What Is The Best Home Remedy To Tighten Your Skin
Besides the non-invasive and minimally-invasive options out there that are somewhat effective, theres no magic skin tightening cream or exercise thats going to tighten loose skin after weight loss on its own. Thats what makes excess skin a difficult problem for those with more moderate cases, says Zuckerman.
Rubbing cocoa butter on your skin might sound like a good idea, but while many topical products claim to tighten skin, doctors are skeptical. “There are no efficacious topical products or OTC remedies for excess skin,” says Zuckerman. Jacobs adds that any product youre going to buy for this issue usually will have subtle results at best.
The best home remedy, then? “Taking care of your skin,” says Jacobs. “This includes sun protection, avoiding smoking, limiting alcohol consumption, and eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in sugar and saturated fats.”
Natural Skin Tightening After Weight Loss
One of the problems with extreme rapid significant weight loss is you could very well end up becoming skinny fat.Skinny fat is kinda like deflating the balloon. You might lose a lot of weight but you also lose a lot of muscle too.
So even though youre losing weight your body fat percentage wont change or might even get worse. This is what happens when you end up starving yourself to lose weight. You waste away a lot of your muscle mass in the process.
The good news is if you dont have a ton of extra loose belly skin then you might not even need surgery. But if you lost more than 100 pounds really fast then theres a chance you might still need it.
The integrity of your belly skin will also affect how easy it is to tighten the loose saggy skin on your body. Depending on how your skin responds to your weight loss is critical.
Try losing weight slower and healthier since crash dieting can make your loose belly skin even worse. When you lose weight too fast it doesnt give your skin enough time to retract into a tight new formation.
This can end up giving you the loose, saggy belly skin that can drive you crazy. Your skin can only stretch so far before it stretches beyond what is repairable. But the good news is if the damage isnt too bad then you can definitely fill out your loose excess belly skin.
How To Tighten Loose Belly Skin Without Surgery
How to tighten loose belly skin? In the past, surgery probably was the only way to fix it. Fortunately there are now many non-invasive procedures to choose from. But its not always easy to choose one that meets your requirement most. Also, its important to ask yourself whether treatment is really necessary since sometimes lifestyle measures are enough to deal with.
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How Painful Is Excess Skin Removal Surgery
Excess skin removal procedures are major surgeries. You can expect to have pain for a few weeks. Your healthcare provider will prescribe pain medicine and offer tips to ease discomfort.
You may have more pain when moving around, climbing stairs or getting off the couch. It may help have a loved one or other support person stay with you during the first week of recovery.
Can You Get Rid Of Sagging Belly Skin
Fact Checked
If you have had a baby or lost a lot of weight, your joy at getting your body back might be tempered by sagging belly skin. The problem can get worse as you get older, because your skin elasticity is reduced and collagen production slows with age. Exercise, lifestyle choices and medical procedures are available to repair even severely sagging skin.
Start a daily exercise routine. Incorporate 30 minutes of aerobics such as walking or cycling into your daily regime to burn calories and firm your body and skin gradually. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend 150 minutes per week of exercise to improve your health, or 300 minutes per week to lose weight 1.
Perform crunches on an exercise ball to firm your abdominal muscles and tight your skin. Crunches and air bike exercises are among the best ab exercises to help build muscles in your belly and improve the appearance of sagging skin.
Follow a healthy diet plan that incorporates healthy fats and proteins, such as cottage cheese, fish and nuts. Also stay hydrated by drinking at least 8 glasses of water daily. A healthy eating plan helps you maintain your skin’s elasticity, which helps tighten sagging skin as you lose weight and tone your body.
Tips
Lose weight at a moderate 1 to 2 pounds per week. Rapid weight loss may lead to sagging skin.
Warnings
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To Reduce Significant Sagging
Surgical procedures to remove loose skin are often recommended after weight-reduction surgery. In most cases theyre considered cosmetic procedures and may not be covered by insurance. These procedures fall under the category of body contouring surgery.
Body contouring procedures can leave some degree of visible scarring on areas such as the upper arms. They also require significant amounts of time for recovery, lasting from 2 weeks to 1 month. You may opt to have one area of the body treated, or multiple areas.
Types of body contouring surgeries include:
- tummy tuck
How To Tighten Loose Belly Skin At Home With Oils
Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is loaded with nutrients and properties proven to tighten stomach skin. With its ability to penetrate deeper into the skin, it rejuvenates the skin cells while providing fantastic hydration and nourishment. Its also full of antioxidants to eliminate skin-damaging free radicals and slow down the aging process.
What You Need:
Massage a teaspoon of oil in upward circular motions across your stomach area.
Keep on massaging for up to 10 minutes.
Try to avoid washing or wiping the oil off. Leave on overnight.
When to Do It:
Perform these steps every night prior to going to bed until the desired results are achieved.
Almond Oil
Almond oil is one of the most popular home remedies for tightening stomach skin. In fact, most skin issues can be treated with almond oil. Its rich in several moisturizing nutrients, including vitamin E, to naturally tighten belly skin and visibly reduce sagging.
What You Need:
Apply the almond oil to your stomach.
Massage in an upward circular motion.
Continue massaging for 20 minutes.
When to Do It:
Do this once a day or every other day before taking a shower.
Olive Oil
Olive oil is rich in vitamins A and E, making it a go-to remedy to lock in moisture, tighten the skin, and give it a radiant glow. Its also rich in antioxidants to protect against sun damage.
What You Need:
Massage a teaspoon of oil in upward circular motions across your stomach area.
Continue massaging for five minutes.
When to Do It:
Yogurt
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Stretch Marks Saggy Skin & Excess Fat
As a certified personal trainer, I get asked many questions on a daily basis. However, three of the main things I get asked are:
Since I answer these questions so often on an individual basis, I figured I would write this blog for the masses of ladies out there who need it! Since stretch marks, loose skin, and fat are all separate issues, lets break them down one by one.
How can I get rid of stretch marks?
If you have had a baby, gained weight fast, or lost weight fast, chances are youve got your fair share of stretchies. I had stretch marks before I even had a baby due to weight gain from weightlifting and then weight gain from plaine ole eating fast food and neglect. The skin stretches so quickly that the collagen and elastic tissue are damaged, leading to the characteristic line-like appearance of the skin
However, a lot of people get them simply by growing as teenagers due to growth spurts. Before I go any further, let me tell you that is it normal and nothing to be ashamed of. However, so many women are.
I will be blunt-there is no way to make stretch marks completely disappear. Surgical interventions and laser treatments may help make them appear barely even there, but most DIY remedies will only lighten them up over time. Yes, time is your friend. Think of it as basically a scar-scars fade over time and your marks are no different. But again that is okay!
Which Of These Skin Tightening Treatments Is Best
While a tummy tuck immediately removes loose skin, it doesn’t firm the stomach or support healthy skin. Other methods may have side effects, and/or dont target loose skin on the stomach.
Red light therapy is, by far, the best noninvasive, safe, natural, and effective solution. Here’s how it works and why it’s so effective.
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Modest Tightening And Lifting
Non-invasive skin tightening proceduresThese procedures are called non-invasive because they leave your skin intact. You wont have a puncture wound, incision, or raw skin afterward. You may see some temporary redness and swelling, but thats usually the only sign that you had a procedure.
Heres what you can expect from a non-invasive skin-tightening procedure:
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Results: Tend to appear gradually, so they seem natural
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Downtime: Little or none
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Colorblind: Safe for people of all skin colors
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Body-wide use: Can tighten skin just about anywhere on your body
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Side effects: Usually some redness and swelling, but little risk of other side effects when performed by a board-certified dermatologist
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Time commitment: Most procedures take 1 hour or less
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Pain: May have some discomfort during the procedure, but thats usually it
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Makeup: Can often apply immediately after the procedure
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Cost: Varies and not covered by insurance, so ask how much it will cost
If you opt for a non-invasive skin tightening procedure, youll likely have one of the following:
UltrasoundDermatologists are using ultrasound to send heat deep into the skin.
Bottom line: The heat can cause your body to produce more collagen. With 1 treatment, most people see modest lifting and tightening within 2 to 6 months. You may get more benefit from having additional treatments.
RadiofrequencyDuring this treatment, your dermatologist places a device against your skin, which heats the tissue beneath.
Can Excess Skin Removal Take Place At The Same Time As Another Weight Loss Surgery
No. Excess skin removal surgeries can only take place after bariatric surgery. A plastic surgeon cant remove the excess skin until you lose the extra weight. It may take one to two years to achieve your goal weight after bariatric surgery. You also need to maintain that weight loss for at least six months before getting body contouring procedures.
Also, two different types of surgeons perform these procedures:
- Bariatric surgeons perform weight loss procedures like gastric bypass and gastric sleeve.
- Plastic surgeons perform body contour procedures.
You may have heard that you can have liposuction and body contouring, such as a tummy tuck, at the same time. Liposuction can help remove stubborn fat deposits, but it isnt a weight loss surgery. Your surgeon can discuss if a combined procedure is right for you.
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Tummy Tuck With Liposuction
If you have issues with both excess fat and loose skin would be the perfect solution. Traditionally, tummy tucks do not deal with excess fat, they simply remove loose skin and repair structures under the skin . Liposuction removes excess fat and can help contour different parts of the abdomen. The two procedures go hand-in-hand and produce optimal results.
Abdominal contouring with tummy tuck and liposuction
Whos A Good Candidate For Non
Many people can safely have a skin-tightening procedure. Youre likely to get the best results if you:
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Are at a healthy weight and maintain your weight
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Eat a healthy diet
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Protect your skin from the sun and never tan indoors
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Have a small amount of sagging skin
A skin-tightening procedure isnt right for anyone who is pregnant, has a skin infection, or takes certain medications.
Do you have lots of sagging skin? If so, skin-tightening may not be helpful.
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Common Causes Of Loose Stomach Skin
Your skin contains collagen and elastin that gives it the ability to stretch and constrict as your weight fluctuates. So, when youre working out and gaining muscle, your skin will adjust to make room for the change in muscle mass. But, as you age or during certain parts of your life, your collagen and elastin may deteriorate. This means your skin wont be able to adjust as easily leaving you with loose or sagging skin.
Your skin can appear loose in a number of places from your face and neck to your stomach and legs. The most common reasons include:
Can You Exercise Loose Skin Liposuction And Tummy Tuck Surgery
We see many patients who are diligent about exercising and keeping fit. But they find that, after pregnancy or weight loss, they are left with damaged abdominal muscles and excess skin that no amount of exercise or sits ups OR dieting will take away.
- Thats where Tummy Tuck with Liposuction can help restore a firmer, flatter appearance to the waistline and belly skin.
- Loose skin can be surgically reduced, your navel readjusted and the torso area restored to a firmer, flatter appearance with a defined waistline.
- The method is called ABDOMINOPLASTY but it is also called a Tummy Tuck.
- Liposuction may help with sculpting the torso BUT on its own, will not adjust for loose skin and can make skin folds appear more prominent.
- So often Tummy tuck surgery is best, however, it will leave a scar, and recovery can take several weeks for details, download a guide below and read about the procedure on this page.
Further Reading about solutions for loose skin
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The Diet For The Sagging Belly
Exercise is enough to tighten the belly for people who are already thin. If someone is overweight it takes diet and exercise together to see results. They can pump up their abdomen with strong muscles but no one will see them under a massive layer of fat, so these people, in parallel, need to follow a special diet.
In order to get rid of sagging abdomen you must diet. You need to create for yourself a rational menu, which will include proteins and healthy carbohydrates.
The main products have to be as follow: eggs, low-fat cottage cheese, low-fat cheese, kefir, unsweetened yogurt, all kinds of cereals, fruits and dried fruits, vegetables, and useful lean meat . Cooking process must be only stewing or braising. You need to give up bad calories carbonated beverages, juice packs, etc ..
When Should I Call The Doctor
You should call your healthcare provider if you experience:
- Swelling in your limbs.
A note from Cleveland Clinic
When you experience significant weight loss, its understandable to want your body to look a certain way. Excess skin can also be painful. If youre bothered by sagging skin after weight loss, you can talk to a healthcare provider about body contour procedures. These procedures can remove excess skin and fat. They also tighten tissue to give skin a firmer, smoother look. You may need several body contour procedures to remove excess skin and get the look you seek. A plastic surgeon can determine the best body contour procedures for you.
Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on 11/01/2021.
References
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What Is Loose Skin On Stomach
The skin is the largest organ in the body. If a person gains weight, the skin expands to cover the new area. Then, if the weight is reduced, the skin retracts again.
However, the longer that weight is retained, the more likely that the elastin fibres responsible for the skins elasticity will be pushed too far and become damaged. This prevents the fibres from retracting properly, resulting in excess skin.
Red Light Therapy Boosts Circulation
Firm skin relies on blood and lymph circulation. Blood brings nutrients to the skin, while lymph fluid removes waste to help protect skin cells.
A 2018 study by Austrian researchers found that red light therapy stimulates growth of endothelial cells, which make up the inner layer of capillaries of the blood and lymphatic systems.
Red light therapy also offers many other health benefits, including aiding with weight loss. Explore these benefits on the PlatinumLED Learn page.
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Youll Have Improved Confidence And Self
- Patients with excess skin folds report a decrease in body confidence.
- Whilst, Tummy Tuck Surgery patients often report a boost in both self-confidence and self-esteem.
- Often, patients report they feel more positive and confident.
- Especially if theyve lost a lot of weight, for some patients, they feel AFTER surgery is the FIRST REAL-TIME they can fully celebrate their hard work and new figure. They didnt feel their transformation was complete when they still had to deal with sagging skin folds after weight loss.
Topical Skin Tightening Products
Prescription or over-the-counter skin tightening products including topical creams, lotions, and serums are an easy treatment for the self-consciousness caused by loose skin. Those that contain vitamin C or retinol may be especially effective because they boost new collagen production. These products, however, may not be the best option for people with sensitive skin.
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