POST BARIATRIC SURGERY

Many severely overweight people are able to lose a significant amount of weight and maintain their results with changes in diet and exercise. Others who have tried, but have had little success with various weight loss programs, find a solution with bariatric surgery.

Bariatric surgery, a broad term that covers several types of gastric and intestinal surgeries. It works by either reducing the size of the stomach to limit calorie intake or by decreasing the amount of calories the body can absorb by surgically altering the small intestine. Examples of bariatric surgery include gastric bypass, gastric banding (lap-band, realize band), duodenal switch, gastric sleeve or roux-en-y procedures.

Bariatric procedures are appropriate for life-threatening morbid obesity and most often produce extreme weight loss. Dramatic weight loss, however, can cause other types of aesthetic problems. Patients are often left with loose, sagging skin that no longer has the elasticity to conform to a slimmer shape. While the body shrinks, the skin does not usually shrink to fit the new slimmer shape.