Many individuals experience frustration with excess, sagging skin after significant weight loss, whether through bariatric surgery, diet, or exercise. A lower body lift, also known as a belt lipectomy or circumferential tummy tuck, is a comprehensive surgical procedure designed to address this concern by removing excess skin and fat from the lower torso, resulting in a firmer, more toned appearance.
What is a Lower Body Lift?
A lower body lift is a cosmetic surgery procedure designed to remove excess skin and fat from the lower half of the body. This procedure, also referred to as a belt lipectomy, addresses loose skin and fat around the waist. It creates a firm, more toned appearance in your lower body, including your buttocks and abdominal area. It essentially combines a buttock lift, an outer thigh lift, and a tummy tuck into one surgical procedure.
Why Consider a Lower Body Lift?
After losing a lot of weight, your skin doesn’t always tighten on its own. The lower body lift in Boston, Massachusetts, is the most common procedure performed for people who have lost massive amounts of weight through bariatric surgery or other means. It is often disappointing to lose a great deal of weight only to find those hard-earned results masked by layers of sagging excess skin throughout the abdomen, thighs, and buttocks. The lower body lift can remedy all of these problems by removing the extra skin from the back, abdomen, buttocks, and thighs.
Lower Body Lift vs. Tummy Tuck
A lower body lift and a tummy tuck have some similarities. Both procedures are designed to remove excess skin and tighten abdominal muscles to help tone your midsection. Where a tummy tuck focuses on your abdominal area only (the front), a belt lipectomy uses a large wrap-around (360-degree) incision and tightens both your lower abdominal area and buttocks (the back).
Are You a Good Candidate?
Every patient is assessed on an individual basis, but typically a good candidate for a lower body life will be a patient who:
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- Has experienced dramatic weight loss due to dieting or bariatric surgery
- Is psychologically distressed by the appearance of their sagging, excess skin
- Is experiencing health problems, such as infections and rashes, as a result of their overhanging skin
- Is a healthy, steady weight and has maintained this for at least a year, but ready to see their physical shape improved beyond what they can achieve themselves
- Has relatively thin layers of fat below the skin
- Is mentally prepared for the recovery period
- Is prepared to commit to an ongoing a healthy lifestyle in order to be able to maintain the results of their procedure
Experts usually recommend that you wait until your weight has been stable for at least two years after bariatric surgery or any other type of massive weight reduction program. This gives your body time to adjust to your new size, and your skin to shrink as much as possible.
Smokers are generally not considered good candidates for all types of surgery, including a lower body lift, because smoking slows the healing process and increases the risk of complications.
Women considering future pregnancies also should postpone a body lift since pregnancy can reduce the procedure’s overall effectiveness.
The Consultation Process
Your first step in getting rid of that excess skin is a consultation. During your body lift consultation, Dr. Spiro will answer any questions you may have so you fully understand all aspects of the procedure.
In this first meeting, Dr. Davidson will listen to your concerns about your body and evaluate the extent of the damage to be repaired. For example, some patients may not need the full lower body lift procedure and can skip the buttock portion, while others need to add additional work like an inner thigh lift or additional liposuction.
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After you’ve discussed your lower body lift options, Dr. Davidson will walk you through some necessary precautions like stopping smoking before the surgery in order to facilitate better skin healing.
Be prepared to discuss the following:
- Your surgical goals
- Current medications
- Medical conditions and drug allergies
- Previous surgeries
How to Prepare for a Lower Body Lift
Dr. Spiro will provide you with preoperative instructions to prepare for body lift surgery to ensure the best possible outcome. Before your surgery, he may also ask you to:
- Get lab testing or a medical evaluation
- Take certain medications or adjust current medications
- Stop smoking
- Stop taking ADHD medications
- Avoid taking aspirin, anti-inflammatory drugs, and herbal supplements that can increase bleeding
The Lower Body Lift Procedure: Step-by-Step
All lower body lift surgeries are performed under general anesthesia in an accredited surgical facility. The duration of the surgery depends on how many procedures are performed and to what extent. It is common for this surgery to take 3-4 hours or longer.
Here's a general overview of the procedure:
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Step 1 - Anesthesia: Medications are administered for your comfort during the surgical procedure. The choices include intravenous sedation and general anesthesia. Your doctor will recommend the best choice for you.
Step 2 - The incision: One common technique of complete lower body lift uses incisions similar to a bikini pattern to tighten the abdomen, groin, waist, thigh and buttock in one procedure. An incision around the body removes an apron of excess skin and fat and repositions and tightens tissues. Surgical body lifts may require liposuction to achieve an improved contour.
The specific incisions will depend on your particular case, but in general, for a lower body lift, you will start off on your stomach or side while an incision is made all the way around your body at the waistline. Dr. Davidson will remove the skin and fat below the incision and tighten up the tissues there. You will then be switched to your back so the front side can be addressed.
During a lower body lift, an incision is made horizontally across the lower abdomen, circling the body. Through these incisions, excess fat pockets will be removed using liposuction, and the underlying tissue and muscle will be pulled tight.
Step 3 - Closing the incisions: Deep sutures within underlying tissues help to form and support the newly shaped contours. Sutures, skin adhesives, tapes, or clips may be used to close the skin incisions.
Recovery After a Lower Body Lift
The recovery can also be quite trying. Most patients will be required to spend at least one night in the hospital. It could take 2 weeks or longer before work and normal activities can resume.
Our body lift procedures are performed at the hospital and require a 24 - 48 hour overnight stay. You will need to arrange for someone to drive you to and from surgery.
During your stay, you’ll receive skilled nursing care and learn to care for your drains and dressings. Be sure you have someone lined up to help at home since it will take up to four weeks before you can manage unrestricted normal activity.
You should expect to stay in hospital for at least one night after your lower body lift procedure. This will enable you to get the best possible start to your recovery process. Your body will be dressed in compression garments which will help to combat swelling and speed up the recovery process. You will also be given your aftercare instructions which you should follow precisely in order to minimize your risk of complications.
After your procedure, dressings or bandages are applied to the incisions, and small tubes are temporarily placed under the skin to drain excess fluid. Dr. Spiro will provide postoperative instructions that may include:
- How to care for your incision(s) following surgery
- Medications to apply or take orally to aid healing
- Specific concerns to look out for
- How to care for your drains
- When to schedule a follow-up appointment
Dr. Spiro may also provide you with a medical compression garment to wear at all times, except while showering. You will wear compression garments for about a month after your lower body lift to support your healing tissues and control swelling, and you can expect to experience several weeks of bruising as well.
Your body will look bruised and may be sore for several weeks. You will be given pain relief to manage your discomfort. You may need help at home for up to four weeks while you recover, and you should avoid any strenuous activity for at least six to eight weeks, or longer if advised by your surgeon. The final results of your surgery should be visible within two to three months, while your scar will continue to fade over time, being considerably less obvious a year after your surgery.
Potential Risks and Complications
Although a lower body lift is a strenuous procedure, serious complications are rare. Like all surgeries, there is the risk of bleeding, infection, hematoma, and reactions to anesthesia. In addition, many patients experience numbness, tingling, or other changes in sensation for several months post-surgery. In a few cases, some numbness remains for a year or longer. If you are concerned about these or other risks, please bring them up with Dr. Q.
Results of a Lower Body Lift
The results of a body lift are visible almost immediately. It may take as long as one to two years for the final results to fully develop.
The results of body lift surgery are visible almost immediately. However, the final results won’t be apparent until your swelling goes down within six weeks.
A lower body lift can create a natural shape and a leaner, more toned figure.
The majority of the lower body lift results will be permanent. While everyone will experience a bit of additional skin sagging naturally as they age, the excess skin removed during the surgery will be permanently gone.
Additional Procedures
A lower body lift can also be combined with other body contouring operations such as an inner thigh lift, an arm lift, or breast contouring surgery. Depending on the extent and number of areas to be contoured, all of the procedures may be performed either at once or over multiple surgeries.
Cost of a Lower Body Lift
You will receive an estimate for your body lift surgery during the initial consultation, based on the type of procedure and your individual goals. While most health insurance plans do not cover body lifts, Dr. Spiro offers financing plans and payment options to help you pay for surgery.