For small to moderate amounts of weight loss, your skin will likely retract on its own. Natural home remedies may help too. However, more significant weight loss may need body-contouring surgery or other medical procedures to tighten or get rid of loose skin.
“In general, it can take anywhere from weeks to months—even years,” says Dr. Chen. If after one to two years skin is still loose, it may not get any tighter, she says.
However, larger amounts of weight loss, such as 50 pounds and over, especially over a short period, can considerably increase your risk of loose skin. Your genetics and age will also play an important role in determining how much weight loss causes loose skin.
Body contouring, also known as body sculpting, is a surgical procedure that removes the loose skin that is left after weight loss and improves the shape and tone of your body's tissue.
So who can expect loose skin after weight loss? While it varies, mild weight loss (think: 20 pounds or less) typically doesn't lead to excess skin, Zuckerman says. Weight loss of 40 to 50 pounds can seem as massive as a weight loss of 100+ pounds.
When you lose a lot of weight, such as 100 pounds or more, your skin may not be elastic enough to shrink back to its natural shape. This can cause the skin to sag and hang, especially around the upper face, arms, stomach, breasts, and buttocks. Some people don't like the way this skin looks.
To lose stomach overhang you have to burn fat cells in both the fat you can see directly under the skin and also the more dangerous fat that you can't see that surrounds your organs. Cardio such as swimming, aerobics, running or dancing will burn this excess fat store.
The loose skin is caused by losing a huge amount of weight – as in, 100 pounds or more – in a very short amount of time. It can happen when the weight is lost through diet and exercise, but it happens more often to weight-loss surgery patients.
If you drop large amounts of weight, especially from quick reductions in belly fat, it is possible you will have some extra skin left behind. Prolonged periods of obesity can stretch your skin, eventually damaging the collagen and elastin that help keep your skin tight.
Lose Weight Slowly
Rapid weight loss can result in loose skin because the body doesn't have the proper amount of time adjusting to the new changes. When you lose weight slowly, your skin has time to adapt and shrink at a healthy pace. Most experts recommend losing 2 pounds or less a week to maintain healthy skin.
For small to moderate amounts of weight loss, your skin will likely retract on its own. Natural home remedies may help too. However, more significant weight loss may need body-contouring surgery or other medical procedures to tighten or get rid of loose skin.
Engaging in exercise such as resistance training can increase muscle mass. Building muscle through exercise can improve the appearance of sagging skin, especially in the legs and arms. Also, facial exercises may improve muscle tone around the jaw and neck. This may reduce sagging skin in these areas.
Regular exercise, including cardio and strength training, will help you maintain your weight and tone your body. It also may help your skin look tighter. Talk to your doctor if you're concerned about extra skin.
It's impossible to spot treat an apron belly. The only ways to reduce one are through overall weight reduction and surgical/non-surgical options.
A FUPA looks like an extra layer of skin and fat just above the pubis. Some people have a larger mons pubis because of genetics. FUPA can also develop after weight loss or weight gain.
It's impossible to spot-treat fat and lose it from just one area of your body. Losing weight overall is the only way to lose belly fat in a healthy way. Toning and tightening your ab muscles with floor exercises, changing your diet, and pursuing healthy habits will all contribute to trimming your waistline.
Does everyone have loose skin after major weight loss? Nope—it's not inevitable, says Dr. Prachand. But it's also not easy to predict who is going to experience it, he says.
“Your skin may not contract back to its smaller shape if weight is lost too quickly.” This inability for the skin to contract as well as it once would have, due to the weakening of the fibers over time, is what leads to excess or saggy skin during weight loss.
A good moisturizer can plump up your skin, making fine lines and wrinkles less noticeable. This result is temporary. To continue seeing any benefit, you need to apply the product every day. As for the claim that a cream or lotion can lift sagging skin, dermatologists say that's not possible.
Saggy skin, on both the face and body, is often associated with the loss of fat. The deterioration or reduction of collagen and elastin in the dermis are another cause of saggy skin. While anyone can get saggy skin, it's more likely to occur in people as they age.
Amount of weight lost: As you can imagine, the more weight you've lost, the more likely you are to have loose skin. Someone who has lost 30 pounds may not have any loose skin, while someone who has lost 100 pounds or more is more likely to experience hanging skin.
Excess skin can appear when you lose between 40 and 50 pounds. A dramatic weight loss of 100 plus pounds will almost certainly result in loose skin. If you drop 20 pounds or less, your skin will not produce excess, much less get so loose as to hang off your torso and limbs.