Partner of
The Aesthetic Center for Plastic Surgery

Body Lift
Houston, TX

Remove Excess Fat And Skin

Massive weight loss can change your life in so many positive ways. One disappointment, however, may be the amount of deflated lax skin after the extreme transformation. This skin does not respond to diet and exercise and the only way to definitively improve it, is with surgical excision. If you have lost weight and are frustrated with the excess skin you are left with, despite diet and exercise attempts, then schedule a consultation with Dr. Hustak today.

Surgery

Body lift is a procedure designed to improve the overall shape of your trunk. This includes addressing your abdomen, outer thighs, and back/buttocks all at the same time. Excess fat and skin are removed and the underlying muscles of the abdominal wall are tightened, resulting in a flat abdomen (tummy tuck). This procedure is often combined with liposuction of other areas. To remove excess skin and fat from your abdominal wall, outer thighs, and back/buttocks, Dr. Hustak makes an incision that courses low across your abdomen around to your buttocks and continues across your lower back. This is often referred to as a belt lipectomy because the tissue removed is around the region one would wear a belt.

Dr. Hustak believes it is important to address the female genitals as part of your transformation as these too change with massive weight loss. As such, a monsplasty and labiaplasty (labia majora most commonly) are often addressed at the same time. The buttocks can also be enhanced at the same time with rearrangement of tissue that already exists (auto-augmentation) rather than simply excising it. Combining some or all of these will lead to a more complete transformation of the entire lower trunk.

The procedure takes about four to six hours, depending on additional procedures that are added. A general anesthesia is required. You are kept over for one or two nights in the recovery care center or hospital before you are allowed to return home. Discomfort is controlled with pain pills and muscle relaxants. Drainage tubes are used on both the front and back of your torso. You are placed in compression garment after surgery. No heavy lifting or strenuous activity is allowed for four to six weeks. Most patients return to work after two weeks, once drains are removed. The results are often life-changing and complete the transformation that begun when weight loss started.