Although the weight loss industry struggled throughout the pandemic, it is now beginning to enjoy growth again. In the United States alone, the demand for weight loss services generates about $4 billion in revenue each year! More than 21,000 people work in this industry and help people in the country achieve their weight loss goals.
However, after achieving their weight loss goals, many people discover that they are facing a new problem. It is becoming more and more common for people to experience loose skin after weight loss.
But why does this happen? What are the disadvantages of it, and how can you prevent it? There is a lot to know about sagging skin after weight loss and what you can do to manage it as well as possible.
The good news is that as this problem becomes more common, doctors and scientists also continue to develop new treatments that can help take care of it. So what causes loose skin after weight loss?
Read on to learn all about the top things to understand about the causes of loose skin after weight loss and what you can do about it!
Weight Gain Can Stretch Skin Fast
When many people try to understand where loose skin comes from after weight loss, they focus on the weight loss itself. However, it often makes more sense to go back to the weight gain to explain this phenomenon.
When people gain weight, the layers of fat under their skin become thicker and thicker. As a result, the skin has to grow in order to contain the larger volume of the body.
In part, this growth of skin is responsible for loose skin after weight loss. After all, if the volume of the body decreases, there will be some extra skin left over that will not have much support.
Other Causes of Loose Skin
However, there is more to the story of how weight gain can lead to sagging skin. Sometimes, rather than growing, skin stretches to accommodate growing amounts of fat under the skin.
The skin relies on collagen to maintain its support and smooth appearance. However, the collagen in your skin can become stretched out through significant weight gain. If you later end up losing a lot of weight, then the skin that is stretched out will become more apparent.
In this case, weight loss does not actually cause loose skin. Instead, it reveals loose skin that had already developed due to weight gain.
Weight Loss Can Increase Saggy Skin
The speed of weight loss can have a big effect on sagging skin. Many people end up losing weight a little bit at a time. In these cases, they often end up with much less loose skin.
As the body slowly changes shape, the skin has time to adjust, helping it to avoid sagging. On the other hand, if someone loses a lot of weight all at once, the skin will not have time to get used to the changing body and will be much more likely to be loose.
The Disadvantages of Loose Skin
When some people think about loose skin, they focus mostly on the aesthetic disadvantages of it. However, there are a lot of practical reasons that loose skin can present a problem for someone.
In many cases, a fold of loose skin will rub against another area of skin on the body. As someone with this kind of loose skin moves around, the fold of skin will begin to experience a lot of friction and chafing. In the long run, this can even lead to a rash.
However, even if this doesn’t happen, having extra folds of skin can cause other problems. The environment created under loose folds of skin can facilitate the growth of bacteria. That can lead to itchiness as well as infections.
This kind of loose skin can also make it uncomfortable or even painful to exercise. Some people also report that they find it embarrassing to exercise because their loose skin moves around so much as they do so.
How to Avoid Sagging Skin
There are a few strategies that you can use to keep sagging skin from happening in the first place. If you are losing a lot of weight, it can help to replace some of the volume you are losing with new muscle. For that reason, focusing on building new muscle can be just as important as losing extra fat when it comes to loose skin.
You should also try to stay hydrated as you lose weight. That makes sure that your skin is as elastic as possible, helping it to avoid becoming loose. These kinds of strategies can be helpful if you are using surgical options to help with stubborn fat removal.
Procedures for Removing Loose Skin
If you already have loose skin, then there are some procedures you can use for skin tightening. Body contouring can help with shrinking loose skin. In this procedure, the surgeon cuts away extra skin and fat from the body.
There are also some products like firming creams that claim to help tighten skin. However, many of these products still require more research before their claims can be confirmed.
Understand the Causes of Loose Skin After Weight Loss
A lot of people have no idea there are tools to help them manage loose skin after weight loss. Understanding more about these tools can help you decide if one or more of them is the right choice for your situation. With the right strategy, you can enjoy the benefits of weight loss without also having to deal with the disadvantages of the loose skin that can result from it.
To learn more about the latest information in fitness, business, and more, take a look at our other articles!
