Losing a lot of weight can leave a person with saggy skin, especially if weight comes off quickly. Unfortunately, there's no magic lotion or cream that can get rid of extra skin after weight loss. You should keep seeing improvement, but you may need to give it more time.
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.
However, in most cases, small amounts of weight loss, such as 20 or fewer pounds, typically don't lead to the development of loose skin. 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.
“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.
Usually, minimal saggy skin may return to normal shape after weight loss. However, the skin that has been stretched excessively for longer periods becomes saggy with weight loss and requires toning exercises or plastic surgery to remove the excess saggy skin.
Loose skin after weight loss is not permanent and will disappear over time. After a month or two, you should no longer see excess skin hanging from your body. If you are still having problems with excess skin, then you should see a doctor.
Losing extra weight can counter the effects of aging, if you also exercise to tone up your muscles as well, this can help you to look younger. In younger people, having a thinner face can also take years off of your physical appearance, as excess weight can make you look a lot older than you are.
Losing a lot of weight can leave a person with saggy skin, especially if weight comes off quickly. Unfortunately, there's no magic lotion or cream that can get rid of extra skin after weight loss. You should keep seeing improvement, but you may need to give it more time.
Rapid weight loss diet is a type of diet in which you lose more than 2 pounds (1 kilogram, kg) a week over several weeks.
After shedding the pounds, you might notice a smaller waist or a thinner face before the fat melts away from other stubborn areas. But one thing's for sure—losing 30 pounds or more will make a noticeable difference on pretty much anyone's frame, no matter the starting point or the goal weight.
“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.
Exercise
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.
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.
Exercises like cardio, yoga, and crunches may tone your muscles and strengthen your lower abs, but they won't “erase” fat deposits. The only way to lose fat on your lower stomach is to lose fat overall. A calorie deficit helps with this.
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.
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.
Exercise cannot cause muscles to pull skin tighter or shrink it back to size. However, as your muscles grow and develop, they can fill the excess skin left from weight loss, stretching and smoothing the outermost layers of skin for a more even, youthful and healthy look. Think of blowing up a balloon.
Build as much muscle as possible. When you build muscle, your skin naturally looks tighter. It may not actually get tighter, but it will definitely give the appearance of being tighter. Focus on doing exercises like bench presses, squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, military presses, and so on.
Most loose skin treatments, from creams to laser resurfacing, focus on boosting collagen production. Lifestyle changes can keep collagen from slowing down even more. Take your vitamins, stop smoking (if you do), avoid tanning, and swap out harsh skin care for products with nourishing, medical-grade ingredients.
Skin laxity can change after losing about 30 pounds, says Desai. “If you notice changes in larger areas of the body, like arms, abdomens, thighs, and buttocks, you may get that change in the face as well.”
"Losing 20 pounds, even if it's as little as 5-10% of your body weight, can reduce obesity-related risks," says D'Angelo, "and not only that, but losing 20 pounds can also help your overall quality of life, increase your mood, improve your lung function, and reduce blood sugar levels."