The weight loss industry, which offers books, equipment, videos, foods, drinks and surgery, brought in almost $60 billion just in 2014. Whether through a combination of diet and exercise, or by undergoing a lap band or gastric bypass procedure, many people use weight loss products and procedures to help them work toward their weight loss goals.

As you might expect, people who have lost a dramatic amount of weight are justifiably thrilled to see those pounds drop off. They may be eager to show off the end result of their hard work to friends and family. However, they may not realize that, while they have lost weight, their skin may not have properly conformed to the new contours of the body. In such cases, patients come to see Dr. Paul Pin to learn more about body contouring procedures that can remove excess skin and tissue following dramatic weight loss.

Body Contouring Procedures: Before and Afters

Below are some Before and After photos that show some of the more common body contouring procedures that can be done. These procedures can be done alone or combined.

Arm Lift: The Before photo clearly shows the excess skin and tissue hanging from the armpit to the elbow. This patient underwent an arm lift procedure, in which Dr. Pin made an incision down the length of her upper arm, lifted up the skin and tissue, and then removed the excess. As can be seen in the After image, the arm now looks more trim and contoured than in the Before picture.

Circumferential Abdominoplasty: The patient in this lost more than 200 pounds following a gastric bypass surgery. As the Before image shows, there was still a great amount of excess skin and tissue, along with loose abdominal muscles, even after the weight loss. Dr. Pin performed a circumferential abdominoplasty, in which an incision is made all the way around the body at hip level. Excess skin and tissue are removed, and loose abdominal muscles are tightened. The dramatic difference in terms of body contour is more than evident in the After image.

Breast Lift and Reduction: When women lose a large amount of weight, one of the first places where it may show is in the breasts. If the breasts were originally very large, they may sag or droop once they lose weight. This patient underwent both a breast lift (to place the breasts higher on the chest) and a reduction. For this, Dr. Pin first makes an incision around the areola (the darkened skin around the nipple), and then a second incision from the underside of the breast down to the inframammary crease (the point at which the underside of the breast meets the chest wall). Finally, a third incision is made along the inframammary crease.

Breast Augmentation and Lift: This patient decided to have a breast augmentation procedure done along with a breast lift. As seen in the Before image, the breasts were still quite small after weight loss, but were nevertheless droopy. Dr. Pin placed breast implants and lifted the breasts. The After picture shows the improvement of larger breasts that are fuller and sit higher on the chest.

Patients have every right to be proud of their weight loss efforts. Body contouring procedures are the finishing touch to their hard work to allow them the confidence to show off their results.