Your weight loss journey is a huge investment in your health. The process of weightloss is not easy, no matter whether you have pursued natural weightloss, surgical weightloss (such as gastric band, gastric bypass or gastrectomy) or medicated weightloss (Ozempic, WeGovy, or Mounjaro). Cycles of weight gain and loss leave their mark on the body. You are now at or nearing your goal weight, and you’ve discovered that despite losing the weight, you’ve been left with uncomfortable excess skin which impairs your ability to live life freely. Heavy, hanging skin can lead to moisture trapping, recurrent rashes, and infections (intertriginous dermatitis and panniculitis).
Two weeks after my breast reduction at Wood MediSpa, I am delighted to share that my experience exceeded all my hopes and dreams. […] Even at this early stage of healing, I am utterly overjoyed with the results. The transformation has moved me deeply, filling me with immense gratitude. After so many years, achieving this means the world to me, and words can hardly capture that. This uplifting experience was so positive that I wish I could relive it. My heartfelt thanks to everyone at Wood MediSpa for orchestrating such a special and life-changing journey.
Breast Reduction Patient
At higher bodyweights, skin can be stretched by excess body mass: after significant weight loss occurs, skin may not have sufficient elasticity to fully shrink back. Even smaller amounts of loose skin can shift uncomfortably with day-to-day activities. Significant weight loss, as is frequently seen in GLP-1 and gastric band patients, can leave behind heavy, hanging skin and dermatological skin issues.
What is the solution?
For many, tightening or removing loose skin is the “finishing touch” that aligns their outer appearance with their hard-earned weight loss results. To complete your transformation, Wood MediSpa offers a complete range of skin tightening treatments and skin removal surgeries. Severe cases require surgical intervention to remedy and often involve tackling multiple areas of the body.
Live freely and with confidence
Any procedure that is performed to remove excess skin and fat or to tighten and contour the underlying tissues is best begun after a weight loss “plateau” has been achieved: patients should aim to be stable at their goal weight for around 6 months.
Combination Procedures
If multiple procedures are being considered, your consultant will guide you through the combinations of procedures that are possible and also discuss which surgeries will provide the outcome with the most impact. It can often be possible to cluster procedures together and this is a bespoke process best discussed with your consultant at consultation. Examples of this would be: abdominoplasty and breast surgery combined OR arm lift and thigh lift surgery combined.
A lower body lift could combine procedures for the abdomen, outer thighs and buttocks. An upper body lift could include combinations of mastopexy/breast lift with brachioplasty/arm lift and chest and back lift. Whilst a general outline of these procedures is provided here, we highly recommend that you attend a consultation with your chosen surgeon to find out more. Our surgical recommendations are entirely bespoke to your own body shape and goals: there are a huge number of combinations of procedures. Many of our lifting procedures can be combined with skin tightening treatments like Renuvion J-Plasma or Quantum RF.
Abdominoplasty vs Lower Body Lift
When fat stores are lost as a consequence of weightloss, often stretched abdominal muscles and sagging skin are left behind. The surgical approach taken with the post-weightloss tummy area depends on the extent of skin laxity and the aesthetic goals of the patient. While both procedures remove excess skin and fat while tightening abdominal muscles, they differ significantly in scope and recovery. Depending on your unique needs, your surgeon may recommend one of two primary approaches:
The Lower Body Lift (Belt Lipectomy)
For many patients, skin laxity extends around the sides to the lower back. A lower body lift offers a comprehensive, 360-degree solution. Not only does it address the abdomen, but it also provides a visible “lift” to the buttocks and outer thighs, smoothing the entire lower torso.
The Tummy Tuck (Anterior Abdominoplasty)
If your concerns are focused strictly on the front of your stomach, a traditional tummy tuck may be ideal. This procedure removes hanging skin, tightens the abdominal wall for a flatter profile, and often uses liposuction to refine your waistline.
Breast Reduction and/or Lift
After significant weight loss, breasts can atrophy – they lose volume and sag. As with all loose hanging skin, this can be uncomfortable and can cause skin irritation and rashes.
These concerns can be treated with breast lift (mastopexy) alone, or a breast lift and a breast enlargement (augmentation mastopexy) to both lift the breasts and to restore breast volume. Breast implants are most often used to restore breast volume, however it is possible to refill the breast using fat from elsewhere on the body. See Breast Lift or Fat Transfer to find out more.
Alternatively, if you feel your breasts are now disproportionately large to your new frame, a Breast Reduction might be the most appropriate procedure for you.
Men may develop breast sagging or enlargement, or gynecomastia. To remedy this surgically, skin removal and tightening is usually required in conjunction with liposuction techniques.
Upper Body Lift
Achieving significant weight loss is a major milestone, but it often leaves behind extensive “rolls” of skin on the upper back, sides, and arms. This redundant tissue causes chronic health issues including persistent rashes, fungal infection, or skin breakdown within the folds and infection risk.
Patients frequently present with back or shoulder pain caused by the weight of the redundant tissue or the inability to maintain proper posture. Often, the weight and volume of the excess skin interferes with simple day to day activities and exercise.
For patients experiencing breast ptosis (sagging) alongside redundant skin and fat on the arms, ribcage, and upper back, an upper body lift offers a comprehensive solution.
This procedure integrates a breast lift (mastopexy) and arm lift (brachioplasty) into a single, coordinated surgery. By utilising a continuous incision line, the surgeon can simultaneously excise excess soft tissue from across the entire upper torso, streamlining the contouring process and minimising disparate scars.
Face Lift
Post-weightloss skin laxity is not limited to just the body – loose skin can also appear on the face, giving the appearance of being excessively wrinkled. Visit FaceLift
Arm Lift
Loose, hanging skin and excess fat of the arms are treated by brachioplasty (arm lift).
Excess fat and skin are removed and the remaining skin is tightened and redraped to restore a more youthful form to the arms. This offers significant functional improvements to patients as they no longer suffer from excess skin getting in the way of day to day activities.
Incisions are made on the inside of the arm in order to achieve the most discreet scar possible.
Thigh Lift
Excess skin and fat are removed from the thighs using two primary surgical approaches:
Circumferential Thigh Lift: A more extensive procedure addressing the inner, front, side, and back of the thighs. It is typically performed after a lower body lift to ensure optimal contouring.
Medial Thigh Lift: Best for mild-to-moderate laxity, this procedure removes a crescent of tissue from the inner thigh, leaving a single scar hidden in the groin crease.
Is it Lipoedema?
What if you have done everything to lose weight, but your body remains disproportionate and you seem unable to lose weight from the lower body? Characterised by abnormal accumulation of fat (most commonly in the legs, hips, and occasionally the arms) you may be suffering from lipoedema. Lipoedema is a chronic medical condition affecting subcutaneous fatty tissue. Affected areas are often painful to touch or sensitive to pressure, easily bruised or feel heavy.
It primarily affects women and is often triggered by hormonal shifts such as puberty, pregnancy, or menopause. Lipoedema fat is biologically different from standard body fat and does not respond to traditional diet or exercise. Despite the best efforts of lipoedema sufferers, a surgical approach involving lymphatic-sparing liposuction is often the most effective treatment. Surgical intervention reduces pain and bruising in affected areas, improves mobility, functionality and quality of life.
Your Wood MediSpa Experience
From your first contact with us, and throughout the entirety of your recovery and follow-up, you will experience the thoroughness, attention to detail, and warmth with which our fantastic team welcome and care for you. The first visit is an opportunity for your surgeon to get to understand your desires, to examine and evaluate physical requirements, to thoroughly inform you about the procedure or alternative treatments that will suit you best, to answer any questions you may have, and to introduce you to our incredibly warm, professional, caring and compassionate staff.
More information about plastic surgery after weightloss can be found at the British Association of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons.