[Eliana]

I have not had surgery but had to respond because "bag of skin" is the perfect description! I am so lucky as far as skin goes. My skin has held up beautifully. However...

This morning I was brushing my teeth and I leaned over my counter and got a full on glimpse of my stomach hanging off my bones...just like a bag of skin! It was so weird. I had ribs and hip bones and a big pile of skin pulling away from my bone. I thought this was all fat, but maybe not. Oh, it's just awful! I'm ok with it when I stand up straight, but well...never mind. Yuck! This is not good or my body image! LOL!

Time...

[KlassyKid]

Originally Posted by JohnP

I assume you go to India for the surgery due to cost?

Yes JohnP, the cost is so much less. A friend of mine recently showed me the final bill for her weight loss surgery done at UC Davis here in California and it was $124,0000 with insurance. Mine done in India was $7,800 which I paid myself since I don't have insurance.

[onmyway35]

know what you mean, the more you lose the more it hangs..... Sometimes I get so down on myself that I let things get so out of control before. Plus I was pregnant when I was at my highest weight so I stretched my stomach to **** and back.

I have a ways to go before goal another 35 pounds but I am pretty sure there will be plastic surgery in my future.

[Bright Angel]

Originally Posted by rachael

I know I'm adjusting and my body isn't done changing
and my skin will change still, possibly, but it's just weird.
Did any of you feel like this? Did it go away?

Yes, I felt like that when I had my WLS 18 years ago,
and yes, it went away.

[Jen]

I've been doing some research and here are some things that I have found out about reducing loose skin after weight loss.

1)keep skin moisturized
2)keep hydrated, drink your water
3)use a loofah to remove dead skin
4)reduce body fat
5)increase lean muscle mass
6)ensure you are eating a healthy diet with a wide variety of foods, healthy fats are good for the skin
7)there are some supplements that might help with the skin being healthier

Skin really is only 1.5mm thick, what is underneath is fat, if you reduce the fat the skin will 'wrap' itself around the underlying muscles. I'm just repeating on what I read on a number of different web sites, I've no personal experience. However what I read makes sense, I think there is a lot of misinformation out there about this, not enough study has been done on what can be done long term. Generally though I am seeing a lot of people say that it does improve over time. I can imagine how hard it is to be patient but I'd rather try these other methods personally then go for plastics now that I've read more about it. Funny how plastics are more involved and generally I hear more painful than the WLS.