After massive weight loss, many people are left with loose, unsightly skin hanging all over their bodies. Plastic surgery offers excellent solutions to this problem. There are several different surgeries that can be performed separately as needed or combined into one long surgical procedure, called a body lift, if so desired. These include arm lifts, thigh lifts, tummy tucks, butt lifts, and breast lifts.

Arm Lift

Arm lift surgery provides the benefits of getting rid of hanging skin from the upper arms. It allows people who have just lost a ton of weight a chance to finally see the fruits of all their hard labor, because the arms finally start to take a small, firm shape.

The arm lift procedure does have one major drawback and that is long, permanent scars along the underside of the upper arms. For those who have so much sagging skin this trade off may be worth the new tighter looking arms.

Thigh Lift

Thigh lifts involve removing excess skin from the thighs and can be performed as either a medial or a bilateral lift. The bilateral concentrates on toning up the front and outside of the upper leg while the medial thigh lift is great for getting rid of lots of extra skin and firming up the inner thighs. The incisions are made along the hip bone down to the groin or just around the groin area, depending on the surgery.

The benefits to all types of thigh lifts are that massive weight loss patients can finally get toned, thin looking legs but the drawback again is the scars. Fortunately, these scars are in less conspicuous spots and are almost always hidden by pants, bikinis or underwear.

Tummy Tuck

The tummy tuck can remove all the layers of extra skin in the torso area. Incisions are made along the hip and pubic bones, the skin is loosened from the muscles, the muscles are tightened, liposuction is performed if desired and the excess skin is cut off and the remaining skin is sewn back together. The result is tighter, firmer abdominal and no more loose skin.

Butt Lift

This surgery targets the buttocks and the lower back and any sagging skin left there from massive weight loss. This is often an area where the skin seems to overlap itself and creates many ugly bulges. A butt lift removes extra skin from the region and pulls it tight and forms a more shapely back and buttocks.

Breast Lift

After losing a lot of weight many women are left with heavily sagging breasts. The surgical answer to this problem is a breast lift. This surgery involves an incision under the breast and around the areola. The extra skin is excised, the areola and nipple are repositioned for a natural appearance and the skin is sutured together underneath the newly shaped breasts.

Sometimes this procedure is not enough to create attractive looking cleavage so a breast augmentation that includes the insertion of breast implants is often paired with the breast lift.

A very popular plastic surgery trend these days is to have several cosmetic procedures performed during one operating room session. Apparently this can save on costs and make for one massive recovery rather than several painful recovery periods over the space of a year.

People choose to do all different combination of plastic surgery procedures at once, but some of the most common are the face lift, the neck lift, breast augmentation, and the tummy tuck.

A face lift is a procedure designed to get rid of many fine lines and wrinkles in the face. It begins with an incision made along the hairline or just behind the hairline. The skin is gently loosened from the muscles below.

The surgeon carefully repositioned and augments if necessary the underlying muscles and tissues, after which she pulls the facial skin upward and tight and removes the extra skin. The face is sewn back together at the incision point, placing the future scar in a very inconspicuous place.

While it may take a few weeks or months for the swelling to subside, the results are the most long-lasting of any cosmetic facial procedure and certainly produce a younger, fresher look for years to come.

Neck Lift

Nothing gives away your age faster than wrinkles and sagging in your neck. A neck lift can help hide that age by smoothing out your neck skin, giving you a younger appearance. The process is very similar to the face lift, except that the incision is made under the chin or jawline.

The skin is pulled upward and the excess skin is excised. The recovery period involves some rest and refraining from a lot of neck twisting or straining for the initial post-surgery period. Yet after the swelling and pain subside, you are left with a tighter looking neck that is reminiscent of much younger days.

Breast Augmentation

Breast augmentation is very popular in combination with all sorts of other procedures, especially with breast lifts. Breast augmentation involves inserting breast implants on top of or under the pectoral muscles.

There are several different techniques used to do this so the incision might be made just under the breasts in the natural crease, through the underarms, or even in the naval. Silicone implants are pre-filled and often provide a more natural look and feel, but saline implants can be filled after they are inserted offering ease of adjustment.

The recovery includes a week off of work while you rest and the pain dissipates. The swelling will take a month or slightly longer to subside. The results are permanent unless a revision surgery is needed and most patients are very satisfied with their procedures.

Tummy Tuck

Finally, the tummy tuck is a way to get tighter, firmer, slimmer abs. The tummy tuck removes extra belly skin, can pull out unwanted fatty deposits through liposuction, and allows the surgeon to tighten the abdominal muscles by suturing them together. The results are much firmer and more toned looking abs that inspires greater self-confidence in bathing suit weather!