Body lift

Body lift

Body lift surgery aims to remove excessive skin along with the underlying fat from your belly, sides and the back leading to a flatter, more contoured torso.

You should only consider a body lift if this is something that YOU want. You should not go through with such a surgery at behest of others. A suitable candidate is usually a healthy individual who following massive weight loss is bothered by the way their body looks or feels. The excess skin is something that will not go away and cannot otherwise be remedied. The weight loss itself may be due to exercise and dieting or even bariatric/ weight loss surgery but the excess skin will often remain.

It is important that you have realistic expectations. If you are still loosing weight and have not yet reached your ideal/ target body weight then it is best to postpone your body lift surgery.

During the evaluation expect to be asked about your reasoning behind wanting to undergo a body lift. You should be clear regarding your expectations and goals. Personal medical as well as surgical history will be discussed aside from your general health, use of regular medications and social habits such as smoking. Your surgeon will carry out an examination of your tummy and back, the degree of separation of your rectus muscles, as well as the possible need to lift your buttocks. Your surgeon would want you to have a complete blood test as well as blood group done prior to surgery. Make sure that before you decide on going through with your body lift surgery that you should ask your surgeons any questions regarding your procedure, such as the position of your surgical scar, recovery time, return to work etc.

Body lift surgery is done under general anaesthesia. A horizontal incision is made running just above your pubis, stretching to either side and continuing to your back just above your buttocks. In other words a belt like width of skin and fat is removed from the areas of excess. Whilst operating on your back your surgeon may then decide to proceed with a buttock lift as well if deemed necessary. Once the unwanted tissue is removed incision lines are closed and you are turned to lie on your back. On your tummy side, preparation is made above the muscular plane up towards your naval and beyond. If necessary the rectus muscle edges are also approximated with sutures. The skin is then re-draped and its excess removed. Your belly button will be brought back to the surface through a new skin opening. Finally skin edges are then sutured together and a compression garment applied over wound dressings.

Please be advised that in some cases this procedure my be combined with liposuction or be carried out separately AFTER a extensive liposuction to achieve optimal results.

A body lift is essentially an extended version of a tummy tuck and similar to any major surgery does carry some additional risks.  Aside from probable risks associated with general anaesthesia, as with most surgeries, there is always a risk of bleeding, poor wound healing, irregular scars as well as infection. More particular risks include the risk of haematoma, seroma formation and wound breakdown. Other conceivable complications include DVT or pulmonary embolism and fat or skin necrosis –loss-. Any of the above may lead to future revisional surgery or hospitalisation.

You will spend one or two nights at the hospital following your body lift surgery. There will be drains -small plastic tubes- coming out of either side to draw out excess fluid and blood. The drains are removed after 2-4 days depending on the speed of your recovery. You are discharged with new wound dressings and a compression garment to help support your tummy and back during its recovery. You have to wear the compression garment for 6-8 weeks. DVT prophylaxis injection will be given for home use. Further follow-ups will be arranged at 1,2 and 4 week intervals. Your sutures are removed after two weeks. During the first two weeks you should not be doing anything strenuous. Your surgeon will advise you regarding incremental increase in the level of your daily activity depending on your progress, but in general exercise is frowned upon during the first 6 weeks, and you can only go back to work 2-3 weeks following surgery.