Post Weight Loss Body Contouring

Featuring Dr. Owen Reid, MD, FRCSC, Plastic Surgeon Post Weight Loss Body Contouring Duration: 3 minutes, 8 seconds

Post-weight loss body contouring is a growing specialty field within plastic surgery, dedicated to the treatment of patients who have achieved major weight loss. It's also known as body contouring after massive weight loss or post-bariatric body contouring.

Post-weight loss body contouring has really been born out of the current obesity epidemic in North America, as well improvements in obesity medicine and particularly bariatric surgery. The growth in this sub-specialty field is nicely demonstrated by the statistics published by the American Society of Plastic Surgery in 2014.

When you look at this data, you can see that facial cosmetic procedures, such as facelifts and eyelid surgery, have decreased in popularity somewhat. Body contouring procedures not specific to the weight loss population, such as breast lifts and tummy tucks, have increased modestly, while procedures that are unique to the massive weight loss population, such as lower body lifts and arm lifts, have increased by three or even four thousand percent during this 15-year period.

It's important to note that the growth in post-weight loss body contouring during this 15-year period is not being driven by plastic surgeons who have new procedures to offer, nor is it being driven by industry that have a new product to see.

It's being driven by a growing population of massive weight loss patients who are presenting to plastic surgeons' offices with deformities related to loose excess skin in the hopes of finding solutions. This has been the impetus within the plastic surgery community for new discussions, new research, new publications, and new conferences all dedicated to the treatment of massive weight loss patients.

There are several differences between traditional body contouring and post-weight loss body contouring. Traditional body contouring has been a mainstay of cosmetic plastic surgery for decades, and the most common operations are breast lifts and tummy tucks.

However, when patients have lost a significant amount of weight and they're presenting to a plastic surgeon, they often have deformities related to loss excess skin that not only affect the breasts and abdomen but also affect the neck, the arms, the back, the buttocks, and the thighs. These deformities and the severity of them necessitate different surgical techniques and even new operations.

Massive weight loss patients will often benefit from more than one surgical procedure. During the consultation process, a decision needs to be made whether or not these multiple procedures can be combined or whether they should be separated.

This is another important difference between traditional body contouring and post-weight loss body contouring. Achieving and sustaining a major weight loss can have significant health benefits, but it can also result in issues related to loose and excess skin.

If you think you could benefit from post-weight loss body contouring, contact your local plastic surgeon for a consultation.

Presenter: Dr. Owen Reid, Plastic Surgeon, Richmond, BC

Local Practitioners: Plastic Surgeon