Body Lift

in Toronto

You’ve Lost Weight, Now You Want to Look Great

You’ve finally shed that unwanted fat and reached the size you’d like to be, but you’re still not happy with the way you look. What can be done?

Body Lift Facts

At your current weight, you are healthier and have dramatically reduced your risk for a number of diseases, including heart disease and cancer

And yet you’re still unhappy because, in the wake of your massive weight loss, your skin has been unable to tighten back up. It is the appearance of your loose and baggy skin, as well as the irritations that may exist in the folds of your skin, which detract from your satisfaction with your major weight loss. As a result, you are unable to see the optimal effects of your efforts.

How to reshape your body

A circumferential body lift eliminates your excess skin to reveal your new body contours, enabling you to reap the aesthetic rewards of your massive weight loss finally. A circumferential body lift removes excess skin and fat from your midsection after you’ve lost a lot of weight.

Edelstein Cosmetic

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Before & After Transformations

Our experienced plastic suregeons will help you create the best version of yourself
Before After
Before After

Experience these 10 possible benefits from circumferential body lift surgery

  1. A flatter, tighter stomach that enables you to wear clothes that are tailored to fit more snugly, so you can proudly show off your new figure.
  2. A more defined waist to give you the curves you originally hoped for at the beginning of your massive weight loss.
  3. Less or no stubborn fat deposits, specifically in the areas you tried hard to tone but simply couldn’t, to fully achieve a sleeker body contour.
  4. The elimination of skin irritations that once thrived in the folds of your skin and improved hygiene, intensifying your health and comfort.
  5. An enhanced and lifted posterior, making you feel more attractive and desirable.
  6. Much higher self-esteem, because your leaner body is no longer concealed with swathes of undesirable excess skin. You’ll also experience more confidence in social settings.
  7. Dramatic reduction of limitations in daily mobility, from walking to more vigorous exercise. You may also play your favourite sport better.
  8. A more favourable disposition to pursue a mutually fulfilling romantic relationship.
  9. The ability to see more muscular tone, since there’s no more skin to hide it.

Overview

circumferential body lift

Body contouring surgery after bariatric surgery: a study of cost as a barrier and impact on psychological well-being, a study published in Plastic Reconstructive Surgery, found that patients who had body contouring surgery after massive weight loss following bariatric surgery experienced an improved physical quality of life and improvement in aspects of depression and anxiety. A circumferential body lift is the only way to eliminate the excess skin that has been unable to shrink back to your thinner shape following massive weight loss. In a single cosmetic surgical procedure, you achieve a more natural-looking appearance that will accentuate your smaller size, so you too may experience a significant enhancement in your body image.

Are you a candidate?

If you would like to get rid of excess skin and fat in your mid-section and are healthy, a body lift may be for you.

Consultation

Bariatric surgery, while successful in treating obesity, takes a large toll on a patient’s body. To compensate for this, it’s essential to prepare the patient for the procedure by ensuring optimal health prior to any body contouring surgery, such as body lift. This ties into the pre-operative evaluation, a crucial step toward ensuring a safe and efficacious treatment.

During the consultation stage, patients must be prepared to share their weight loss history in full detail. Prior surgeries can have an impact on contouring treatment and their timeline may also help surgeons to understand whether or not weight loss has stabilized. Surgery should only be performed once you have finished shedding body mass and begun following a proper exercise and diet regimen. Without a normal body mass index (BMI) that has remained stable for at least three months (gaining or losing no more than 1-2 pounds/month), body contouring results may not be long-lasting or effective. Once bariatric surgery has been performed, individuals typically settle into a regulated weight within a period of 18 to 24 months. If surgery is performed before a patient’s weight has fully stabilized, factors such as continued weight loss can lead to recurring skin laxity.

This information also allows plastic surgeons to determine whether or not the patient has been receiving proper nutrition. Massive weight loss (MWL) is often accompanied by a substantial reduction in calorie intake and, because of this, can lead to deficient protein, mineral and vitamin levels. These deficiencies can adversely affect results or, worse, increase the risk of surgical complications.

By the time most MWL patients have come to a plastic surgeon for body contouring treatment, they’re no longer within the care of their bariatric surgery team. This means that they may not be actively monitored for the development of MWL related medical conditions. Lab tests work to safeguard against this by checking patients for vitamin, folic acid, iron, potassium and copper deficiencies. Without sufficient amounts of these elements, patients may experience or develop irregular metabolisms, trouble forming blood clots and other significant problems that can lead to improper healing and serious complications.

Once a patient’s physical health has been established it’s important to evaluate their mental well being, too. Body contouring procedures can greatly improve an individual’s self-esteem, but, as with all aesthetic surgery, realistic expectations have to be set in order to provide these benefits. To complicate matters, many MWL patients have poor self-image, often experience weight loss alongside a stressful life event (like divorce) or suffer from body dysmorphic disorder.

Anyone who is currently troubled by psychological issues such as those listed above may not be a suitable candidate for body contouring surgery. With reasonable expectations and an optimistic outlook, however, the procedure can lead to complete satisfaction.

The Pittsburgh Rating Scale has been developed in order to best assess and quantify massive weight loss related problems. The scale works by measuring the level of deformity in ten different areas of the body (arms, breasts, abdomen, flanks, mons, back, buttocks, medial thigh, hips/lateral thighs and lower thighs/knees) with a four point grading system. The grading scale runs from normal range (grade zero) to mild (grade one), moderate (grade two) and severe deformity (grade three).

Using this scale, we can determine which level of correction is most appropriate for you. Severe deformities often require combination lift/excision surgeries while mild issues can be treated through minimally invasive procedures. The Pittsburgh Rating Scale allows for greater surgical predictability and is a valuable tool for preoperative patient assessment.

Your surgeon will also discuss the degree, location and length of scarring in order to help you form realistic expectations regarding their eventual appearance.

Preparing

Your surgeon will give you specific instructions on how to prepare. These usually include stopping smoking and certain medications and/or supplements. You should also make arrangements with a friend or family member to pick you up from your appointment and help you out around the house for the first day or two of recovery. Your surgery may be cancelled or rescheduled if you do not follow some of the guidelines outlined by your surgeon.

Providing MWL patients with body contouring treatment with a body lift involves substantial challenges. Surgeons must begin the procedure by following a number of standard precautions related to pain management, antibiotic use and more.

A senior anaesthesiologist with experience in preparing MWL patients for surgery will perform a check-up before the procedure.

Your surgery

A body lift is performed under general anesthesia and usually takes two or more hours to complete. Your surgeon carefully marks all incision points in order to hide post-surgical scars as best as possible. As a part of this, your surgeon assesses any previous scars, plans the marks that any follow-up procedures may create and predicts the effects of future skin relaxation. (Regardless of the level of skin tightening accomplished through the procedure, MWL patients should expect tissue relaxation over time. A side effect of this process involves some contour definition loss and scar migration.)

The surgery begins with your surgeon creating incisions around the circumference of the body (typically from hip to hip on both the front and back). Your surgeon then removes excess skin and fat and, in some cases, tightens the stomach muscles and/or uses liposuction techniques. The incisions are then closed and dressed.

Following your surgery

Your surgeon will give you complete instructions on how to ensure a safe and speedy recovery from your surgery. You may be prescribed antibiotics or pain medication, instructions on how to care for the treated area and information on any complications to look out for. Your surgeon will also let you know whether or not your stitches will need to be removed and when to return for follow-up care.

You should expect moderate discomfort during their recovery and swelling and bruising for up to six weeks following surgery. Your surgeon will let you know when you can return to your normal activities and at what point you can resume exercising.

Follow-up appointments will be set in order to monitor body changes, wound healing and your general health. Instructions will also be provided that outline the details of a proper exercise and diet plan. If you plan to travel a significant distance to or from our surgical facility, you will also be given instructions on how to avoid developing deep vein thrombosis during long stretches of inactivity.

Your results

The results of your circumferential body lift will become noticeable after swelling has subsided and will become completely visible over the coming months. The benefits of your lift last a long time, but can be offset by substantial weight gain. Maintaining a healthy weight by eating well and exercising regularly will help to extend your results.

Risks

Although our surgeons are experienced in providing patients with a safe and effective procedure, it’s important to understand some of the potential risks associated with surgery. These include bleeding or blood clots, infection, scarring, poor wound healing, temporary numbness and other issues. In some cases, additional surgery may be necessary.

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