Dr. Mustafa Aydınol
The Body Contouring After Weight Loss Guide
What I explain to every patient with loose skin after major weight loss: which operation fits which area, where the scars go, what can safely be done together, and how to prepare your body for surgery.
- ISAPS member
- Turkish Society of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons
- Health Tourism Authorization, Turkish Ministry of Health
In this guide
- What surgery can do after weight loss, and what it cannot
- What can be done together
- Which operation for which area
- Before surgery: weight, medication and nutrition
- Results from my practice
- Are you a good candidate?
- The operation
- Your days in Istanbul
- After you fly home
- Risks and honest limits
- How to read before and after photos
- Questions to ask any surgeon
- Cost and how to get a quote
- About Dr. Aydınol and your next step
Before you start
Major weight loss is an achievement. The skin it leaves behind is not a failure of willpower: once the elastic fibres have been permanently overstretched, no cream, laser, diet or exercise will fully reverse it.
Surgery trades that loose skin for a firmer contour and a planned scar. This guide explains where the scars go, what each operation fixes, and how I decide what can safely be done together and what should wait.
Read it at your own pace. When you are ready, send me photographs and your weight history, and I will tell you honestly what I would do, and in which order.
What surgery can do after weight loss, and what it cannot
For the loose folds and aprons of skin that follow major weight loss, surgical removal is the only reliable solution. How much loose skin remains depends on how much you lost and how fast, your age, your genes, earlier pregnancies, sun damage and smoking.
I assess every body in three ways
Skin
How loose it is, and in which areas. Skin that snaps back is a liposuction problem; skin that stays where you put it has to be removed.
Fat
What fat remains. Liposuction can shape it, but in thin, loose skin liposuction alone can make the sagging worse.
Health
Weight stability, nutrition, blood count and other conditions decide how much can safely be done in one session.
What body contouring will not do
- It does not leave invisible scars. The scars are long, and they are planned and placed as carefully as possible.
- It is not weight loss. Liposuction is never a weight-loss operation.
- It does not build muscle tone or treat cellulite.
Only mildly loose skin?
When the sagging is mild, liposuction with Renuvion may be enough, especially where skin quality is still reasonable.
Renuvion and Endolift can shrink mildly loose skin by a modest degree.
The honest boundary: no device on the market can take up a hanging fold of skin. That takes surgery. Renuvion or tummy tuck
What can be done together
Most patients need several operations. What matters is the plan: which areas, in which order, and how many in one session.
In one session
At most three major lifts go into one session. A tummy tuck, a breast lift or reduction, and an arm, thigh or buttock lift each count as one; liposuction, a BBL and a back lift do not.
In more than one
In a published series of 653 patients after major weight loss, two or three areas together did not raise complications significantly, but four or more did. If everything cannot be done safely at once, the answer is two sessions, not a longer one.
Two or three sessions?
If the skin is very loose, a good result may take two or even three sessions, several months apart, each once you have fully recovered. Age over sixty, a higher BMI, anaemia, diabetes, previous bariatric surgery and smoking all lower how much I do at once.
The first question is not a price list but the plan.
Which operation for which area
Tummy tuck
After moderate to large weight loss, usually extended around the hips. Fleur-de-Lys adds a vertical scar, only when the upper abdomen would otherwise stay loose.
Lower body lift
One operation all around the body for the abdomen, hips, outer thighs and buttocks, with a scar at roughly belt level. The most powerful option.
Arm lift
From the armpit towards the elbow. The operation with the highest ratio of scar to result, so the decision is really a decision about the scar.
Thigh lift
Usually an L-shaped pattern, in the groin and down the inner thigh; a T-shaped pattern after massive weight loss. Liposuction is part of nearly every thigh lift.
Back and buttock lift
A back lift hides its scar under the bra band. A buttock lift can keep your own tissue as a buried flap to restore shape.
Breast or chest
Women usually need the full inverted-T lift, often with an implant or fat for volume. In men, the choice is loose skin or a scar; there is no third option.
Common combinations
- A tummy tuck with an arm lift or a thigh lift
- A back lift with a breast lift or reduction
- A lower body lift with liposuction
- A breast lift with a tummy tuck, planned as one session
A facelift is never combined with body surgery. Every combination is a consultation decision, not a menu choice.
Before surgery: weight, medication and nutrition
Reaching your target weight does not automatically mean you are ready. Long incisions heal best in a body that is stable, well nourished and not anaemic.
Stable weight
I usually want your weight stable for four to six months. Weight that returns will stretch the result.
Weight-loss medication
Keep taking your GLP-1 medication and tell us the dose and your last injection date. Instead of stopping it, we change the fasting: clear liquids only for the 24 hours before surgery. Do not change the dose on your own.
Nutrition and blood
Protein, iron, vitamin B12 and vitamin D are checked and corrected first. Anaemia needs weeks, not days, to correct.
What else changes the plan
- After bariatric surgery, bring your latest full blood count, ferritin and B12 results.
- Diabetes is the strongest predictor of complications after a tummy tuck following major weight loss. Bring your latest HbA1c.
- Smoking: I ask every patient to stop for four weeks. You will not be turned away, but you will be told the risk clearly.
- No further dieting in the last month before surgery, enough protein, and daily walking.
When is the right time?
When your weight has been stable, your blood results are in order, and you are ready to trade loose skin for a planned scar. If you are still losing weight, wait.
Results from my practice
These are my own patients, photographed before and after surgery.
After 30 kg loss
Fleur-de-Lys, before
Fleur-de-Lys, afterLoose skin, removed in one plan
First: after 30 kg of weight loss, a tummy tuck, breast lift with implants, liposuction and BBL, before and one week after. Then: a Fleur-de-Lys tummy tuck with a breast lift with implants, BBL and liposuction, before surgery and after.
Breast lift, tummy tuck, 360 liposuction and BBL
Age 60. Before (left) and one week after (right). A thigh lift and a facelift are planned as later stages.
Tummy tuck, breast lift with implants, liposuction and BBL
Before (left) and after (right).
Arm lift
Before (top) and after (bottom), with the scar along the inner arm.
A patient from Canada: liposuction, a Fleur-de-Lys tummy tuck and an arm lift.
More results: Before and after gallery
Are you a good candidate?
The best candidates have reached a stable weight, are in good general health, and are ready to trade loose skin for a planned scar.
My patients after weight loss come from three directions
After bariatric surgery
Loose skin in several areas at once. Nutrition and blood results are checked before anything is planned.
After weight-loss medication
GLP-1 medication affects skin quality quickly. With little sagging, liposuction and Renuvion may be enough; with more, surgery.
After diet and exercise
A stable weight reached over time, with loose skin in one or several areas, often planned in stages.
When I will say no, or not yet
- You are still losing weight. Wait until it has been stable.
- You are not ready to accept the scar. The choice is loose skin or a scar; there is no third option.
- Your BMI is 30 or higher and you want liposuction or an arm, thigh or body lift. A tummy tuck on its own may still be possible.
- You ask for seven or eight operations at once. That is not how it works; we plan the stages together.
The operation
If we cannot do everything safely in one session, the answer is two sessions rather than a longer one.
Protecting you during and after surgery
You walk within hours of surgery. Early walking, compression and, where indicated, blood-thinning injections protect you against clots.
For the flight home, you wear graduated compression stockings, in both directions. Drains are never left for you to manage at home.
Your days in Istanbul
Plan about seven days in Istanbul, even for a larger combined operation.
- Day 0
Surgery
Your operation under general anaesthesia. You walk within hours.
- Days 1 to 2
Hospital
One or two nights of close observation, with compression and, where indicated, blood-thinning prophylaxis.
- Days 2 to 5
Hotel
Daily contact from my team. The drains come out between day two and day five, depending on the operation; after a body lift they stay the longest.
- Days 6 to 7
Final check and flight
A final examination before you leave. Most patients fly home on day six or seven, in compression stockings.
After you fly home
- 2 to 3 weeks
Your first shower around day ten to twelve. Desk work from around two weeks, three after a body lift. Driving from around week three, week four after a body lift.
- 6 to 8 weeks
Compression for at least six weeks, many patients until eight. Light cardio from around week six and heavy training from around week eight; after a body lift, later.
- 4 to 6 months
Most of the swelling has settled, although after a body lift it can take longer. Protein-rich food and good hydration help.
- 12 to 18 months
The scars look their worst in the first months and keep maturing for twelve to eighteen months or more.
Normal in the early weeks
- Tightness, and walking slightly bent forward after a tummy tuck or body lift
- Numbness around the scars, which improves over months
- Swelling of the lower legs after a thigh lift, which can take weeks to settle
Contact my team straight away if you notice
- Breathlessness or chest pain
- A painful or swollen calf
- Fever, or swelling that increases quickly
- A wound that opens, or bleeding
Risks and honest limits
The risks that matter are wound healing problems, seroma, bleeding, infection, blood clots and scar problems. Wound problems are more common in larger operations and in former heavy smokers.
Wound healing
Most likely where scars meet or carry tension. A thigh lift has a higher rate of wound healing problems than most body contouring operations.
Seroma
Fluid collecting under the skin after the drains are out. Compression and early walking reduce it.
Scars
Long and permanent. They can widen or move, most often in the groin after a thigh lift; after arm lifts, published series report problem scarring in about one patient in ten.
Blood clots
Rare but serious. Early walking, compression and, where indicated, injections protect every patient.
Two honest limits
The skin removed at a stable weight stays removed. But if you gain weight afterwards, the treated area changes with the rest of you.
Very loose skin can relax again with time. In published arm lift series, recurrent looseness was reported in about eight patients in a hundred.
How to read before and after photos
After weight loss, a front photo with the arms down hides most of what matters. A fair comparison shows you the whole body and the scars.
What to look for
- The same posture, distance and light in both photos.
- Where the scars are, and how long they are, not only how flat the front looks.
- The sides and the back. Loose skin after weight loss goes all the way around.
- Time stamps. At one week the body is still swollen and in compression. Ask to see a year, when the scars have matured.
Body contouring surgery after major weight loss does not leave invisible scars. It trades loose, hanging skin for a tighter contour with a planned, well-placed scar.
Questions to ask any surgeon
The surgeon matters more than the technique, and the structure around the surgery matters as much as the surgery itself.
- Are you certified in plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery, and which societies are you a member of?
- Which areas can safely be done together for me, and how many sessions will I need?
- Where exactly will each scar be?
- How long must my weight be stable before surgery?
- What do you need to know about my medication, nutrition and blood results?
- How are blood clots prevented during and after surgery?
- Who checks me in Istanbul after surgery, and who do I contact once I am home?
- What exactly is included in the price?
Red flags
- Everything in one session, whatever the list
- Liposuction offered for hanging skin
- No questions about nutrition or blood count
- A price before anyone has seen your photographs
Cost and how to get a quote
Body contouring in Istanbul costs considerably less than the same operations in the United Kingdom, Germany or the wider EU. I quote in writing after seeing your photographs, because the plan and the number of sessions decide the price.
What shapes your quote
- Which areas, and which lifts
- The number of sessions
- Added liposuction or Renuvion
- The length of your hospital stay
How to get your quote
Send your photographs
Front, side and back views standing relaxed, arms raised to shoulder height for the arms, with your current weight and how long it has been stable.
Video call
We talk through what bothers you most, your health, and the order that makes sense.
Written quote
Your plan and your quote in writing, covering the hospital, anaesthesia and follow-up in Istanbul.
About Dr. Aydınol
I completed my specialist training in plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery at Dicle University (2012 to 2017) and have run my own practice in Istanbul since 2020. My work covers facial rejuvenation, rhinoplasty, breast surgery and body contouring, always with the same rule: the right procedure at the right time, or an honest no.
Patients from Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Middle East and many other countries travel to Istanbul for surgery with me. My team and I plan the whole trip around the operation.
- 10,000+ procedures
- ISAPS member
- Turkish Society of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons
- Rhinoplasty Society of Europe
- Health Tourism Authorization, Turkish Ministry of Health
Your next step
Send a few photographs on WhatsApp. Tell me what bothers you most, and I will tell you honestly what I would recommend.
- +90 544 772 07 72
- info@mustafaaydinol.com
- Clinic
- Yeşilçimen Sokak No:12, Polat Tower Residence K:2 D:20, Fulya, Şişli, Istanbul
Keep a copy
Download the PDF to read offline or share it with someone who is coming with you.
Plan your trip
- Recovery plannerWhen you can fly home, work and exercise
- Surgery readiness checkWhat to settle before surgery
- When should I stopWhich medicines to stop, and when
- Combination plannerWhat can be done in one session
This guide is general information and does not replace a personal medical consultation. Your plan, the operation and your recovery depend on your own examination.
