Advice on loose skin after weight loss?
April 13, 2014 9:36 AM Subscribe
Over the last sixteen months I've managed to work off about 100lbs of extra weight. I've accomplished this via old fashioned calorie counting and exercise and I know that I've changed my habits for the rest of my life. However, carrying over three hundred pounds for almost twenty years has done a number on my skin.
I'm at about 205lbs right now as a 6' male. A lot of my exercise has come via weightlifting so I've gained muscle mass and strength and I look a lot better so long as I keep a shirt on. With a shirt off, when standing it's not too bad, but if I bend forward my chest and stomach becomes a rather unpleasant array of pendulous skin sacks. Needless to say this is not ideal.
I still have another 20-40lbs of weight loss to go but it's clear that all this skin won't retract without help. I've been reading about loose skin and I've tried to ensure that I stay hydrated, add muscle, eat lots of protein, and lose weight at a healthy rate but the rest of the advice I'm reading seems like a mix of snake oil and old wives tales.
So is there anything else I should consider doing to help my skin? I'm just not sure if there is any validity to mineral baths, skin-tightening creams or exfoliating rubs...
I'm at about 205lbs right now as a 6' male. A lot of my exercise has come via weightlifting so I've gained muscle mass and strength and I look a lot better so long as I keep a shirt on. With a shirt off, when standing it's not too bad, but if I bend forward my chest and stomach becomes a rather unpleasant array of pendulous skin sacks. Needless to say this is not ideal.
I still have another 20-40lbs of weight loss to go but it's clear that all this skin won't retract without help. I've been reading about loose skin and I've tried to ensure that I stay hydrated, add muscle, eat lots of protein, and lose weight at a healthy rate but the rest of the advice I'm reading seems like a mix of snake oil and old wives tales.
So is there anything else I should consider doing to help my skin? I'm just not sure if there is any validity to mineral baths, skin-tightening creams or exfoliating rubs...
Response by poster: Sorry I meant to include that. I would consider that but only as a final option. I realize that this is strictly a cosmetic issue and surgery is overkill to my mind.
posted by WinnipegDragon at 9:56 AM on April 13, 2014
posted by WinnipegDragon at 9:56 AM on April 13, 2014
Best answer: Gaining and maintaining muscle, eating clean, staying hydrated, and most of all, give it time.
If after perhaps a year you're still unhappy with loose skin, surgery is the only viable option besides learning to dress really well.
Don't spend money on creams, wraps, baths; invest instead in healthy clean food. It's a better investment.
But definitely give your body time to adapt to your new levels of fat stores and readjust.
posted by kinetic at 10:10 AM on April 13, 2014 [2 favorites]
If after perhaps a year you're still unhappy with loose skin, surgery is the only viable option besides learning to dress really well.
Don't spend money on creams, wraps, baths; invest instead in healthy clean food. It's a better investment.
But definitely give your body time to adapt to your new levels of fat stores and readjust.
posted by kinetic at 10:10 AM on April 13, 2014 [2 favorites]
Best answer: So much of skin bouncing back is the luck of genetics or a person not carrying the extra weight for very long. If yours is not one of the lucky ones (mine isn't either after losing a ton and also being fat for 20+ years) I've found there is some retraction, but it's minimal. Mostly I just have gotten somewhat used to it. But there are parts I will never get used to and am resigned to surgery one day.
I think you're wise not give too much credence to the stuff on the internet in this case. The effect it often has is to make you feel like if only you'd just done x,y, or z your skin would be taut as a drum, when in reality your skin's elasticity is not in your hands.
posted by cecic at 10:36 AM on April 13, 2014 [4 favorites]
I think you're wise not give too much credence to the stuff on the internet in this case. The effect it often has is to make you feel like if only you'd just done x,y, or z your skin would be taut as a drum, when in reality your skin's elasticity is not in your hands.
posted by cecic at 10:36 AM on April 13, 2014 [4 favorites]
Unfortunately, once your skin's been stretched out, there's a limit to how much it can retract, because the fibres have been damaged. A balanced diet may help somewhat, but this is really a mechanical problem. As kinetic said, once you've been at a stable weight for about a year, you'll have an idea of what exactly that will look like for you - it will depend on your age and genetics. With a 100+ lb loss achieved past the age of 35, realistically, you will still probably be left with skin issues.
What you can do non-surgically is try to fill the gap with muscle so that skin drapes over your frame differently. Temper this goal with realism - there's an upper limit to that too (time available, orthopedic issues, given your age, genetics again).
(There are online reports of people trying to bring their body fat % down to bodybuilding competition levels, but there's just no way that's sustainable for any length of time, and your skin would still probably not meet your expectations, if your aim is to have a body that looks like it never carried weight.)
Surgery is really the only way to definitively lose the extra skin. There may be a tradeoff between loose skin and scarring, though. Some laser skin tightening procedures are available - you might look into those, however, many of these methods have only been out for a few years.
I appreciate that this may be discouraging after all your hard work. Remember, though, that a fit body, even with some evidence of a past, still looks great, and more importantly, supports your health. It would be good to focus on adjusting expectations. None of us looks the way we did when we were 20, but we can still look fantastic, for where we are.
posted by cotton dress sock at 10:50 AM on April 13, 2014
What you can do non-surgically is try to fill the gap with muscle so that skin drapes over your frame differently. Temper this goal with realism - there's an upper limit to that too (time available, orthopedic issues, given your age, genetics again).
(There are online reports of people trying to bring their body fat % down to bodybuilding competition levels, but there's just no way that's sustainable for any length of time, and your skin would still probably not meet your expectations, if your aim is to have a body that looks like it never carried weight.)
Surgery is really the only way to definitively lose the extra skin. There may be a tradeoff between loose skin and scarring, though. Some laser skin tightening procedures are available - you might look into those, however, many of these methods have only been out for a few years.
I appreciate that this may be discouraging after all your hard work. Remember, though, that a fit body, even with some evidence of a past, still looks great, and more importantly, supports your health. It would be good to focus on adjusting expectations. None of us looks the way we did when we were 20, but we can still look fantastic, for where we are.
posted by cotton dress sock at 10:50 AM on April 13, 2014
Best answer: Congrats on your weight loss! I know how difficult it is to lose that much weight.
I lost 125 pounds and have kept it off for the past 9 years. I went from 290 to 165 through regular diet and exercise.
It seems like you are doing everything you can - like cecic says, a lot of the retraction is genetic. I've seen general improvement over the past 9 years but places where I carried most of my weight are still very loose. I continue to exercise and eat healthily.
There is really nothing you can do that you aren't already doing. Keep in shape - lifting weights is great but remember there still will be the loose skin over the muscle, so it may not be as defined as you would hope for. I wouldn't put much stock in oils, cream,or anything else. The skin is loose and heavy and no cream will make it retract.
9 years after my initial weight loss, I know that the only way for the remaining loose skin to come off is through surgery. I've seen a few plastic surgeons to evaluate my options and I've been told I could have as much as 12-15 pounds of loose skin removed. Knowing that actually made me feel better about the fact that my diet and exercise alone weren't taking off the 'extra'.
If you ever do decide that surgery is an option, most surgeons want you to be at a stable weight for at least a year before a procedure is performed.
posted by carmenghia at 11:05 AM on April 13, 2014 [3 favorites]
I lost 125 pounds and have kept it off for the past 9 years. I went from 290 to 165 through regular diet and exercise.
It seems like you are doing everything you can - like cecic says, a lot of the retraction is genetic. I've seen general improvement over the past 9 years but places where I carried most of my weight are still very loose. I continue to exercise and eat healthily.
There is really nothing you can do that you aren't already doing. Keep in shape - lifting weights is great but remember there still will be the loose skin over the muscle, so it may not be as defined as you would hope for. I wouldn't put much stock in oils, cream,or anything else. The skin is loose and heavy and no cream will make it retract.
9 years after my initial weight loss, I know that the only way for the remaining loose skin to come off is through surgery. I've seen a few plastic surgeons to evaluate my options and I've been told I could have as much as 12-15 pounds of loose skin removed. Knowing that actually made me feel better about the fact that my diet and exercise alone weren't taking off the 'extra'.
If you ever do decide that surgery is an option, most surgeons want you to be at a stable weight for at least a year before a procedure is performed.
posted by carmenghia at 11:05 AM on April 13, 2014 [3 favorites]
At 38, there is probably nothing that will a real difference except surgery. I spent most of my 20s in the 300 - 320 range. In my 30s, because of some lifestyle changes (not because I was trying to lose weight), I dropped about 100 pounds over 3 or 4 years. Now 50, I have been about 220 for the past 11 years. No change in loose skin in all that time.
posted by hworth at 1:22 PM on April 13, 2014
posted by hworth at 1:22 PM on April 13, 2014
Someone I used to know had two operations a year apart to remove extra skin, after losing maybe 60% of her bodyweight through dieting. One was a belt lipectomy and the other was on her legs to remove hanging skin there. Both were major surgery involving weeks off work and a hard recovery. She ended up happier about how she looked in clothes, but the scars left behind were severe and those combined with the combination of tight, stretch-marked and residual loose skin made her look pretty strange naked.
The trouble is that the surgeon is attempting to re-tailor the skin like a tailor altering an oversized suit, but unlike clothing the skin is fixed in place so can't really be re-draped, and we're not used to bodies having seams anyway, so there are limits on how well the final effect is going to work.
posted by w0mbat at 2:13 PM on April 13, 2014 [1 favorite]
The trouble is that the surgeon is attempting to re-tailor the skin like a tailor altering an oversized suit, but unlike clothing the skin is fixed in place so can't really be re-draped, and we're not used to bodies having seams anyway, so there are limits on how well the final effect is going to work.
posted by w0mbat at 2:13 PM on April 13, 2014 [1 favorite]
Something to think about though is that outcomes for this kind of surgery will depend very much on technique and the surgeon's experience and judgement. I would guess that innovations in technique will continue, and that the numbers of surgeons specializing in this area will expand with increased demand, as more people lose significant amounts of weight through gastric bypass surgeries (and indeed as a result of wider awareness and infrastructural support of conservative weight loss methods). This is to say that I would imagine that if surgery is something you find you want to do in a few years, your options may differ from what is available today. Even given options today, I am sure that people vary in their expectations and outcomes. (Not trying to push surgery at all, just don't want people reading and planning to lose weight to think, "well come on, this now too?" Because some people do feel their outcomes are acceptable, and it is worth reading into why and how, just as it's worth reading about how people come to accept themselves without taking those measures.)
I did not lose as much weight, but still had a number of body image issues once I reached my goal weight (which is what prompted my looking into all of this). As you know, losing weight involves a number of difficult and perplexing adjustments beyond the physical (even perceptually). Reaching out to others who've been through comparable issues and are now a few years out of active weight loss may help to think and feel through it.
All the best.
posted by cotton dress sock at 2:45 PM on April 13, 2014
I did not lose as much weight, but still had a number of body image issues once I reached my goal weight (which is what prompted my looking into all of this). As you know, losing weight involves a number of difficult and perplexing adjustments beyond the physical (even perceptually). Reaching out to others who've been through comparable issues and are now a few years out of active weight loss may help to think and feel through it.
All the best.
posted by cotton dress sock at 2:45 PM on April 13, 2014
Best answer: I have lost and found many pounds in my life, and I know I have stretched out my birthday suit pretty much permanently. It is true what was said above about giving it a year of maintenance to see what things settle into, but only surgery (no creams or spas or miracles exist) can remove loose skin once it has been stretched out.
I found wearing a tight/stretchy undershirt under my clothes made me feel better about my loose skin, and smoothed out the bumps. Also, you can remind yourself that no one is paying you to look good naked, and being healthy and a little saggy under your clothes is much better for you than the alternative.
posted by 41swans at 3:45 PM on April 13, 2014 [2 favorites]
I found wearing a tight/stretchy undershirt under my clothes made me feel better about my loose skin, and smoothed out the bumps. Also, you can remind yourself that no one is paying you to look good naked, and being healthy and a little saggy under your clothes is much better for you than the alternative.
posted by 41swans at 3:45 PM on April 13, 2014 [2 favorites]
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posted by latkes at 9:41 AM on April 13, 2014 [1 favorite]