I am preparing for  weight loss surgery and worried about the excess skin I will have after surgery and losing weight.  I have been told that it will be absorbed and exercise will help.  Does that happen?  Thanks for answering my question.
Beth

No, it won't be absorbed.  Exercise will help tone some areas, but you'll still likely have some loose skin from being overweight.  If you go to a post op support meeting, you'll hear how post ops deal their their skin issues. Compression garments, panni surgery, plastic surgery are among your options to deal with the excess skin.  Most women "target" the areas they dislike with surgery.  It may take several procedures to deal with the troubled skin areas, depending on the patient.  DAVE

 Beth , until you are done losing you will not know how much extra skin you will have.

Just remember you filled out that skin without much effort- exercise will not help much - it all depends on your body.  I was great except for my upper arms.  I lost 150# wore a size 4 but covered my arms as much as I could.  As a newbie there isn't much you can do.

Pup

Thanks guys for the response....just getting antsy about the surgery and my mind is being flooded with questions!
Beth

 Let's be honest.........yes there is a POSSIBLITY that there will be hanging skin.  Depending on your body type and how much weight you have to lose that is the "price" you have or will pay for allowing yourself to get Obese or Morbid Obese. So the trade off is lose skin vs being Obese. Which is more important to you. And the other thing will be scars - depending on if you get it opened or lap. Now I can say that in most given cases...exercise will in some cases and places will tighened the muscles and some skin may get firmed...but that's never really known because there are to many factors based on individuals preference/body types, etc. For example..in my case..I can some arm issues but I feel and am more healthier today than I was before....so I'll take the hangin  bat wings any day....lol

 Exercise is beneficial for a multitude of reasons, but it will NOT prevent loose skin.  You see, if skin is stretched and permanently damaged, it's either filled with fat, or empty and loose.  How bad or not-so-bad depends on age, genetics, length of time being MO, and plain luck.  

My doctor told me I would probably need plastics after losing my weight because of my
"advanced age" (I was 44 when I had surgery) bu for many of us that's not the case. Some need it some don't. Genetics is a huge factor in skin elasticity. How fast you lose weight ( love plateaus, they give your skin a chance to shrink up before the next round of weight loss), amount of water you drink - hydrated skin shrinks back, dry skin doesn't, exercise will tone up the muscle underneath making any excess skin look better and then there's muscle tone before surgery, how many times you stretched out and shrunk back your skin with previous diets, stretch marks, if you tend to keloid. All are factors in skin hanging after surgery. I was lucky - with slow weight loss, lots of water and lots of exercise I didn't need to have anything done. I wasn't a bikini model but didn't set out to be. In clothes I looked fine, no huge bulges or bumps and not enough excess to qualify for plastics. I didn't have any hanging skin causing other health problems so I was fortunate there. Not every one needs plastics later or has hanging skin. There's a lot of factors and you won't know till you're at goal which catagory you fall into. Good Luck.
Jen 10+ yrs post op RNY

 I really thougth I would need it for my pani (the skin around the middle that flaps over your hips).  But surprisingly it's tightening up and I may miss out on the need for more surgery.  That doesn't mean I'll be wearing a bikini anytime soon but it's not nearly as bad as I thought.

Now my boobs have not fared as well and I'm getting a reduction and lift on MOnday and my upper arms are a disaster.  I'll wait a year after goal to see what I can do with muscle tone but I think surgery or never wearing sleevless tops are going to be the only answer there.