Extra Skin - Does Everyone Get It

Hi I am in the process of waiting for approval from my insurance company for RNY. I am a 39 yo, non smoker, 6 ft 1in. tall. I have always been told I was healthy looking. Ok so I am healthy and fat the two just dont go together. Anyway, I have always had good skin and muscle tone. My question is can I escape the extra skin if I drop 100 lbs through RNY if I am exercising on a regular basis. Does it depend on the person or does everyone that has RNY and lose weight that fast suffer from extra skin?

Everyone has been SOOOO awesome on here with their responses. Thank you for all of your support. You are an amazing group of people.

It is there, it is stretched from the extra poundage, of course there will be some saggy stuff, some people can firm it up a bit, some can't...that's why you see so many getting their arms done, their panny's done....it's just one of the extras we get with weight loss.

I couldn't tell you. I know nothing of insurances, they keep changing, you should wait until it happens and is needed then check with them, you may even have a different insurance by then also, companies keep changing them.

I think the main thing you should do right now is concentrate on becoming healthy or is the surgery for cosmetic reasons? Everyone has different reasons for the WLS.

get to your PCP now and start documenting skins rashes. The more you can document pre-op the better the chances of getting it covered post-op.
As a rule its not covered for just skin removal, its cosmetic according to the insurance companies. with rashes it a medical procedure

Everyone is different.  It is according to the elasticity in your skin.  I didn't have a prayer, I have been fat since 5 and my skin has been stretched out my entire life.  I always look at it this way, if you blow a balloon up it never goes back to the origional shape.  Of course you are younger, and if you are working out already you are ahead of the game.  Even where I thought I had too muscle tone, I have skin.  But there are doctors that can do the job for you and rid you of what you don't like.

Good luck.  Diane

Hey Elizabeth,

I was 47 when I had my rny, and I worked out alot, but I had a saggy tummy and arms even before my surgery. Alot of it was weight gain, and alot was family genetics. Everyone is so different. My niice lost 100 lbs when she was 19, and she looks great. The older you get, the more elasticity you lose, so really you'd just have to wait until you lose your weight to see how you look.

I remember before my rny, I thought, "yeah, I'll have skin issues, but no biggie, I just want to be healthy." However about 6 months post op, I changed my tune, and knew for sure I'd be getting plastics down the road, and I'm glad i did!