It really means something different to everybody, because everyone responds a bit differently to how they lose weight. The most common areas for this surgery after losing a lot of weight are the chest, breasts, buttocks, abdomen, rolls in the back, or even in the neck and face.

Patients who are generally interested in this procedure may have lost a significant amount of weight and are unhappy with an excess of sagging skin that will not shrink with regular exercise, or may have a desire to remove stretched or loose skin from pregnancy, or may feel self conscious due to excess skin that has affected how they look in clothing.

Why do people need body contouring surgery?

The simple answer is that skin does not respond the same way as fat does. When you undergo a diet and exercise program, fat responds by shrinking, but skin doesn’t. Skin stays there and it just hangs in place. I have had patients who have lost 50lbs, 100lbs and 200lbs and they tell me that they still feel fat because of all the excess skin on their bodies that they need to get rid of. I have had patients who have undergone body contouring surgery and they have told me how much more confident they feel in their bodies, without the loose, hanging skin.

The type of surgery to have done really depends on your own individual needs. For most patients, the surgery they would get the most out of is a circumferential abdominoplasty or a body lift, and this includes the abdomen, the lateral thighs, the buttocks and the rolls in the back. This surgery addresses more areas of concern than anything else. If there are additional areas of concern, that would be something to address with a secondary surgery at a later date, and those would typically be the areas of the arms, chest, or even the neck if that is a concern.

During a private consultation, we will spend a lot of time talking about your cosmetic concerns, but also about your health. The most important goal is that we do this surgery in a safe fashion – we want the results to look amazing, but we want it to be done safely and we want you to heal well. We will spend a lot of time going over your medical history to make sure that we optimize things as much as we can.

What is the recovery time?

Body contouring or body lift surgery may involve one or more surgical procedures, which are based on your individual needs. Recovery is very specific to the procedures that are done. In general, if you have a circumferential body lift you should expect the first week to be moving slowly. By the end of the second week you will feel well and will be free to do most activities by 6 weeks. As with any surgery under general anaesthetic, there are potential risks or complications to consider.

Watch the following video to learn more about body contouring surgery: drshortt.com/faq/videos

If you are interested in body contouring surgery, Click here to book a consultation with Dr Shortt or telephone 905-849-4282.