Okay I'm well aware of the fact that after people lose weight, there's bound to be some extra skin right? Well some people say "Oh if you keep working out, then it'll tighten right up!". Then you have the other group that says "Nothing can be done except plastic surgery!".

Well right now it's been a little over two years since I lost a large amount of weight, but there's one thing that bothers me. I've exercised alot during this time, and managed to get my measurements down to 33-25-34.

The sucky part though is that despite this, I have a huge fold of skin right at the level where my belly button is. In fact the fold pretty much conceals my belly button, unless I manually pull it up. It lifts up about three inches approximately.

It's seriously pretty crazy at this point since I worked so hard, yet I feel like my body played a prank on me with this one. I mean seriously...what the heck? I seriously never believed in the loose skin before, but now I'm a believer.

Hmm...maybe I should ask Santa for a visible belly button this Christmas :D

Shea or Cocoa Butter and lots and lots of exercise and a bit of time...

otherwise there's always the nip and tuck.

Good for you for losing all those inches though hun!
:D

I have the same problem, sadly, due to 4 babies and a big weight loss :(. The thing is, if you lose a little weight, most likely the skin will tighten up after time. But with big losses, the skin loses its elasticity, and does require surgery to get rid of it.

Maybe you could talk to your doctor about options?

I agree with Christine-big weight loss ends in saggy skin. If it really bothers you, talk to your doctor about it.

Ahh I'd love to have something done about the skin, but for now it isn't possible due to the fact that I don't work. Not only that, but I'm a little chicken when it comes to the thought of abdominoplasty :o .

The good thing is that unless I actually lift my shirt to show people, nobody seems to be able to tell anything is wrong (Whoo hoo!). One downside is that whenever I put on my favorite pencil skirt, a huge fold of skin hangs over the waist. Luckily I've figured out that if I tuck my shirt into the skirt, the bagginess of the shirt hides it . Other times I just strap myself in with a girdle (hey it works) :D.

You know what this topic makes me wonder though? If big weight losses do leave loose skin, what on earth do the contestants on "The Biggest Loser" look like at the end? I mean these people loose insane amounts of weight in very little time (14 weeks) :eek: .

I know two women who had gastric bypass, and the amount of loose skin after is incredible! Both went and got surgery because they were proud of their new bodies and didn't want folds of skin hiding it.

Ahh I'd love to have something done about the skin, but for now it isn't possible due to the fact that I don't work. Not only that, but I'm a little chicken when it comes to the thought of abdominoplasty :o .

My moms wound care doctor wanted her to have a gastric bypass and when she brought up that her insurance would definitely not pay for cosmetic surgery to remove the skin he told her that most people don't realize it but if you agree to donate the skin you can usually get the surgery for free since skin is worth so much more than the cost of the surgery (since they always need skin for burn victims) not sure if you have to have a certain amount to donate or how to go about finding out more though.

My moms wound care doctor wanted her to have a gastric bypass and when she brought up that her insurance would definitely not pay for cosmetic surgery to remove the skin he told her that most people don't realize it but if you agree to donate the skin you can usually get the surgery for free since skin is worth so much more than the cost of the surgery (since they always need skin for burn victims) not sure if you have to have a certain amount to donate or how to go about finding out more though.

I heard this too.

I lost a huge amount of weight (100 pounds) and the skin tightened up over a year and a half.

Good luck.

My moms wound care doctor wanted her to have a gastric bypass and when she brought up that her insurance would definitely not pay for cosmetic surgery to remove the skin he told her that most people don't realize it but if you agree to donate the skin you can usually get the surgery for free since skin is worth so much more than the cost of the surgery (since they always need skin for burn victims) not sure if you have to have a certain amount to donate or how to go about finding out more though.

This reminded me of a story I saw once on the news. It involved a morbidly obese man who once weighed 500+ before getting gastric bypass. Well he also had the excess skin removed, and donated it to a pediatric burn ward. I thought that was really awesome since he would be helping those poor little kids.

Wow, Sam, I'd never heard of that before! Maybe I'll explore that option, because I know that I'll eventually have surgery of some type to fix what I can't do on my own. Never thought I'd cave to it, but damn, I've worked hard to get my weight off, and I'd like the package to be complete, so to speak.

Julie, that's just so amazing that you didn't experience any loss of elasticity -- you're lucky (and as I mentioned somewhere else here, congrats, girl -- that's a huge accomplishment!) :)!

I'd say go for it Christine. If it makes you feel happy then there's nothing wrong with it.

According to my moms doc most of their patients (he worked with a lot of bypass surgeons and their prospective patients) did go with that option. I'm sure more people would if it were more widely known and it is a good way to help others while doing something for yourself:)