If you desire a firmer, more youthful-looking body contour, then a surgical body lift may help achieve your goals. It improves the shape and tone of the underlying tissue that supports fat and skin. In addition, the procedure(s) can improve a dimpled, irregular skin surface, commonly known as cellulite.

Body lift surgery essentially sculpts the body by excision of excess skin and fat and reconstruction of what remains into attractive contours. A body lift may include these areas:

1) abdominal area, locally or extending around the sides and into the lower back area

2) buttocks, that may be low, flat or shaped unevenly;

3) groin that may sag into the inner thigh

4) thigh, including the inner, outer, or posterior thigh, or circumferentially

Body lift is performed under general anaesthesia, with the patient positioned on their stomach, and the surgeon removes a large, belt-like segment of skin above the buttocks, up to the lower back. When the wound is closed, the thighs and buttocks are lifted. The patient is turned over and the surgeon continues to work on the front of the thighs and abdomen. Indeed, when a surgeon performs a circumferential removal of skin and fat of the lower abdomen, and when combined with undermining of the thighs, it will lead to a lift of the buttocks and thighs. A body lift can be done in two stages, with a three-month gap between procedures, or as a single-stage surgery.

The results of a body lift are visible almost immediately. However, it may take as much as one to two years, or more, for the final results of the body lift procedures to fully develop. Since weight loss patients have poor skin elasticity, closure must be as tight as possible. However, over-resection of skin followed by overly tight closure of the tissues can lead to wound rupture or to broadly depressed scars resulting from suture pull through, breakage or premature dissolution. At the same time, insufficient removal of skin and low tension closure leaves sagging tissues, skin rolls and/or wrinkles.

A body lift should be seen as a critical step in overcoming obesity, with the potential of ceasing or reducing medications used for diabetes and high blood pressure. Patients need to take steps following surgery to maintain a healthy lifestyle, ensuring that their new shape will be long term.

Tags: abdomen, Body contouring, Body lift, buttocks, groin, thighs

This entry was posted on Friday, January 22nd, 2010 at 2:49 am and is filed under Body, Body contouring, Body lift. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.