Ask A Plastic Surgeon: Do I need to lose weight before surgery?

I get this question a lot about whether or not a patient should lose weight before their breast or body procedure. There are a few factors that come into play...
Your plastic surgeon will typically have a BMI (body mass index) cutoff. Typically it's either less than 35 or 30. High BMIs do put you at a higher risk of complications, which is why we have these cutoffs. So if your BMI is higher than the cutoff, yes, you would need to lose weight prior to surgery to decrease your risk of complications.
If you are below the cutoff, while it might not necessarily be a requirement to lose more weight, you will have a better result if you have gotten down to your goal weight. The more you can lose before surgery the better your final shape will be and we can get rid of the max amount of excess skin.
If you have surgery and then lose a significant amount of weight after, you may be left with more loose skin that you will want to have removed later.
Another important factor is for your weight to be stable. You don't want to crash diet to lose weight and then can't maintain your new weight because your diet isn't sustainable. This is important because if you gain a significant amount of weight after surgery, your body may place that fat in new areas of your body and it may look abnormal.
#plasticsurgery #cosmeticsurgery #weightloss #mommymakeover #tummytuck #breastreduction #breastlift #breastaugmentation #liposuction #dallas #texas #plasticsurgeon

[@johnnieow]

Dr Cooper I have a TT scheduled with you in July. I have hip dips and stubborn fat on hips. Should I also add lipo? Thanks

[@daniellecoopermd]

Hello Johnnie, I can't say for sure without assessing those areas. I would suggest reaching out to MIA and sharing photos of those areas for review. You can usually do 1 of two things based on your description. You can either lipo to reduce the fatty tissue around the dip or if you have enough fatty tissue elsewhere on your body, you can fat graft to plump out the dip. Hope this helps.