, plastic surgeons collected fees of $1.3 billion for Botox, $1 billion for nose jobs and $750 million for liposuction. But the number of nose jobs and liposuction procedures has decreased over the past five years. The fastest-growing procedures in plastic surgery aren't such mere tune-ups; rather, they're major operations in which surgeons literally cut away pounds of flesh.

Each is intended to deal with the often unsightly and sometimes unhealthy aftereffects of gastric bypass surgery, a procedure in which part of the stomach is tied off to reduce the amount that patients eat. Patients can lose hundreds of pounds after the operation, but their skin remains stretched out, often becoming a loose and baggy apron. "It's like taking the air out of a balloon," says Berish Strauch, academic chair and professor of plastic surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center.

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), the five fastest-growing cosmetic surgeries are procedures done to remove the excess skin. All told, 68,000 "body contouring" procedures were performed last year, up 22% since last year. These five procedures alone generated $700 million in surgeon's fees.

Gastric bypass surgery is exploding, stoked in part by celebrities who have undergone the procedure, like pop-singer Carnie Wilson, who broadcast her surgery on the Internet; NBC weatherman Al Roker; and American Idol's Randy Jackson. In the early 1990's, only 16,000 such procedures were done to treat obesity. Last year, 170,000 were performed, an elevenfold increase.

Stephanie Baker, a 35-year-old nurse, had gastric bypass surgery in 2002. During the next year, she lost 140 pounds. The results were amazing, she says, but they left the skin around her abdomen loose.

She went to one surgeon for a tummy tuck to pull in the loose skin and another for breast augmentation. The first procedure left a big scar, although it can be easily concealed. Baker is considering getting the skin around her thighs taken in as well, but right now, she has other things to worry about. Since the gastric bypass surgery, she has gotten engaged and is nine months pregnant with her first child.

As patients lose hundreds of pounds in a short period, they are often left with aprons of skin that were stretched permanently by years of weight gain. Usually, a much bigger operation than a standard tummy tuck is needed.

The reshaping procedures are major surgery, and they create thick scars that can be many inches long.

Dennis Orgill, the associate chief of plastic surgery at Brigham & Women's Hospital and Baker's doctor, says that such procedures account for a tenth of his practice. Many patients, he says, are unprepared for the radical changes in their bodies. "When they come in," Orgill says, "a lot of these patients say, 'They never told me my skin would look like this,' and they never would have gone through the bypass procedure [had they known]."

Strauch says surgeries to help patients following gastric bypass surgery now make up 80% of his practice. But the burden of all that extra skin is not merely psychological but financial as well.

Like most plastic surgeries, the procedures are often not covered by insurance companies. Strauch says that for every successful gastric bypass patient, up to six procedures may be required to deal with the aftereffects, including two upper arm lifts, two thigh lifts, an abdominal lift and facial surgery. That can mean going back to the hospital several times for repeated major surgery at a cost to the patient of $50,000 or more.

The kinks haven't been worked out in paying for the cosmetic procedures that often follow gastric bypass surgery. Bruce Cunningham, chairman of the ASPS and a professor of plastic surgery at the University of Minnesota, says insurers are still deciding what procedures to pay for. For instance, an abdominal lift might be covered below the navel, but not above. "In the billing codes, there is no way to differentiate between a standard tummy tuck, a cosmetic procedure," Cunningham says, "and removing this big apron of skin."

At the same time, the number of patients who need the procedures is likely to keep growing. Medicare recently put forward a position statement saying that it would pay for gastric bypass in some obese patients. Insurers may follow suit. That could mean a growing number of people opting for a risky and radical way of combating obesity--and a large number of people who turn to plastic surgeons to have excess skin removed.

lealphachienne · 06-05-2006, 06:53 PM

I'm one of the growing stats, and dang proud of it too

Vois · 06-07-2006, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lealphachienne

I'm one of the growing stats, and dang proud of it too

Me too...three surgeries and $35,000 later.

pmcg · 06-08-2006, 05:04 AM

is there ways to shrink your skin without plastic surgery

HAMPTON5555 · 06-08-2006, 08:07 PM

Count me in!!

12k down for 1 surgery and maybe one more at $6k to go!!!
Should I lift the breastesess??? or not???

R

As far as not needing surgery, I always say to give it time. My arms are retracting well and I think I will live with mini bat wings. The legs are fair. I love the flat tummy and the areas that where lifted.

Dara, thanks for the great info!
Rain

Christina · 06-09-2006, 08:48 AM

I'm a plastic girl myself.. lol

It's been over two years since my bypass.. and over a year since I had my tummy tuck, thigh lift, breast reduction and lift and arm lift.. and I feel great.. of course I feel bad because my insurance covered my 100% without any said documentation of irritations or anything else.. I just got lucky.. hit the jackpot as you could say.. in my life, my marriage, and my surgeries..

Gina in NY · 06-10-2006, 07:33 PM

My plan is to work out like a beast - I want to train like a body builder and have very little body fat. At that point, we take a look. My hope, the arms and legs will work themselves out. I wouldn't touch them for at least 3 years, just to be sure. But the tummy? I'm sure that will be surgery number one and I think my insurance will cover it. After that, the girls get a lift and maybe even stuffed if needed. The heck if I'm going to do all this work and look like a sharpe, though if I didn't have this insurance, I would find a way to live with it...Or mortgage the house!

I am ready to be that statistic!

Have you all seen this guy? Someone posted this a while ago (sorry I've forgotten who you are)

http://www.bodyfatguide.com/LooseSkin.htm

wlcasper · 06-15-2006, 06:45 AM

Dara nice article and very timely. With as much GBP surgery as ther is going on there is the "unintended effects" (good or bad) of the excess skin, one must make a decision as to how they will handle that issue. Just remember this advice in my opinion, it didn't take one over night to get morbidly obese so why try and change evrything overnight? I lnow in my case my TT was covered by insurance due to rashes, but it was a lot of surgery and I have had a lot of surgery since GBP. Ventral Hernia, TT, and Hernia. My body is tired of surgery and the pain pill cycle etc. My advice is take your time, see how your body responds, shrinks and if you do not have a medical complication take your time before entering into plastic surgery proceedures.

Just my opinion. You know what they say about opinions, they are like a part of one's anatomy, every has one and they all stink...humor for the day!

sUzYzPLaCe · 06-27-2006, 06:11 PM

I got referred to a plastic surgeon recently for "rashes" lol I have my first appt on July 19th. I'm going to get my ins company to pay for it all! Suzy

Stuart · 06-29-2006, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sUzYzPLaCe

I got referred to a plastic surgeon recently for "rashes" lol I have my first appt on July 19th. I'm going to get my ins company to pay for it all! Suzy

Congrats on your referral. I fought with my medical group (Sharp Mission Park) for well over a year before they approved a Plastic Surgery referral. I jumped through all of their hoops...documentation (with pictures) of horrible, sometimes bleeding, rashes, failed medical treatments including mutiple antibiotics and oral and topical anti-fungals. I finally had my consult on the 6th of this month and was approved for abdominoplasty on the 9th. I am scheduled for surgery on the 7th of July. My insurance company is covering everything with no out of pocket expense for me. Hang in there, Suzy, it will happen!!
Stuart