Fun with extra skin

Did you know that extra skin floats?  So, if you soak in a jacuzzi tub it all floats.

Did you know that extra floating skin can be molded kind of like a weird playdoh when under water?  So, if you are soaking naked in a jacuzzi tub you can mold and shape your excess floating tummy skin for entertainment.........

It floats in a regular tub as well.  Now that I can actually sit in mine, I have played with my skin a couple of times.  Who needs rubber duckies when you have floating skin?

Is it that excessive?  Is there anything you can ever do to tighten it up?  I am actually really worried about how bad it will be.  Can you tell through your clothes that there is this much extra skin?

How much excess skin depends on you, particularly how heavy you were compared to a normal BMI.  Age, duration of obesity, and the number of times you've lost & regained weight are also factors.

I was typically about 100 pounds overweight in my life, but went as high as 160 pounds over my current weight.  I do have excess skin, but people can't really tell unless I were to wear (literally) a skin tight top, like seriously skin tight.  I can pass with wearing a clingy top, no problem.  Without clothes is a whole 'nother story.  There's no way anybody could look & not know I've lost a serious amount of weight. 

I'm one of the people on the boards who exercises alot, strength & cardio.  I think it helps give my body a better shape, which helps how it looks in general, & particularly with clothes, but it does not shrink skin.  Skin is it's own deal.  The elastin fibers in it were stretched beyond the point that they could endure without breaking.  Once broken (creates stretch marks), they can't be "reknitted" - that's excess skin once you're thin.  Short of plastic surgery, you will have it, but really, it's not the be all, end all.  It sucks, but in the big scheme of things, it's not that bad.

Define excessive...just kidding.  I, too, was worried that it would be gross.  It isn't as bad as I feared.  You can't see it under my clothes.  It's there and it does float, but please be aware I'm given to hyperbole if I think anything is remotlely amusing to me.  In all seriousness, I think genetics plays a bigger role than I had ever imagined.  I won't say I'll never get plastic surgery, but at this point in time, it just doesn't seem to be worth it.  It isn't medically necessary (no infections nor does it hinder my mobility) so my insurance won't pay.  I'd rather cover up the flappy parts with clothes that I can actually buy in a store and not order from Omar the Tent Maker.  You may be as surprised as I was at just how bad it doesn't look.

You can't tell that I've got it when I'm clothed.  You can go to my profile and check out my pics if you'd like.  I'm fully clothed in some and in my bathing suit in others.  I tend to wear those slimming undergarments a lot of the time (like spanx) on my abdomen to prevent a muffin top as that is my worst area (well, my inner thighs are pretty scary looking, but you can't tell with jeans.

I went from 290 to 148 in 9.5 months.  There's a good amount of excess skin.  I also had 4 babies in 5 years, 2 of which were over 10 pounds, so my stomach and abdomen were stretched to hell before WLS.  I'm sure that hasn't helped me out any!

Even with the extra skin, I'm happy.  I will be having plastics, though.  Hopefully it's sooner rather than later.

Hijack.

I'm one of those DS'ers whose skin really isn't that bad, especially for an almost 48 year old. I've lost a total of 172lbs since my pre-op diet. I have no panni to speak of. However when I turn around my as****s the floor! *lol* Not that bad, but it's quite flabby and you can definitely tell sans clothing I've lost some massive weight. With clothes on no one can believe I've weighed that much. I've not exercised due to some major arthritis and other problems so I imagine if I did it would tighten up a bit more. My main concern was the turkey neck. My neck was massive pre- op and that is the one thing I exercised a lot. I tipped my head bac****il I felt a pull, lowered my jaw and then pulled it up as if I was trying to get my lower lip to touch my nose. I did this constantly and have no gobbler going on at all. Yay!

 I tipped my head bac****il I felt a pull, lowered my jaw and then pulled it up as if I was trying to get my lower lip to touch my nose. I did this constantly and have no gobbler going on at all. Yay!

Imma gonna try this.  I'll turn 60 in a couple of weeks and do not like my turkey neck.  Too cheap for even a face lift.  I did get an estimate when I had a cancer removed from my face and I can think of better ways to spend $8,000.  Especially when he said I'd have two small drains by my ears.  I did not like the drain on my stomach for a week so on my neck?  Again, for $8,000 I could get a lot prettier ear baubles.

Omg, how did you know I was doing this exact thing in the bathtub earlier tonight??? lol I am DEFINITELY pinching my pennies together for plastics someday in the future.

To the other poster, in my case I lost 170lbs and you can't tell I have float-able skin in most clothing. I wear very comfortable slimming undergarments if I want to wear something a bit more fitted to help suck in the panni/muffin top combo. :) I do have icky arm skin, but I am willing to go sleeveless now when I NEVER would have been caught dead in sleeveless anything when I was heavy (even found a wedding gown with sheer full-length arms rather than be sleeveless). My arms were quite large before, definitely one of my least proportionate areas. C'est la vie. It's nothing that keeps me awake at night.

Perhaps we were in the bathub playing with our skin at the same time......oohh, la, la