If you have achieved massive weight loss, whether by bariatric surgery or a program of diet regulation and exercise, you deserve congratulations. You have completed the first important step to drastically improving your health and transforming your whole life. We hope that you are already starting to enjoy some of the benefits, such as wearing smaller clothes sizes and engaging in a more active lifestyle.

Unfortunately, massive weight loss often leaves behind large amounts of excess skin. This additional hanging skin in your abdominal region can have serious affects on your daily life, including:

• Hindering hygiene
• Stress on your back
• Developing rashes, skin ulcers, and odor
• Requiring excessively large clothing to fit and hide the laxity

At Grossman Plastic Surgery, we can perform a panniculectomy (removal of the hanging tummy flap) or a belt lipectomy to remove the excess skin left over from your massive weight loss.

Panniculectomy

A panniculectomy removes the apron of skin and remaining fat of the abdomen after extreme weight loss. This skin often hangs down over the bikini line and may cover and hide the pubic region.The procedure will alleviate physical discomforts caused by skin irritations and ulcers, and it will enable you to exercise more freely.

Ideal candidates should be in good general health and have maintained a stable weight for at least one year. Women should finish having children before undergoing this procedure.

Denver cosmetic surgeons Dr. John A. Grossman and Dr. Capraro perform this surgery under general anesthesia, and an overnight stay is required. The procedure should take between two and five hours to complete.

An incision is made across the abdominal area just below the bikini line. Dr. Grossman and Dr. Philippe A. Capraro will then remove overhanging skin and fat. The remaining skin is pulled tight and sutured together. Unlike a tummy tuck, your panniculectomy will not tighten abdominal muscles. The procedure just removes excess fat and skin.

After cosmetic surgery, you will experience swelling, bruising, soreness, and pain for several weeks. You will need to wear a protective garment to facilitate healing, and you will have to sponge bathe. Light activities can be resumed in two to four weeks, but you should wait four to six weeks before engaging in strenuous activity.

Belt Lipectomy

A belt lipectomy is an excellent procedure for patients who have achieved massive weight loss because it circumferentially addresses multiple areas of the mid-section in one surgery. This procedure is similar to a lower body lift; however, in the belt lipectomy, Dr. Grossman and Dr. Capraro do not lift the tissue in the buttocks and thigh regions.

Ideal candidates are in good general health, have maintained a stable weight for at least one year, and have excess fat and skin in the:

• Belly
• Hips
• Back
• Buttocks
• Outer thighs

Your cosmetic plastic surgery procedure is performed under general anesthesia and will take five to seven hours to complete. You will need to spend one to two nights in the hospital following your surgery. Dr. Grossman and Dr. Capraro will make an incision completely around the lower waist – similar to a thong bikini line with a slight V-shape above the buttock crease. Excess skin and fat is removed from the abdomen, hips, and above the buttock.

After surgery, you may experience pain, bruising, swelling, soreness, and numbness around the incision for several weeks. It will take about three to five weeks before you can resume light activities; strenuous activity can be resumed in six to seven weeks. Depending on the type of work that you do, you probably can return to work in around two weeks.

The Grossman Plastic Surgery Difference

Surgery after weight loss is one of the primary focuses of Dr. Grossman’s and Dr. Capraro’s practice. Over the past decade, they have performed many panniculectomies and belt lipectomies, helping patients who have undergone massive weight loss take the next step to achieving total body harmony.

Please contact our Denver plastic surgeons today to schedule your initial consultation. Grossman Plastic Surgery serves patients in the Littleton and Denver, Colorado area.