Losing weight must be one of the best things you can do for your health. However, losing a lot of fat and weight usually comes with a problem, and that is sagging skin. Today we will talk about what causes sagging skin and how to get rid of it.
Let's start with why you must lose weight. Being severely overweight can have a huge impact on how you look, feel, and are healthy. Too much body fat can affect you in many ways, including increasing your risk of developing the following diseases:
Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, cancer, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis and joint pain, fatty liver, kidney disease, reproductive and pregnancy problems, depression, and more
Losing weight is usually not easy, but the rewards are huge and can even extend your life. You're sure to look and feel better.
However, weight loss is often accompanied by sagging skin that affects your appearance and quality of life. For some people, sagging skin can be so painful that they begin to doubt the benefits of weight loss.
The good news is that there are several solutions to sagging skin. We will tell the best and safest ways to get rid of sagging skin and also discuss some suggestions to avoid it.
What causes sagging skin?
When most people think of human organs, they often think of the liver, heart and lungs. However, your skin is also an organ. The skin is also the largest organ in the body.
The skin has several basic functions, including:
Protection, temperature control, moisture storage, sensation, secretion of toxins, and vitamin d production.
Skin is made up of several layers and is primarily composed of proteins, including collagen and elastin. Elastin, as the name implies, is elastic and helps keep the skin firm.
When you gain weight, your skin stretches and it has to make room for extra fat. This is supposed to be a good thing. If the skin didn't stretch, pregnant women's bellies would bloat and crack! But as most obese people have been for years, the skin will gradually lose its elasticity as it is stretched and it will be harder to return to its original shape.
This is because collagen and elastin fibers, which are responsible for skin elasticity, are damaged.
As a result, after weight loss, the skin remains stretched and hanging off the body. The more significant the weight loss effect (the faster), the more sagging the skin may become. Skin laxity is usually associated with fat loss, but it can also be caused by other body shape changes or muscle loss. For example, if a bodybuilder stops training for a long time, their muscles will contract. This can also lead to sagging skin.
Adverse consequences of sagging skin
While weight loss is good for all aspects of your health and fitness, the loose skin that comes with it can lead to physical and emotional problems including:
A reluctant image :
Many people view sagging skin in a negative way. Even with the best weight loss results, loose skin can diminish the perception. Despite successful weight loss, some dieters are still unhappy with their appearance and are reluctant to wear clothes that expose their loose skin.
Skin problems:
Loose skin folds can lead to skin health problems, including fungal infections, sores, rashes, and generalized pain and discomfort. Dirt, sweat and bacteria can build up in the skin folds, causing a range of skin problems.
Physical discomfort:
Large amounts of excess skin can be uncomfortable and can even interfere with normal activities and exercise. Loose skin folds can impede movement, especially around the abdomen and buttocks.
Factors affecting skin elasticity
Although this is a common problem, not everyone has loose skin after weight loss. This is because there are several factors that affect skin elasticity and the degree of skin laxity. These factors include:
Age:
As we age, our skin tends to lose its elasticity. This means that younger people have fewer wrinkles. Older skin has less collagen and is less elastic than younger skin. Because of this, if you're fat and young, it's better to lose weight now rather than wait until you're older if you want to avoid sagging skin.
Genetics:
Some people have beautiful skin simply because of their genes. If your parents and grandparents had more elastic skin, the chances are high that you will inherit this trait.
Duration of obesity:
The longer you've been overweight, the more damage your skin has suffered and the more likely your skin is to sag. This is why during pregnancy, the skin on your abdomen stretches and then usually returns to its original shape very quickly without developing significantly sagging skin. However, even short-term weight gain can damage the skin and lead to stretch marks. You can reduce the formation of loose skin if you start your weight loss journey early and don't put it off for a few years.
The degree of weight loss:
The more weight you gain, the more your skin needs to stretch to accommodate the excess fat. Therefore, the more weight you lose, the more loose your skin is likely to become.
Smoking :
Smoking reduces collagen production and damages existing collagen. As a result, smokers tend to have more wrinkles than nonsmokers. Heavy, long-term smokers are more likely to have sagging skin than nonsmokers. If you want to avoid sagging skin after weight loss, you should also quit smoking.
Sun exposure :
Prolonged exposure to sunlight reduces collagen and elastin production and decreases elasticity. Therefore, most skin types can use a sunscreen with a high spf, such as spf 30 +, to maintain skin elasticity.
How to tighten sagging skin
While it is almost impossible to completely eliminate sagging skin, there are a few things you can do first to tighten or reduce the problem.
Add some muscle
Increasing the size of your muscles can help fill in the gaps left by any fat loss. This will help support the skin from the inside and make it less saggy. However, if you have lost a lot of weight, say 50 kg or more, you may not be able to add enough muscle to fill in your sagging skin, especially around the abdomen.
Nevertheless, especially given the many benefits of regular resistance training, it makes sense to include strength training in your weight loss process because it can help you lose weight faster by boosting your metabolism.
Take collagen supplements
Collagen supplements are becoming increasingly popular. People are taking them to improve joint health and to improve their skin. Some protein powders also contain collagen. Supplementing with collagen can help your skin be more elastic, making it stretch and contract more easily.
While this is an unproven solution, studies do show that it can preserve and increase the amount of collagen in the skin. For best results, use collagen regularly. In addition to collagen supplements, you can also get collagen from bone broth, which has additional nutritional value.
Drink more water
Chronic dehydration can affect your entire body, including reduced elasticity of the skin. In fact, one way to see if you're dehydrated is to press on the skin on the back of your hand for 30 seconds and see how quickly it recovers. If it takes more than a few seconds, you may be dehydrated.
Studies have shown that drinking more water can increase skin elasticity and help prevent and reduce sagging skin.
You need to drink as much water as you can get, but the standard recommendation is 8 glasses of water a day, which would be a good place to start. Monitor the effects of drinking more water on your skin and then adjust your intake based on the results.
Get enough protein
Your skin is made up mostly of protein, so it makes sense that consuming too little protein can have a detrimental effect on the health and elasticity of your skin. Lysine and proline play a vital role in the production of collagen.
Adjust your protein intake to your goals by consuming a range of high-quality protein sources, including:
Meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, soy, grains, protein supplements
Get more vitamin c
Most people know that vitamin c is essential for proper immune system function. However, this nutrient also plays an important role in the production of collagen. Vitamin c also helps protect the skin from sun damage.
Good sources of vitamin c include:
Citrus fruits, including oranges, lemons, peppers, strawberries, blackcurrants, broccoli, potatoes
Omega-3 fatty acids
Omega-3 fatty acids have many benefits and can help reduce inflammation, are good for your heart and brain, and can even improve skin elasticity.
Eating oil-rich fish is an easy and delicious way to increase your intake of -3 fatty acids, and salmon, mackerel, herring and tuna are all good sources. Alternatively, you can use omega-3 supplements or cod liver oil.
Use skin tightening creams
Topical skin tightening creams and gels usually contain collagen and elastin. They may also contain ingredients that promote blood flow to the skin, such as black pepper extract. Skin tightening creams and gels can also help hydrate and "Plump" The outer layer of the skin, making it look and feel firmer.
These products only provide short-term results, however, as collagen and elastin are formed in the lowermost layers of the skin.
Medical treatments for sagging skin
In some cases, the only effective way to remove sagging skin is surgery. Such a procedure is called body contouring surgery. Depending on the area and degree of sagging skin, this may require multiple procedures over the course of a year or more. Body contouring procedures include:
Tummy tuck:Removal of skin from the abdomen.
Lower body lift: Removal of skin from the abdomen, buttocks, hips and thighs.
Upper body lift: Removal of skin from the chest and back.
Inner thigh lift:Removal of skin from inner and outer thighs.
Hand lift:Removal of skin from the upper arms.
The surgery usually requires a hospital stay of 1-4 days and 2-4 weeks of recovery at home. All types of surgery carry the risk of infection, as well as possible complications during surgery and recovery. In other words, while contouring procedures are very effective, they are not 100% safe and should not be undertaken lightly.
Medical non-surgical treatments for skin laxity
In addition to body contouring surgery, there are non-surgical treatments for loose skin. Since there is no incision to recover from and no anesthesia is required, these treatments are much less risky, but also less effective.
Goodbye, sagging skin
Don't let the idea of sagging skin stop you from losing weight. While loose skin can be painful, the benefits of losing excess fat far outweigh the disadvantages. With less fat, you'll be healthier, have more energy, can exercise better, and you'll look better.
Starting to lose weight early can reduce the risk of sagging skin. The longer you've been obese and the older you lose weight, the more likely your skin will sag.
Try our advice.
However, if you have lost a lot of weight, your skin may still be loose and unresponsive to your actions. If that's the case and your loose skin is really bothering you, talk to your doctor about surgical and non-surgical treatments. It is entirely possible that surgery is the only way to permanently remove sagging skin.