NY Facial Plastic Surgery After Major Weight Loss

NY Facial Plastic Surgery After Major Weight Loss

Nothing makes you feel better than losing a few pounds. You feel more attractive, more physically fit and more confident about your appearance. Many people see the change in their appearance in their face first. Lose a few pounds and you also lose those chubby cheeks and double chin. But Manhattan facial plastic surgeons warn that major weight loss can cause unexpected, and upsetting, sagging of the skin on the face and neck. When you’re young and your skin is still elastic, skin that was stretched by 10 or 20 extra pounds snaps back when you shed the excess weight. But as we age, our skin loses its elasticity. Instead of snapping back to its original smooth, taut surface, our skin sags, creating wrinkles and lines that weren’t there before.

The same sagging skin occurs when someone loses a significant amount of weight. Skin that has been overstretched for years cannot snap all the way back. Like an overstretched rubber band, your skin loses elasticity the longer and the farther it is stretched until it can no longer recover and just hangs there. Some improvement in skin elasticity may occur over time, particularly if you’re young; but it won’t happen overnight. How much skin elasticity you gain will depend on your age, how much extra weight you carried, how long you were obese, and how quickly you lost the weight, as well as personal health issues such as sun exposure, diet and your skin’s natural condition.

What people who lose a significant amount of weight don’t anticipate, Manhattan facial plastic surgeons warn, is the sagging skin that follows weight loss: facial wrinkles, deep laugh lines, pronounced forehead furrows, sagging jowls and crepe-y necks.

Next time: Facial cosmetic surgery can repair sagging skin