Many individuals experience significant weight loss through diet, exercise, or bariatric procedures, often resulting in loose, sagging skin on various parts of their bodies. For those seeking a solution, the body lift procedure in India by Saraswat Hospital offers a comprehensive approach to tightening and contouring the skin, restoring a firmer, more youthful appearance.

Generally, this looseness is around the face, chin, arms, breasts, abdomen, back, and thighs.

Depending on the loose skin, cosmetic procedures are needed either alone or more commonly as a combination of multiple procedures to correct it.

What is a Body Lift?

A body lift, also known as belt lipectomy, is a procedure that removes excess skin and fat from various areas of the body. The procedure targets the abdomen, buttocks, thighs, or focuses on specific regions, like a lower body lift, which addresses the lower abdomen, buttocks, and thighs.

Body Lift Procedures

A Few Body Life Procedures

Correction of mons ptosis and fullness is a necessary adjunct to abdominal contouring in a high percentage of MWL (Massive Weight Loss) patients. The mons can be thinned to match the upper abdomen and elevated using a suture to restore a youthful contour. Failure to correct the mons during an abdominoplasty or lower body lift can lead to an unsatisfactory result, despite adequate correction of the abdomen, thighs, or buttocks. To properly reshape this region, two specific steps are contemplated. One consideration is the suspension of tissues in the abdominal fascia. The second consideration is the reduction of the thickness of the mons.

Correction of the abdomen alone is often not enough to restore appropriate contour for many MWL patients. Procedures have been devised to correct the entire lower body unit, including the lower body lift, belt lipectomy, and circumferential torsoplasty. Further enhancements of outcomes have resulted from autologous augmentation of the buttocks. Fat can be preserved from the posterior resection based on gluteal artery perforators, de-epithelialized, and rotated into pockets over the gluteal muscles to give shape to a region that otherwise becomes flattened with routine lift procedures. For the abdomen, the fleur-de-lis can be added concomitantly if laxity remains in the horizontal vector.

The circumferential body procedure is a very powerful operation, allowing correction of the abdomen, lateral thighs, and buttocks in a single stage.

The medial thighs present many technical challenges for the plastic surgeon. Patients with significant skin laxity on both medial and lateral thighs can rarely be treated satisfactorily with a single procedure. A vertical thighplasty will impact the medial thighs and decrease leg circumference while leaving notable deformities on the lateral thighs untouched.

Most MWL (Massive Weight Loss) patients need both lower body lift and vertical thighplasty to fully correct thigh aesthetics. Staging the procedures is ideal. Lower body lift should be the first ‘cornerstone’ procedure for optimal results before vertical thighplasty.

This is beneficial for the following reasons:

1. The lower body lift, especially when done with the abdominoplasty, will have a greater impact on the patient’s body shape.

2. It will tend to relax over time, allowing the thigh tissues to rotate inferiorly and medially. Dr. Satya Saraswat is of the view that the patient may have a much more arduous recovery if the procedures are performed together. So it has to be finally the patient’s call.

3. Performing both procedures together can be taxing on the surgeon.

Brachioplasty best exemplifies a trade-off of skin for the scar. The scar from a brachioplasty is very prominent and visible. Moreover, this scar can stay thick and red for many months before maturing and becoming less noticeable.

Dr. Satya Saraswat at our center in Agra performs brachioplasty as an isolated procedure too, although many MWL patients choose to combine brachioplasty with other body contouring procedures.

Complications inherent to Body Contouring after MWL (Massive Weight Loss)

Complications with body contouring procedures consist of wound healing and seroma. A host of less common complications are seen in the patients, including infection, bleeding, skin necrosis, and thrombotic complications.

Pre-Procedure Care

When you choose this surgery, you may be asked to:

Get a medical test done.
Avoid drinking or smoking before the procedure.
Hold back yourself from any recreational drugs.
Swallow the medications prescribed by your doctor.
Before the procedure wash your body with an antibacterial mild soap.

Post-Procedure Care

To get the best results after getting a procedure, these are the post-procedure care steps to follow:

Follow the instructions given by your surgeon.
Keep the treated area clean and dry.
Avoid smoking or drinking.
Improve your sleep cycle.
Follow a healthy diet and keep yourself hydrated.
Do not miss any follow-up appointments.

If you are considering body lift procedure, Dr. Satya Saraswat is a perfect surgeon. After a short physical examination, he will guide you through the process, keeping your goals in mind. He is a highly skilled and experienced surgeon with several successful procedures and extensive experience in achieving the best possible results. Dr. Satya Saraswat and his team will provide warmth, care, and attention to detail.