Surgary for loose skin

 Can anyone tell me anything about having surgary.  To get rid of loose skin after losing weight ?  I want to know things like how much weight do you have to lose before getting rid of lose skin ? How hard is it to get approved for the surgary ? Does it hurt really bad ? How long is the recovery time ? And does anyone have pics I can view of their  surgary ?

You may get some better responses from the Plastic Surgery Forum on OH. 
I have loose skin and sometimes lurk there.  I am still undecided on PS for myself.

Leslie

Whether your loose skin becomes firm depends on exercise, your age, and your family genetics.  If your want plastic surgery for a tummy tuck, most insurance companies consider this cosmetic and won't cover it unless you need some work done due to cancer.  Most insurance companies will cover the panni, where the loose skin is cut off--no muscle tightening, so it's not as pretty as the tummy tuck.  Usually you want to be at a stable wt for at least 6 months and be around 18 months post op.  Coverage of the panni is usually for a "medical reason" where you may have skin rashes, fungus issues, skin prevents you from walking easily or doing exercise, etc. You'll need a referral from your primary, which likely needs to include photos showing rashes or severity of hanging skin, a history of office calls, meds to cover rashes, etc.  Panni is likely easier to recover from. Plastics typically takes weeks with compression garments, learning to stand up straight due to really tight abdominal muscles, and likely a lot more pain that your original wt loss surger. Recovery time is longer with plastics and depends on following surgeon's advice. There is a well known plastic surgeon who speaks at my support groups each year. He has all of his patients drink an EXTRA 90g or protein shakes in addition to a high protein diet for at least 30 days prior to doing plastic surgery. He says the added protein helps you heal faster with less pain. DAVE

I post about my plastic surgey often, I paid for it myself so I can't comment on insurance, but I had my stomach, arms and neck done.  The pain was worst from my neck but everyons is different and the surgery is so worth the outcome.  I was MO for 20 years and never had a flat stomach in my entire life, until I had a tummy tuck.  It is a miracle surgery, I weighed about 155 when I had my plastics, I currently weigh 140, but I had plastics years ago.  Personally the fact I spent 11.5 thousand dollars of my hard earned money is a great motivator to not screw up, just as much as knowing I will be pissed off at myself and I wanting to be a good role model.

Add me as a friend and you can see my plastics pics.

Before you look into getting surgery for loose skin, you want your weight to be good and stablized.  That means no fluctuations for several months.  If you do it too soon, you lose more weight and are once again left with flabby skin, so you want to make sure you're done losing for sure. 

Now, getting approved is the hard part if you're not planning on paying full price yourself.  This is why I still have loads of loose skin some 7 years out.  Most insurance do not cover it unless there is a medical necessity, like recurring yeast infections in the folds, and you have to be sure they are well documented.