What Body Contouring After Weight Loss Procedures Do I Need?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am interested in body contouring after weight loss. I have 2 very large, deep atrophy dents, one on each hip from kenalog injections. I have arthritis and fibromyalgia in my hips. The pain is unbearable, and has left me disfigured. I also have lost 100 pounds over the past 3 years and have bags of fat instead of breasts. And I have a giant stomach that is all skin and fat that hangs dramatically.

A: Body contouring after weight loss, also known as bariatric plastic surgery, is commonly done today. When one loses 100lbs or more, as often happens with successful bariatric surgery or great personal diet and exercise efforts, many expected body changes occur. The large stomach deflates and become an apron that hangs over the waist line, the breasts lose their volume and hand down onto the stomach like two empty bags of skin, and the once larger arms and thighs sag. These common extreme weight loss concerns are treated with extended tummy tucks or abdominal panniculectomies and sagging breasts are changed with full anchor scar pattern breast lifts with implants in most cases. By getting rid of these tissue overhangs, combined with the weight loss, back and hip pain is often lessened. At the same time the large hip dents, which have occurred as a result of subcutaneous tissue atrophy from the steroid injections, can be treated by fat injections or even dermal-fat grafts depending on its depth and degree of skin tethering.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana