Excess Skin!!

For anyone who was between 220 - 230 when they had their surgery....Did you have a lot of excess skin and if so, what did you do to try to reduce it other than plastic surgery? 

I'm really nervous about too much excess skin.

Thank you all for your help.

I was MUCH bigger, so my excess skin issues are probably much worse than any you would have, but the big deal is that you have a certain amount of skin. You won't grow extra skin if you lose weight. But likely you won't un-grow it either. If you "friend" me you can see my "skin pics" on my profile. It's NOT pretty

When I started I was 306, I'm down to 238 and so far I don't have a lot of excess skin around my waist or my thighs, however I am looking a little saggy under my arms. I was worried about that in the beginning as well, but I decided to look at it as I rather have the skin than everything else that goes along with obesity! Good luck on your journey

I started at 226 and am now 173 had surgery dec 5th. The second month i was like ohh crap im getting alot of loose skin between my legs and under my arms. But now its gone down. As for how to work it to make it smaller u just have to make sure ur exercise eat right and see.

I havent been exercising at all because i got a medical condition they found that i thought gastric caused but it is actually something else none related to it and i have not had energy.

Depends on how young you are, I was 365 now I am 180 and I hardly have any stomach hanging, most of my skin is my under arms, I could fly lol. My doctor said all depends on how long you have been heavy, I exercise 6 days a weeks, My arms on top are muscles but not the underneath, he said if you blow up a balloon and take the air out of it after a while, the balloon does not go back to it original shape, My arms have always been heavy for a long time, so I am still blessed that nothing else hangs.. I consider it a small price to pay for being healthy now.. take care

I think it depends on each individual.  I am really surprised that I'm sagging already and I'm not quite half way there.  I had worked out on and off most of my life and even though I was overweight nothing sagged and I barely had any celulite.  Now I'm a saggy mess.  Oh well....I'm saving for plastics even if it takes 5 years! I'm stil happier.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Most of my exercise is Zumba, maybe I should start doing some resistance exercises....My surgery is on the 21, I'm just trying to prepare myself.

From my observations at the many bariatric functions I have attended, in my not-so-humble opinion, I believe at least 80% of us have an overabundance of loose skin to the point that plastic surgery is warranted. Of course not that many end up having it, either due to finances or the fact that it does not bother them, but the fact is, the skin is there. Arms seem to fare the worst. Maybe because the rest can be hidden pretty easily with shapewear.

Laura

 I started out 100 pounds heavier than you, so obviously had a lot more skin issues.  

Unfortunately, no matter how much weight you have to lose, there is very little you can do about excess skin.  You are going to have whatever amount you are going to have, based on how stretched your skin is, your age, and your genes (some people's skin is just more elastic -- or more elastic at a later age -- than others).  you don't have that much to lose, so I would not expect you to have many issues with significant excess skin.  You will, however, probably have some saggy skin.  (Trust me, there is a huge difference!)

Keeping your skin well moisturized will help, and building up the muscle below the skin will help lessen the appearance of the excess skin in some places (e.g., on your arms), but exercise will not change the elasticity of the skin.  Some people find that saggy skin on their neck and face does slowly retract a bit as time passes, and there are some firming products that can help some (NOT the general large bottles of "firming" moisturizers... but a number of people have had good results with Avon's Thermafirm cream, Garnier's UltraLift Pro (red jar), and a night firming cream by Clinique (sorry, cannot remember the name... it was too pricey for me since I was having to save for plastic surgery).

Lora

Thank you ladies so much for responding. I'm just gonna see what happens and take it from there. If I have to get ps then I will. Lora, how long did you wait before you got the plastic surgery?