Timing of Weight Loss and Surgery

Many times patients will ask “Do I need to lose more weight before my surgery?”. it’s not as straight forward as you may think. I do think that for patients actively losing weight and have reasonable goals of additional weight loss should continue their weight loss before their cosmetic surgery. This is especially true for facelift, necklift and breast surgery (  https://schusterronald.wpengine.com/procedures/breast-surgery/breast-lift/ )  where there can be continued loss of support from the weight loss. On the other hand if you only want to lose a few more pound or your goals are simply unrealistic considering your age and genetics, than I think you will only get more frustrated with your inability to shed those pounds. Also, for patients having tummy tuck procedures there will be a certain amount of fat and skin which be removed, and this could weigh a few pounds itself ( https://schusterronald.wpengine.com/procedures/body-contouring/tummy-tuck/ ).

I also do not feel strongly that you need to wait 3-6 months after you have lost the majority of your weight in order to forward with surgery. There are several other issues that are important however. First, how did you lose the weight? Was it through a healthy diet and more exercise? Hopefully “yes”. If so, your body is fairly well primed to have surgery and you should do very well. This is a lifestyle change and will complement the changes you see from surgery. it’s important to continue after your surgery. If you went on a crash “fad” diet, than I think you will be disappointed when your weight returns, probably sooner than later. If you have surgery early after weight loss in this case, you might get frustrated and angry that you spent time and money on surgery, only to lose the benefits after weight gain. You certainly should be off all weight reduction medications, like phentermine, for at least 2 months before surgery as these medications can have a bad effect on your anesthesia. patients who have had massive weight loss after gastric bypass surgery should wait until their weight loss stablizes. This usually occurs about 1 year after their bypass. In all cases it is important to have a healthy high protein diet in order to help heal from surgery. Vitamins with extra minerals are also very helpful. I invite you to look through my website sections,https://schusterronald.wpengine.com that discuss how to prepare in order to get more info. 

Have fun, be safe and good luck.

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