Body lift

Surgeons call this operation a body lift, a belt lipectomy or a circumferential lipectomy. Patients almost always call it skin removal surgery, and both mean the same thing: the excess skin is cut away in a band that runs all the way around the body, and what is left is pulled tight and closed.

This page covers what the operation removes and what it leaves behind, how it differs from a tummy tuck, when the NHS may pay for it, what makes the price move between countries, the scars and the recovery, and how to check a surgeon before you book. Use it alongside the clinic list on this page.

The right operation is decided by where the loose skin is, not by how much you dislike it. A surgeon who suggests the largest procedure at the first consultation is worth a second opinion.

• Skin loose only at the front of the abdomen. A tummy tuck is usually enough, and it is a shorter operation with a shorter recovery.
• Skin loose around the whole waistline, including the back and outer thighs. This is what a lower body lift is for. A tummy tuck alone leaves the back and hips untouched.
• Loose skin mainly on the upper arms. An arm lift addresses that on its own, and can be combined with an upper body lift.
• Loose skin on the inner thighs. A thigh lift is the targeted operation, and it is often staged after the waistline has healed.
• Breasts emptied and dropped after weight loss. A breast lift, with or without implants, is the separate procedure for that.

Read the detail on each of these on the tummy tuck, arm lift, thigh lift, upper back lift and breast lift pages.

Sometimes, but the bar is high and it is set locally. The NHS treats skin removal as a reconstructive operation only when the excess skin is causing a medical problem, not when the complaint is how it looks.

• Your weight has to be stable. Most integrated care boards ask for a documented period of stable weight before they will consider a referral, because operating during ongoing weight loss produces a poor result.
• There usually has to be a skin problem. Recurrent infection, ulceration or rashes in the skin folds that have not responded to treatment are the usual grounds, and they need to be recorded by your GP over time.
• Funding is decided where you live. Each integrated care board sets its own policy, so two people with the same history can get different answers. Ask your GP for the local policy in writing.
• Cosmetic dissatisfaction is not grounds. Loose skin that bothers you but causes no medical problem is treated as a cosmetic request and is not usually funded.

It is worth asking, because a funded operation at home avoids the whole question of travel. If the answer is no, you have a written decision to take to a private consultation, and it tells the surgeon what has already been assessed.

Four countries take most of the international demand for post-weight-loss surgery, and they suit different patients for different reasons.

Turkey

The largest destination for this operation by volume, with high-capacity private hospitals in Istanbul and Izmir and surgeons who do post-bariatric contouring routinely. Flights from the UK and most of Europe are short, which matters for an operation with a long recovery. Verify that your surgeon is registered with the Turkish Medical Association and works in a hospital with international accreditation.

Mexico

The usual choice for patients travelling from North America, with established clinics in Tijuana, Guadalajara and Monterrey. Ask whether the surgeon is certified by the Consejo Mexicano de Cirugia Plastica, Estetica y Reconstructiva, which is the specialist board rather than a general licence.

Thailand

Large private hospitals in Bangkok and Phuket, long used to treating international patients, with strong inpatient facilities for longer operations. The flight is the drawback: it is a long journey for a body that has just had circumferential surgery, so the return date needs planning with the surgeon.

Colombia

Bogota and Medellin have a deep bench of plastic surgeons and a strong body-contouring tradition. Check registration with the Sociedad Colombiana de Cirugia Plastica, and be careful to separate accredited hospitals from the unlicensed clinics the Colombian authorities have repeatedly warned about.

The scar is the trade you are making. A body lift leaves a continuous incision around the trunk, and it is permanent. Surgeons place it so that underwear and swimwear cover most of it, but nobody can make it small.

1. 1

   In hospital

   You wake with drains and a compression garment already fitted. Getting up and walking starts early, because movement is what reduces the risk of clots after long surgery.
2. 2

   The first fortnight at home or in the hotel

   Drains come out as the fluid settles. You sleep propped and bent at the hip to keep tension off the closure, and you do not lift anything heavy.
3. 3

   Weeks three to six

   Swelling and numbness along the scar are normal and slow to resolve. Most people are back at a desk job in this window, and not back at the gym.
4. 4

   Months three to twelve

   The scar goes through a red and raised phase before it fades and flattens. The final contour is not judged until this has run its course.

An all-inclusive body lift package should be explicit about the operation, the hospital stay and the aftercare. The costs that surprise people are almost always the ones that arrive after the surgery, not before it.

If paying in instalments would make the difference, see the payment plans page for how staged payments work and what they require.