Slimming Anthony Marsh. He now weighs ten and a half stone
It’s one of the most drastic and, some might say, barbaric cosmetic procedures: the body lift.
Used to address the legacy of dramatic weight loss—the unsightly apron of flesh left behind after skin is stretched to accommodate fat—the four-hour procedure essentially involves cutting the patient’s body in half to remove unwanted tissue and tightening the underlying muscles, before sewing it back together.
And, rather than being seen as a last resort, increasing numbers of patients are now requiring the operation – also known as a lipectomy – according to the latest figures.
Spire Healthcare, one of Britain’s largest private hospital groups, has seen a remarkable 97 per cent rise in patients undergoing bariatric surgery (which also includes tummy tucks and arm lifts) over the past two years.
And other surgeons in the field report percentage increases in demand for body lifts of well over 100 percent in the past 12 months.
Experts believe the increase is directly linked to the increasing number of patients undergoing weight loss surgery such as gastric banding and gastric bypass – about 14,000 of these operations were performed last year.
Bariatric (weight loss) surgeon Paul Super, an expert in obesity and its complications, isn’t surprised.
“There are millions of very obese people in Britain,” he says. “If and when they lose weight, whether through diet or with the help of a gastric band or bypass, many will be left with rather unsightly, loose skin that no amount of exercise will get rid of.
“Men are more inclined to develop an apron of loose skin because the weight tends to go up in their stomach.
“In my experience, half of the men who lost large amounts of weight would suffer this way, but a significant number of women would also have the problem.
“Essentially, skin can only stretch so much before it loses its elasticity.”
Obese: A 20 stone Anthony, 16, at his school prom
Conversely, there have been reports of patients applying to have these cosmetic procedures done on the NHS.
Currently, a body lift is only available privately, unless there is a disability as a result of excess skin or a life-threatening infection.
“Many patients may feel they look deformed or abnormal,” says Mr Super.
“However, I don’t think it’s fair for the taxpayer to fund cosmetic surgery.
“There could be two million patients in the UK who are eligible for life-saving weight loss surgery.
“It’s just not feasible to offer them cosmetic help afterwards.”
Anthony Mars, 24, had a full body lift last year. He initially sought surgery on the NHS and was turned down, so he paid for the operation himself.
She says: “I had asthma as a child and the steroids I was taking for it added to my weight. I’ve always been active, but at 5ft 4in maybe I didn’t need to eat as much as I thought, and the weight just crept up on me.”
Today, Anthony is slim and handsome—almost unrecognizable from his school prom photos. He was 16 at the time and weighed 20 stone, his waist was a staggering 48 inches and he was dangerously obese with a BMI of over 40.
He now weighs ten and a half stone, but shedding his excess weight has been far from easy. It took seven years of strict diet and exercise. And, despite achieving a healthy weight, she was left with another problem.
“I had gotten rid of my body fat, but I still had large disfiguring folds of skin around my stomach and back,” she admits. “I looked like a pink deflated balloon in the shape of a person.”
How Anthony’s body lift dramatically changed his abs
It was his GP who initially suggested surgery and referred him to plastic surgeon Gary Ross at BMI The Alexandra Hospital in Cheadle, Cheshire.
A body lift was the best option and Anthony was booked in to undergo the operation on May 5 last year.
He had reservations. “I was worried about the stitches coming unblocked and literally falling apart,” she says. “But everything was explained to me carefully, so I knew the inherent risks like blood clots.”
Mr Ross, spokesman for the British Association of Cosmetic and Plastic Surgeons, was also reassuring. “The process has come a long way since it was first performed more than ten years ago,” he says.
“The key is to have an experienced surgical team – ideally three or four surgeons to minimize the time spent under anesthesia, an appropriate facility and a dedicated nursing team.”
One of the most common complications arising from body lift surgery is post-operative fluid accumulation under the skin. This can lead to infection and breakdown of the wound. But by keeping the surgery time to less than four hours the risk is significantly reduced.
During the procedure, two lines are drawn around the patient’s body, marking the area of skin to be removed between them. Row spacing is usually eight to 12 inches, but can be longer.
The patient is placed on the front with the legs about two feet apart, to relax the skin and muscles in the hips and sides.
The marked area of tissue is then removed in a single continuous strip. In Anthony’s case, an extraordinary 20 inches of excess flesh was removed.
The fascia – the connective tissue that supports the skin and muscles – in the buttocks and thighs relaxes and the wound closes, pulling the buttocks and thighs up and attaching them to the deep fascia in the lower back. The skin is then sutured with dissolving stitches.
“After this the patient is turned over and the procedure is repeated in the abdominal area,” says Mr Ross.
“The belly button is repositioned and the layers of the belly are rebuilt. We use literally hundreds of stitches to bring the body back into shape.’
When he came back, Anthony had drains in his entire stomach area to remove excess fluid and was in a lot of pain.
“I looked like an alien experiment, and movement – especially sneezing – was agony,” he says. However, within two days he was on his feet and after three he was back home. In total he had two months off work.
“I didn’t need a morphine drip – I just took codeine and paracetamol,” she says.
“I could see how much better I looked almost immediately and I couldn’t wait to get back to the gym.”
Only recently did he begin to understand the amazing extent of his weight loss. “I was having dinner with friends and they commented on how good I looked,” she explains.
“A friend said she weighs nine and a half stone. That’s how much I lost – a whole man’s fat.’
www.baaps.org.uk, www.spirehealthcare.com, www.bmihealthcare.co.uk
