After bariatric Sanford Body Sculpting surgery, such as, stomach stapling or gastric bypass, a patient is left with excess weight and skin. The more weight the patient loses the more skin looks stretched and hangs loosely around the patient's body. The result is that sometimes the patient actually looks worse after losing weight, then better. Sometimes the weight loss is so great that the extra skin literally hangs from the body and becomes heavy on the patient, like extra clothing after standing in the rain for too long. The skin hangs from the abs, chest, arms, legs and buttocks. A patients best option to remove it is body contouring. Body contouring is the process of removing the excess fat and skin and sculpting the patient's body so it looks more evened, toned and attractive. Body contouring normally yields quite positive results for patients.

The Body Sculpting Sanford surgery varies depending on the procedure. A patient looking for immediate results would consider a body lift. A body lift is going to tighten all of the loose skin around the body in one to three surgeries. This is great for patients who have more than one or two problem areas. For instance, a patient who has undergone gastric bypass surgery may be left with excess skin in every area after their weight goal has been reached. A good cosmetic surgeon will ask their patient to wait one to three months before scheduling the body contouring surgery. At that point they would begin with the surgeries to remove excess fat and skin. The results are the optimal body the patient was looking for.

After this surgery a patient can expect to be back on his or her feet in a just a few days. Exercise and strenuous work should be avoided from two week to thirty days depending on the advice from a patient's cosmetic surgeon. It is important that patients listen to their cosmetic surgeon when he or she is advising them on recovery. All recovery advice should be followed in order to receive optimal results.

Another body contouring procedure is the breast lift. Breast lifts remove excess skin and fat above, below and around the breast. Then the breast is sculpted to take on a natural but more youthful look. The nipple is moved to be better centered on the breast. The result is firmer, younger looking breasts that match the patient's new, healthier body. This practice is sometimes necessary for a patient to feel comfortable again. The recovery time after a breast lift is short. Normally a patient can return to work in one to two days. This is an outpatient procedure so it is important that patient's have someone they can trust pick them up from the office or hospital.

another common body contouring procedure is abdominal etching. This is the process of removing stubborn fat from the abdomen area and transferring it out of the body. The cosmetic surgeon then removes excess skin. This is going to expose abs that the patient worked hard on but were not exposed due to post-surgical excess skin and fat. The recovery time for this procedure is a bit longer. Cosmetic surgeons normally ask that patient's refrain from strenuous activity for about three weeks. It may also be required to wear a surgical garment for up to six weeks after the surgery. A good cosmetic surgeon will go over all risks and the recovery procedure with the patient in great detail.

For all body contouring procedures the surgery length is usually between 2 and 5 hours and performed under general anesthesia. The risks are normally low but carry the same risks any surgery does that requires anesthesia. Depending on the patient and the amount of work that needs to be done the surgery may not be completed all at once. It could take multiple times to yield optimal results. Patients should have a clear understanding of this and also have realistic expectations.

Recovery can be short or long depending on the needs of the patients. In most cases a patient can return to work after about two weeks. It takes about one or two months for a patient to return to all normal activities including strenuous work and exercise.

price varies greatly for each procedure making it difficult to discuss. Some insurances do cover some of these procedures depending how the excess skin is effecting the patient's health and quality of life. Most procedures are not covered by insurance and tend to be quite expensive. The best way to know how much a procedure costs is to schedule a consultation. A good cosmetic surgeon will give his patient a variety of payment options. Some places even offer patients to make payments or open a credit account with their office. There are many options in regards to payment but in order to know them a patient will need to research cosmetic surgeons and schedule consultation appointments.