If you’ve achieved dramatic weight loss, body contouring procedures can be a wonderful way to bring your body transformation full-circle. Breast lifts, tummy tucks and thigh lifts are just some of the popular body contouring procedures that effectively address excess skin and unresponsive fat in order to accentuate your weight loss success. Here are some important factors to consider before surgery to ensure you get the best results possible.
1. Be At or Near Your Target Weight
Timing is incredibly important when it comes to post-weight loss body contouring. The ideal candidate is at or very close to a healthy and stable target weight. If you experience significant weight loss after body contouring procedures, you could become dissatisfied with the results and need additional surgeries.
2. Have Maintained that Weight for Several Months
Long-term weight maintenance can be a problem for people who’ve experienced a significant weight loss, and ensuring you can effectively maintain your new weight is important before moving forward with plastic surgery. Focus on following healthy lifestyle habits to avoid significant weight fluctuations for several months before planning body contouring surgery.
3. Be a Non-Smoker or Quit Smoking before Surgery
With any surgery, smoking increases your risk of complication. Smoking presents a number of complications including an increased likelihood of blood clots and a reduction in healthy blood supply needed for proper healing. If you do smoke, quit at 30 days before surgery.
4. Have Realistic Expectations about Your Outcome
Although body contouring can deliver wonderful results after significant weight loss, having unrealistic expectations about the outcome almost always ends in disappointment. When planning your body contouring procedure, it’s important to acknowledge that aesthetic surgery is intended to enhance your natural figure rather than create a new one.
