Despite losing significant weight, several fat deposits may persist in your body. These chunks of fat refuse to leave your body despite following strict diet regimes or doing regular workouts. At the worst, this could lead to poor skin elasticity, hence giving way to sagging skin in various parts of your body. A body lift procedure could help you get rid of any such problem. The surgery removes fat tissues, excess skin and tissues to ensure an appealing body shape.

PREPARING FOR BODY LIFT SURGERY

Be aware that Body lift surgery can help you regain your lost skin elasticity but it is not an ideal procedure if you want to shed off excess fat. Perhaps, liposuction is a better method for this purpose, especially if you have good skin elasticity. But the case is different in Body lift.

When consulting your surgeon, make sure to disclose your reason to go for the surgery and your realistic expectations from it. The surgeon will examine your body and recommend the best cosmetic surgery treatment accordingly.

NECESSARY INSTRUCTIONS

The doctor will suggest several necessary instructions to help you prepare for the treatment:

The doctor will suggest several necessary instructions to help you prepare for the treatment:

• Avoid prolonged exposure to sunlight for around 1 week prior to the surgery.
• Avoid waxing or any extensive skin treatment at least 2 weeks before the surgery.
• Quit smoking for about 6 to 8 weeks before the surgery till you recover completely.
• Avoid consuming anti-inflammatory medicines or aspirin.
• Prefer to lose as much weight as possible before the procedure.
• Make sure to have a stable weight before proceeding for the body lift surgery.
• There should not be any pregnancy plan immediately before or after the surgery.
• If you are losing weight due to bariatric surgery that you underwent earlier your surgeon may suggest you to wait till weight has stabilized.
• Have someone to drive you back home after the treatment
• Take complete rest for the next few days.

PREPARING FOR THE SURGERY DAY

• Sleep well before the surgery day to ensure a relaxed body.
• Clean your skin and keep yourself hydrated
• Come to the surgery room with a positive frame of mind.

PERFORMING BODY LIFT SURGERY

The surgeon will suggest you to opt for any of the three body lift procedures based on fat deposits accumulated on your body. To start with, the surgeon will create marks on the body area for incision that needs treatment. Next, general anesthesia will make you go unconscious.

1. Lower Body Lift

This procedure extracts additional skin from buttocks, hips and thighs. It makes body contours smooth and lifts buttocks to give your body a better shape. The surgeon creates an incision across the lower abdomen to the thighs. Then, he removes the unwanted skin and stitches the incision.

2. Mid Body Lift

Best suited for people with an uneven waistline, this surgery eliminates the excess skin from the portions of the abdomen. The surgeon creates an incision on the lower abdomen to perform the requisite procedure. You can expect tight skin and smooth contour from the waist line after the surgery.

3. Complete Body Lift

The surgery tightens the skin all over your body including hips, thighs, abs, butts and breasts. It improves the body contours to appreciate your body appearance. Generally these would be done in sittings of one to two procedures in every sitting for your safety and comfort.

The surgeon creates an incision in the abdomen just like in the case of mid body lift surgery. Next, he moves to the upper portion. In case of arm lift, he makes a cut close to the underarms and tightens the hanging skin.

To perform breast lift surgery on women, the surgeon creates the incisions around the breast creases and across areola.

For male breast lift surgery, the surgeon may combine Gynecomastia along with body lift to remove the unwanted skin from the breasts.

For any of these body lift procedures, the surgeon trims the additional skin and removes the accumulated fat deposits. He then closes the incisions and covers them with bandages and compression garments.

Drain tubes could also be useful to take out the additional bodily fluids from several locations. The entire procedure could take along 2 to 8 hours to complete depending on the type of body lift surgery.

RECOVERING FROM BODY LIFT SURGERY

After undergoing complete body lift treatment, you will have to rest in the hospital for around 2 to 3 days. During this period, the surgeon and the nursing staff will monitor your health condition persistently. For lower body or middle body treatments, you may leave the hospital in a few hours or the next day.

Taking Care of the Incisions

• The surgeon will suggest taking complete bed rest for the next few days.
• Surgeon would tell you to revisit after one to three days from the treatment for inspection or to change the dressing.
• Drain the tubes and clean your incisions regularly as advised.
• Clean your body with a wet cloth.
• Take only the surgeon prescribed medicines to mitigate the pain.
• Swelling, redness and bruising may last for the next 4 to 8 weeks after which, it will reduce by itself.

Putting on the Compression Garment

Keep wearing the compression garment till the swelling reduces completely. It is even better to wear it for a few hours daily later on. This will shape up your body contours.

PRECAUTIONS

• Avoid lifting or bending down for around 4 to 6 weeks after the body lift surgery.
• Sit on your buttocks only with the support of pillows till 3 to 5 weeks
• While traveling, make sure to support your hips on the pillows for the next few months.
• Avoid going out in the sun for 6 to 8 weeks. If very necessary, apply sunscreen lotion for skin protection before moving out.
• Avoid doing strenuous workouts or lifting heavy things for the next 2 to 3 months.
• Don’t go for swimming or deep tissue cleaning for the next 4 months

Getting Back to Track

You can get back to your work once you complete the recovery duration for your respective surgeries, which is:

• Around 6 weeks for Lower body lift
• A bit higher for mid-body lift as it involves removal of abdomen skin
• At least 2 months for complete body lift as the swelling may take significant time to heal

Before doing any laborious activity, make sure that the surgeon allows it. If you experience discomfort, bleeding or swelling during the body lift sessions, make sure to visit your plastic surgeon in earnest.

SURGERY RESULTS

The longevity of the Body Lift surgery will depend very much on your efforts. Generally, the results will last for around 5 years, but it could go up to 10 years if you abide by all the necessary precautions. In the end, make sure to have realistic expectations and not expect miracles.

Dr. Sumit Malhotra

THE INFORMATION IS BEING PROVIDED BY COSMETICSURGERY.IN AND HAVE NO INTENTION TO REPLACE THE MEDICAL ADVICE OF YOUR DOCTOR. PLEASE CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR DIRECTLY FOR ADVICE ABOUT A SPECIFIC MEDICAL CONDITION. THIS DOCUMENT WAS LAST REVIEWED BY DR. Sumit Malhotra, PLASTIC SURGEON ON: 12-JUN-2020