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.
Building muscle mass through weight training exercises can help decrease the appearance of loose skin, especially if the loose skin is from weight loss. If excess fat distends the skin for a long time, the skin can lose some of its ability to shrink with weight loss.
For some patients, even though they lose hundreds of pounds, their skin bounces back quite successfully. Unfortunately, this is quite rare. What often happens is that patients are left with excess, sagging skin after significant weight loss.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
Because skin is a living organ, it can tighten up some over time. Age, the length of time excess weight was present, and genetics all play a role in how much your skin can tighten. Eating well, staying hydrated, and looking after your skin health can help.
You should include foods that are rich in collagen and elastin to your diet. Milk, legumes, cottage cheese, beans, nuts and fish are examples of foods that contain elastin and collagen. They help with skin firmness, strength and elasticity.
Antioxidants can also help stimulate the growth of collagen and elastin. Examples of the antioxidants present in some foods, drinks, and nutritional supplements include: vitamins A, C, D, and E. coenzyme Q10.
Yes, you can tighten your skin without surgery because there is a range of non-invasive skin tightening modalities to choose from. These energy-based devices use radiofrequency, ultrasound, or laser energy to tighten loose skin.
Amount of weight you lost: Weight loss of 100 pounds or more typically results in a greater amount of hanging skin. Genetics: Genes influence how much firmness your skin retains as you get older. Some people are just more susceptible to sagging skin than others.
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.