Restoring your shape after a weight loss

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By PAIGE HERMAN and MARIE KUECHEL
newbeauty.com
Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Stretch marks are technically an injury to the dermis, or middle layer of skin, but they often result from weight gain or loss and pregnancy. They are usually red or purple when "fresh," but eventually fade to a white or silver color. No area of the body is immune, but stretch marks are most commonly found on the abdomen, breasts, hips, thighs, lower back, buttocks and even the arms or legs. Erasing them totally is an impossibility.

When treating stretch marks, the sooner you start, the better your chances of improving their appearance. One study of Retin-A found it reduced the length of the stretch marks by 14 percent and the width by 8 percent. In another study, it decreased the length by 20 percent. But if your stretch marks are pregnancy-related and you're still nursing, Retin-A is not for you, as it may be passed to the baby through breast milk.

Once stretch marks have faded, treatments become somewhat more limited, but fractional resurfacing is showing great promise for improving the texture, color, diameter and depth of stretch marks. The treatment works by stimulating regeneration of the collagen and elastin deep within the skin while leaving the surface intact, so you get softer, smoother skin with minimal or no downtime.

Crepey skin

If you lose weight quickly -- or lose a significant amount -- skin can lose its elasticity, which results in that crepey, loose appearance. While many creams and lotions claim to help with some of the slack, the truth is many of these products offer nothing more than hope in a bottle. But your dermatologist and plastic surgeon have options that can help you tighten up. Energy-based skin-tightening treatments such as Thermage, Titan and ReFirme have entered the mainstream, and while many doctors are skeptical, there are patients who see results. These treatments go to work on collagen deep within the skin to improve tone through the introduction of light, heat or radiofrequency energy. These are downtime-free procedures, though you may need to take a sedative before treatment to maximize your comfort. Treatments are performed in a series, and results appear gradually and continue to improve over time.

Stubborn fat

Even after meeting your goal weight, you may still have stubborn pockets of fat that are resistant to diet and exercise. To eliminate bulges that just won't budge, liposuction is a surgical procedure to sculpt your body's contours. This method has been popular for the past two decades and has expanded to include internal and external ultrasound, lasers and power-assisted liposuction. Liposuction is not a means to lose weight. The best candidates are at their goal weight, and make a commitment to maintaining a stable weight after the procedure.

Body contouring

After losing large amounts of weight, the excess hanging skin that remains can be problematic. From arm lifts and breast lifts to buttocks lifts and tummy tucks, these procedures remove excess skin, and may incorporate liposuction to help create new and improved contours. The downside to any lift is scarring, though most incisions can be strategically placed in a way that they can be concealed under modest clothing. The arm lift is an exception, since the incision may need to stretch from the armpit down to the elbow.

Paige Herman and Marie Kuechel are editors of New Beauty, a semi-annual magazine about cosmetic enhancement. Reach them at editors (at)newbeauty.com. For more columns visit www.scrippsnews.com