If you’ve lost a significant amount of weight, you’re justifiably proud of yourself, assuming you did it in a healthy manner. However, you might also notice after losing all that weight your skin has stretched in certain areas and is no longer firm and tight. Some women notice loose skin around their tummy, although you might notice it in other areas as well. The big question is what can you do about it?
Loose Skin: What Causes Lax Skin after Weight Loss?
In the deeper layer of your skin called the dermis lies two proteins: collagen and elastin. These proteins give your skin support and the ability to bounce back when you stretch it. Collagen is the primary “support” protein while elastin is the protein that gives your skin “stretchability.” You need both to ward off the signs of aging and prevent saggy skin.
Unfortunately, if you overstretch your skin and it stays overstretched for too long, it doesn’t bounce back as easily. Plus, as you age, the elastin in your skin becomes damaged, often due to sun exposure. With elastin no longer doing its job, your skin is less able to spring back into shape after being stretched. So, if you’ve carried a lot of weight in one area for a while and suddenly lose it, like an inflated balloon that you release the air from, the balloon doesn’t return to its original shape but instead is slightly stretched.
The degree to which you get loose saggy skin after weight loss depends on several factors. One is how much weight you lose. If you lost a great deal of weight, you’ll almost certainly have some degree of laxity to your skin. Another factor is how long you carried the extra weight before losing it. If your skin is stretched out from being overweight for many years, it’s less likely to bounce back.
Finally, age is a factor. When you’re young, you have lots of undamaged elastin and your skin is naturally firm and stretchy. If you lose weight your skin will accommodate the weight loss by bouncing back whereas if you lose 50 pounds when you’re 50 years old, you’re more likely to see laxity.
Loose Skin: What Can You Do About Saggy Skin after Losing Weight?
It’s possible, particularly if you’re young, that your skin will recover to some degree and this can take time. Be patient. If six months down the road, your skin is still lax, it’s less likely to recover without intervention. In the meantime, make sure you’re weight training. Lifting weights to build muscle will improve the appearance of lax skin to some degree, and if it’s mild that may be all you need. However, if you have obviously droopy skin, weight training alone might not be enough.
Unfortunately, there’s not a magic cream or lotion you can use to restore your skin to a tight state. Prescription-strength creams that contain retinoic acid, as in Retin-A, may offer some benefit since retinoic acid increases skin elasticity, but most dermatologists prescribe it for the face, not the body.
Although, there is body contouring surgery to correct saggy skin it’s an expensive procedure and not without some risks. For lax skin in the abdominal area, a “skin only” tummy tuck is an option, but keep in mind, it IS surgery.
Loose Skin: Non-Surgical Interventions
More recently non-surgical therapy for skin laxity has become available, one of the most common being Thermage. These therapies use radio-frequency waves to heat the lax skin to a temperature that causes the skin to remodel and appear smoother on the surface.
Thermage is most effective for people who have only mild skin laxity and doesn’t work for everyone. Since most of the action is going on in the deeper layers of the skin, you don’t have a significant recovery time. One problem is the cost. A treatment costs anywhere from $1,000 to $4,000.
Loose Skin: Preventing Skin Laxity
The best way to handle the problem of lax skin is to prevent it. Lose weight at a slower pace, so your skin has time to adapt to covering a smaller area and bounce back. This can help you avoid skin laxity in some cases. Take care of your skin by protecting it from the sun, a major cause of damage to elastin is another way to give your skin more resilience.
One of the worst things you can do is yo-yo diet. When your skin is constantly forced to expand and contract due to fluctuations in weight, it loses its ability to bounce back, especially if you’re over the age of 50. After the age of 50, loss of collagen and elastin speeds up due to hormonal changes, mostly a reduction in estrogen.
The Bottom Line
Avoid developing saggy skin by losing weight at a controlled pace and by not letting your weight fluctuate up and down too much. Protect your skin from the sun to help preserve elastin and collagen to keep your skin firm and resilient.
If you already have lax skin, you’re probably more aware of it than other people. Sometimes self-acceptance is the best approach. You did something amazing! You lost a significant amount of weight and you’re healthier as a result. Be proud of what you accomplished and the fact you had the self-discipline to do it.
Don’t forget compressive garments like Spanx can hide a problem like this quite effectively as long as you’re not wearing a bathing suit. If you have extreme skin laxity, there are surgical options that can correct the problem but it’s not something to rush into. Focus on building muscle definition through weight training. Becoming stronger will also give you more body confidence and you might find the skin laxity isn’t so noticeable after all.
References:
The International Dermal Institute. “Structural Changes Associated with Aging Skin”
SDMD blog. “Thermage: Natural Non-Surgical Skin Tightening Results in One Treatment”
“Removal of Excess Skin after Massive Weight Loss: Challenges and Solutions” January 21, 2015.
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