Significant weight loss following bariatric surgery can give you a new lease on life. With a slimmer body, more energy, and enthusiasm for healthier living, you might feel compelled to complete your change with a full-body makeover.
You’re in luck. Post-bariatric body contouring surgery is a thing, and there’s nothing like it for completing your all-over transformation as a weight loss surgery patient.
The big question is: How soon is too soon for post-bariatric body contouring? The answer is: It depends.
There are three factors cosmetic surgeons look at before recommending you for body contouring surgery. Surgeons want to know that you’re physically healthy and seeking aesthetic surgery for all the right reasons.
Physical Health – How Have You Recovered Following Weight Loss Surgery?
Bariatric surgery puts your body through a few permanent changes. For the gastric sleeve and gastric bypass, most of your stomach is removed, leaving a small, sleeve-like pouch. This alteration of your stomach reduces the amount of food you can eat. With the gastric bypass, the surgery involves rerouting your newly reduced stomach to your lower intestine. This further reduces your calorie intake. Both popular weight loss surgeries affect the hormones that control hunger and satiety. You’ll feel less hungry and fuller faster during meals, helping you shed the excess weight fast.
With all these physical changes, your body needs time to heal before you can undergo another surgery. More importantly, it would be best if you had time to get used to your newly constricted stomach space. A lot of work is involved as a weight loss surgery patient, which obliterates the myth that bariatric procedures are an “easy way out.”
You need to adopt nutritious and portion-conscious eating habits and exercise regularly to achieve your weight loss goals. While the shedding of excess weight is rapid, you can increase the speed and the length of time you keep the weight off by committing healthier living. All of this takes time. How much time it takes is up to you.
Reasons to Have Post-Bariatric Body Contouring Surgery
Body contouring surgeons will stress that you must have realistic expectations when seeking cosmetic surgery.
What post-body contouring surgery does is eradicate the undesirable effects that are often caused by bariatric surgery-induced weight loss. You should seek out body contouring surgery if losing so much weight has left you with:
- Saggy skin on the arms. You would be a good candidate for an arm lift, which leaves your upper arms tighter and more toned.
- Flat/deflated breasts. Your body contouring session might include a breast lift, breast augmentation using breast implants, or natural breast augmentation using the fat transfer technique. That’s where they use your own fat to give your breasts more volume for a natural-looking effect.
- A weakened abdominal area. A tummy tuck is often included with post-bariatric body contouring surgery. Medically referred to as abdominoplasty, the tummy tuck leaves your abdominal muscles tighter and stronger while simultaneously eradicating excess fat and skin from your abdominal region. The results leave you with a flatter, more contoured belly.
- Saggy butt and thighs. Your post-bariatric body contouring procedure may include a thigh lift, which gives you similar results as the arm lifts on the upper legs. You can also have your flat or saggy buttocks enhanced with the Brazilian butt lift. Like natural breast augmentation, the BBL injects fat into your butt area, giving you more volume and a more contoured shape.
How Long Will You Have to Wait After Weight Loss Surgery?
Suppose you are physically healthy and have realistic expectations for cosmetic body contouring. In that case, your surgeon will likely give you the green light for cosmetic surgery after your weight has stabilized for at least six months. This is because gaining or losing weight after body contouring can skew your results.
Discuss Post-Bariatric Body Contouring with a Skilled Surgeon
Most bariatric surgery patients have no choice but to locate a separate surgeon to perform the cosmetic body contouring. One of the benefits of choosing Dr. Babak Moeinolmolki of Healthy Life Bariatrics as your surgeon is that you can also have bariatric surgery and post-bariatric body contouring all under one roof.
Dr. Moeinolmolki is one of the few surgeons in the country and the only one in Southern California who is dually trained in both minimally invasive surgery and cosmetic body contouring surgery. This makes the doctor uniquely qualified to perform both categories of procedures in the same accredited surgical center.
Having one source for bariatric and body contouring surgery affords you several benefits:
Saves Time: Choosing Healthy Life Bariatrics saves you from having to search for a qualified cosmetic surgeon. Dr. Moeinolmolki has successfully performed many cosmetic body contouring procedures, including arm lift, thigh lift, tummy tuck, breast augmentation, facelift, and Brazilian butt lift.
Lower Risk: As your bariatric surgeon, Dr. Moeinolmolki is familiar with your health history and body shape goals. You will undergo surgery by the same skilled hand in the same surgical center, which alleviates stress and potentially reduces risks to your health.
Comfort: When you’ve built rapport with a bariatric surgeon, it can be not easy to switch gears when trying to find a cosmetic surgeon. Dr. Moeinolmolki is one of the few bariatric surgeons who can continue your treatment plan to include cosmetic body contouring. This offers a seamless experience, where the doctor can monitor your health following bariatric surgery and keep your results long-lasting after cosmetic surgery.
Schedule a Consultation for Post-Bariatric Cosmetic Body Contouring in Los Angeles
In closing, many factors determine how long you have to wait to make over your body after losing an extreme amount of weight with the help of bariatric surgery. After your weight has stabilized, you’ll be in a much better position to recontour your body.
To discuss your specific situation and to ask about cosmetic body contouring after you’ve succeeded with bariatric surgery, call us anytime to schedule a consultation with Dr. Moeinolmolki. We are located in Los Angeles and help men and women throughout L.A., Encino, and Glendale, California. Call (310)861-7844.