There’s no denying that Americans are getting fatter. Running neck and neck with this weighty problem is a fast-growing trend – weight loss surgery. Hive Health Media Network quotes these statistics from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS): “Two hundred and twenty-thousand people had weight loss surgery in 2009, compared with just 17,000 in 1993.”

As waistlines thicken, so do surgical options. Not only is there more weight loss surgery, but there is also more surgery following weight loss. Losing five to ten pounds is no problem, but if you undergo massive weight loss, either from weight loss surgery or dieting, you may be left with unattractive folds of sagging skin.

Sagging skin, commonly seen around the face, upper arms, abdomen, buttocks, thighs, breasts and neck presents physical and mental problems. An Illinois-based plastic surgeon explains the weight-loss patient’s disappointment, “Many have been working for years to lose weight and achieve the figure they’ve always wanted.” Frequently, patients develop rashes or other physical problems from the excess skin.

According to ASAPS’, “A surgical procedure called the ‘lower body lift’ tightens loose, sagging skin in the buttocks, posterior thighs, hips, outer thighs and anterior thighs using incisions that pass from the back around the hips to the front of the thighs. Localized surgery deals with other sagging areas.

For safety’s sake, these surgeries are not all done at once. If you need a lower body lift ASAPS recommends that you be as close to your desired or ideal body weight as possible. If, for example, you have tightening of your lower body and then lose weight, the tightened skin will loosen and become saggy.  Conversely, postoperative weight gain will either stretch the skin which has been tightened or undo the improvements of the body lift. For more information, consult with a board-certified plastic surgeon.