How To Tighten Loose Skin On Belly

The aftermath of weight loss is often expected and welcomed: higher free energy levels, smaller pants, and a more divers body. But in that location is ane unexpected challenge: tightening your pare later on losing weight. This unwanted alter can be uncomfortable, frustrating, and get out yous confused about what to do side by side.

Here'southward how to tighten your skin while losing weight, keep it tight, and find out what causes skin to stretch in the first place.

Why does loose pare afterward weight loss happen?

According to Jordan Jacobs, 1000.D., an assistant professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Mount Sinai Infirmary in New York, loose pare is usually caused by the following:

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Rapid weight loss

Usually seen in people who undergo bariatric surgery for massive weight loss (more than than 100 pounds), about 70 percent of people who undergo the procedure are left with excess pare, some studies find. "Losing weight rapidly doesn't give our skin adequate fourth dimension to gradually contract and this results in loose, hanging skin," says Dr. Jacobs.

Then who tin expect loose skin afterwards weight loss? While it varies, mild weight loss (recall: 20 pounds or less) typically doesn't lead to excess pare, Zuckerman says. Weight loss of forty to 50 pounds tin can seem as massive as a weight loss of 100+ pounds.

Gradual weight gain

But loose skin postal service-weight loss is also a production of the weight gain itself. "Peel has a finite elasticity, and if pushed beyond the limit of that elasticity upon weight gain, the skin cannot fully contract back down upon subsequent weight loss," explains Joshua Zuckerman, Yard.D., surgical managing director at New York City-based Zuckerman Plastic Surgery.

Aging skin

Also: It's not just how much weight yous lose, but your age and skin quality that determines whether or non you'll experience loose peel after weight loss, he says. "Younger patients take a better chance at avoiding backlog skin as practise those with inherently high skin elasticity." (Every bit you age, the elastic fibers and collagen molecules that give your skin its firmness lose their strength.)

Men also tend to do better in their arms and legs than women do, notes Jeffrey M. Kenkel, M.D., a professor and chair of the Betty and Warren Woodward Chair in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

How can you get rid of loose skin after weight loss?

According to Dr. Jacobs, here are some options for tightening your skin afterwards weight loss:

Surgical removal

"Typically speaking, later on bariatric surgery or massive weight loss, plastic surgery is required to remove backlog skin," says Zuckerman. "These plastic surgery procedures are very effective and typically involve cut abroad excess skin and lifting or reshaping the remaining tissue."

Liposuction

On top of surgical excision, options include liposuction (which uses a suction technique to remove fat, and, for patients with balmy skin (and fat) backlog, non-invasive procedures usually in the form of ultrasound or radiofrequency procedures that heat upwardly the peel and cause contraction by triggering collagen production, explains Jacobs. You lot might have micro-needling with radio frequency energy washed, for example, which makes thousands of tiny punctures in your pare and delivers radiofrequency energy during handling, explains Zuckerman.

Body contouring

Patients tin also plow to contouring procedures such as BodyTite and FaceTite (which can be used in conjunction with liposuction) to remove fatty and tighten skin, but for all but mild cases of excess skin, these treatments may not fully address the problem, he notes.

Slower weight loss

While information technology's not ever an choice (specially for those who have bariatric surgery done), gradual weight loss seems to be the best though for preventing loose pare in the starting time place, notes Jacobs.

Practise

Building musculus—past fashion of a solid exercise regimen with strength training piece of work—is always a skillful thought. Plus, information technology can brand your peel look tauter, says Holly Wyatt, K.D., professor of medicine at the University of Colorado.

In short, surgical excision (though information technology comes with a longer recovery) remains the aureate standard, says Jacobs (and produces "profound" furnishings) and the results from the more minimally-invasive treatments are what you would expect: subtle, he says.

Can loose pare after weight loss go away on its own?

Non really, docs say—though remember, how much backlog skin you're left with and how well your peel responds to weight loss in the first place depends on everything from age and genetics to how much weight you lost and your skin quality. So, depending on your circumstance, you might exist able to expect some changes.

"Patients who may see improvement in their loose skin are those who practice not have stretch marks and younger patients who still accept reasonable skin quality despite weight gain," says Kenkel. "The quality of the skin is the key to improvement."

Jacobs as well suggests that if y'all've lost weight gradually to give your peel a full twelvemonth to contract once you've reached your goal weight. "Later on this fourth dimension, you lot are not going to see any more noticeable tightening."

Then, if yous have loose skin you're concerned about—or if you lot have loose pare later bariatric surgery—exercise your homework and get in impact with a plastic surgeon certified past the American Board of Plastic Surgery to larn about your options, suggests Jacobs. "There are a lot of physicians that label themselves as 'plastic surgeons' and, equally long as they have a valid medical license, they tin legally perform any procedure," he says. "Just the American Board of Plastic Surgery denotes the proper training."

What is the best home remedy to tighten your pare?

Besides the not-invasive and minimally-invasive options out there that are somewhat effective, (but, over again, usually just for those with mild cases) there's no magic skin tightening foam or exercise that's going to tighten loose skin subsequently weight loss on its own. That's what makes excess skin a difficult problem for those with more moderate cases, says Zuckerman.

Rubbing cocoa butter on your peel might sound similar a adept thought, but while many topical products claim to tighten skin, doctors are skeptical. "There are no efficacious topical products or OTC remedies for excess skin," says Zuckerman. Jacobs adds that whatsoever product y'all're going to buy for this issue usually will have subtle results at all-time.

The all-time dwelling remedy, then? "Taking intendance of your pare," says Jacobs. "This includes dominicus protection, avoiding smoking, limiting alcohol consumption, and eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and depression in sugar and saturated fats."