Body Lift

Body lift is a combination of an abdominoplasty or “tummy tuck” as well as a back or “buttock lift”. A body lift is an operation that removes the circumferential excess skin around the belt area.

The amount of excess skin is carefully assessed and the exact amount of excess skin is removed as an excision encircling the entire body at the level of the waist i.e. a “belt lipectomy”.

This is usually required in patients with massive weight loss (40kg or 40% of body weight). In addition, the separation of the rectus abdominis muscles can also be re-tightened and corrected at the same time.

Furthermore, excess skin is taken to lift the ptosis (droop) which is caused by the massive amount of weight that is lost.

It is also possible to perform a buttock augmentation. This is followed by simply taking the skin off the excess tissue and by using a suture technique, the more deeply lying fat tissue can be shaped into a natural buttock shape. The skin above and below, the area of resection is then pulled tightly over the created mound to form a natural buttock shape.

This surgery results in an incision running the entire circumference of the abdomen at the level of the belt. The skin above and sometimes below this is undermined to allow greater re-draping.

The umbilicus does need to be repositioned in the same way with an abdominoplasty. Drains are then placed and the skin is sutured together using a combination of dissolvable sutures.

Body Lift Cases

• Case 1

  • Body Lift performed after patient lost 90kg
  • Patient also underwent autologous buttock / back lift

• Case 2

  - Body Lift performed after 73kg weight loss