Have you noticed loose, hanging skin around your midsection? Do you have fat pockets around your hips or stomach? These are both common outcomes of the natural aging process.
While diet and exercise can help you lose weight, they won’t make a difference for excess skin and unwanted fat in your problem areas. This is where a procedure like a body lift can make a difference.
Palms Wellington Plastic Surgery provides full-body lift procedures to help patients remove excess skin and unwanted fat. Read on to learn what a body lift involves and how it can lead to a more youthful-looking figure.
What Is a Belt Lipectomy?
More commonly known as a body lift, a belt lipectomy is a plastic surgical procedure that aims to remove loose, sagging skin around the stomach, thighs, and buttocks.
As you age, the level of collagen and elastin in the skin significantly decreases. These components are responsible for keeping skin tight, firm, and youthful. When they decline, skin loses elasticity and begins to droop downwards. This causes the midsection to lose its natural contours and firm shape.
A belt lipectomy works to restore the body’s contours by removing loose, sagging skin and creating a more sculpted figure. In some procedures, liposuction is used to remove small pockets of unwanted fat that have accumulated around the abdomen, thighs, and buttocks.
The Benefits of a Full-Body Lift
Body lift procedures can provide numerous aesthetic benefits for patients. Below are just a few of the positive effects you can experience after a full-body lift:
- Tighter abdomen
- More firm buttocks
- Slimmer thighs
- Overall contoured figure
- Lifted, tight skin around the midsection
A belt lipectomy is a beneficial procedure, as it can address multiple areas of the body at once.
The entire midsection is enhanced, including the upper and lower abdomen, flanks, hips, thighs, and buttocks. This makes it an effective procedure for older patients and for those who have lost a significant amount of weight and need excess loose skin removed.
The Complete Body Lift Process from Beginning to End
Many people are not familiar with belt lipectomy procedures. While this is a popular cosmetic treatment, patients often have questions about what the process involves. The following is a breakdown of what you can expect during each step of your body lift procedure.
Consultation
The first step in the belt lipectomy process is your consultation appointment. You must have a consultation with one of our cosmetic medicine providers to make sure that a body lift is the best procedure to meet your needs. We will examine your current figure and skin concerns, as well as discuss your desired outcome.
If we find that you are not a good candidate for a belt lipectomy, you will be advised on other procedures at this time.
Patients who are moderately to severely overweight will not benefit from body lift surgery. The ideal candidate is someone within range of their healthy body weight but struggling with loose skin and small fat deposits. Patients with excess weight may be better suited for weight loss procedures like liposuction.
Preparation
Once you have had your consultation and we confirm that a full-body lift is the best course of treatment for you, we can move forward with preparing for your surgery.
In the weeks leading up to your procedure, you will need to receive complete medical clearance from your general physician. Medical clearance is necessary to ensure that you are healthy enough to go under anesthesia for your body lift.
The night before your belt lipectomy, you will be asked to abstain from eating or drinking. This is an anesthetic precaution.
Procedure
Your full-body lift will be performed under general anesthesia in our plastic surgical center. Board-certified cosmetic surgeon Dr. Nir begins by making an incision that follows the upper inner thigh to the waistline. The incision may extend further around the waist and lower back for more extensive procedures.
If adjustments are being made to the buttocks, an additional incision will be made in the crease just underneath.
Once the appropriate incisions have been made, excess loose skin will be resected and removed. If there are underlying fat deposits, liposuction will be used to gently suction away the unwanted fat. The remaining skin will then be placed tightly and sutured into a sculpted configuration that models the body’s original contours.
This entire process can take anywhere from three to seven hours, depending on each patient’s unique needs.
Recovery
After your belt lipectomy, you will be required to stay overnight in our plastic surgical aftercare center. You will then be discharged to return home and begin the recovery process. There will be large bandages in place to promote optimal healing. These must remain for at least the first two weeks of recovery.
Surgical drains will also be in place in the first week to remove excess fluid buildup. Strenuous activity should be avoided for the first four to six weeks to avoid any damage to the surgical sites.
Body Lift Procedures at Palms Wellington Plastic Surgery
The natural age-related changes that occur throughout the body can make your figure look very different. When you struggle with loose skin that has changed the shape of your body, diet and exercise will not help get your youthful body back.
An effective way to create a more toned, contoured shape is by having a belt lipectomy. Palms Wellington Plastic Surgery provides full-body lift procedures in Wellington, FL, to help patients achieve a younger-looking figure. Call our office or contact us online to learn more!