The body lift is also known as body lifting. It was first described by Lockwood in 1993 and is therefore named after him.
Basically, the procedure involves three classic forms of skin tightening – the abdominoplasty (tummy tuck), the thigh lift and the buttock lift.
Contrary to the term body lift, it is not the entire body that is tightened, but the areas mentioned above.
This procedure is very helpful for patients who have undergone extreme weight loss, for example after gastric band surgery, and would like to have the resulting excess skin removed at the Yuveo Clinic Düsseldorf.
Contents
Yuveo Clinic
Special features of the body lift
In this case, “body” refers to the abdomen, buttocks, hips and thighs, which are tightened in one procedure.
Lifting of ...
Advantages
No lifting of ...
Body lift surgery
The body lift is performed at the Yuveo Clinic Düsseldorf under general anesthesia and involves an inpatient stay of 2 to 7 days.
The operation time depends on the number and experience of the plastic surgeons. In order to keep the operation time to a minimum, we operate with a team of 2 surgeons. However, you should expect the operation to take 4-6 hours.
The body lift technique is essentially the same as abdominoplasty, buttock lift and thigh lift – but here they are performed in one session.
The incisions that run in the panty area are joined together in the hip area. By removing the excess skin, we also achieve a good tightening effect on the outer thighs and hips.
Frequently asked questions about body lifting
When is body lift surgery advisable?
A body lift is medically indicated after severe weight loss that results in significant excess skin. This can often take on grotesque proportions, which can lead to significant emotional stress and physical disability.
Large flaps of skin can develop, causing friction on the inner thighs or extending from the abdomen over the pubic area to the thighs. This means that there are often no limits to personal hygiene.
In such cases, individual tightening operations are often not sufficient to correct or normalize the overall appearance. In such cases, a body lift can make a significant contribution to normalizing the body shape.
The indication for this operation is given in cases of extreme weight reduction with massive excess skin in the abdomen, thighs, buttocks and hips.
This excess skin often occurs after gastric banding surgery, which is performed to lose weight in cases of extreme obesity.
Body weight can be reduced by well over 60 kg in this surgical procedure (read also the article Skin tightening after weight reduction).
You should not have any serious secondary illnesses and agree to a more complex procedure, including the associated follow-up treatment.
In principle, it can be said that most gastric band operations, if they are successful, result in severe excess skin after massive weight reduction.
The desire to improve the quality of life through a surgical body lift is then very easy to understand.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a body lift?
Below we present the main benefits of the body lift:
- A body lift instead of several operations.
- Overall shorter anesthesia time compared to the addition of the anesthesia time of the individual operations.
- Only one post-treatment phase, which, however, lasts longer and has a greater impact than the individual operations.
- Effect of body tightening on the entire upper half of the thigh, the pubic area, the abdomen, buttocks and hips.
A major advantage is the tightening effect on the outside of the upper thigh, as the body lift also removes skin and fatty tissue from the hip area. Apart from this, the body lift replaces 3 conventional tightening operations (see above).
Blood reserves are available for a surgical procedure of this magnitude. Although these are not usually required, this cannot be ruled out given the extensive wound areas.
What is not part of a body lift?
The following lifting operations are not included in the body lift: breast lift, upper arm lift, facelift, neck lift and forehead lift.
What happens after the body lift?
Postoperative treatment for a body lift consists of bed rest and physical immobilization of the patient for the first few days. Thrombosis prophylaxis with heparin is important during this phase.
The inserted drains can be removed after approx. 3-5 days, depending on the accumulated fluid.
Compression treatment using corsetry is carried out for approx. 2 months after the body lift.
Sports activities should also be avoided during this time.
We usually remove the stitches after 2-3 weeks.
You should then treat the scars, which can be easily concealed in underwear, with skin creams. For more noticeable scars, we recommend silicone-based ointments or plasters.
Fact check
- Practitioners: Dr. Schumann and Dr. Schumann-Averkiou
- Treatment duration: about 4 to 6 hours
- Anesthesia: General anesthesia
- Hospital stay: 2 to 7 days as an inpatient
- Aftercare: Compression underwear for 2 months, scar care
- Remove stitches: after about 2 to 3 weeks
- Sport: No sport for 2 months
Further information and related topics
Here you will find more information on the individual abdominoplasty, buttock and thigh lift operations and on obesity.
