Relation between laxity and body weight

[confused123]

Hi All,

 

Is there a relation between body weight and scalp laxity - I mean if I gain some pounds by the time of my surgery, will that help in increasing the laxity?

 

Thanks!

[Maxxy]

I've seen this discussed before and doctors have claimed that excessive weight has no bearing on scalp laxity, however, if you gain a lot of weight, I personally don't see how it wouldn't have an impact and stretch the skin.

 

Of course to gain such drastic weight, only for the possibility of extra scalp laxity would be really stupid and health threatening.

[confused123]

Thanks Maxxy!

 

Actually I am in the process of loosing weight these days, so just felt should postpone it till the time of surgery if it really matters. Wot u suggest?

 

Thanks!

[Maxxy]

I honestly don't know with any certainty what bearing body weight would have on scalp laxity, but I'd always put health before hair.

 

Again, I can't be sure, but if you lost weight maybe that could also affect scalp laxity; in the same way as when people lose wieght, they have excess skin left over?

 

P.S. Personally, I'd suggest you carry on with the weight loss and do scalp exercises.

[Atomic]

I would think if you loose weight your skin would be more lax.

I'm just saying...

[Raphael84]

Atomic, I disagree. That would only be the case if you were massively overweight beforehand, and the weightloss would leave you with excess skin. In a slightly overweight person, loosing weight would surely pull everything together resulting in a tighter scalp.

Thats my opinion, but then for sure, weight issues would have the least affect on the scalp compared to other parts of the body!

[Cam Simmons MD ABHRS]

Originally posted by confused123:

Is there a relation between body weight and scalp laxity - I mean if I gain some pounds by the time of my surgery, will that help in increasing the laxity?

 

This is a great question and I unfortunately don't have the answer.

 

More often than not, people with more subcutaneous fat have more laxity and people with less have less. There are exceptions though. On the other hand, people who have gone on crazy diets and lost a lot of weight quickly may have very loose skin.

 

From a purely selfish standpoint, I am thrilled when I see a layer of subcutaneous fat. I can get under the bulbs easily while still staying well above the nerves and vessels and the skin glides together more easily. I have to take my time and be quite careful when people's dermal papillae come very close to the Galea.

 

Maxxy is right that your general health is most important so I would never recommend that a thin person gain weight or that a not-so thin person go on a starvation diet for the sake of increasing their laxity. Scalp stretching exercises are definitely a safer way to go.

 

Some plastic surgeons or dermatologists inject patients' own fat (from other areas) as fillers and I have wondered if pre-operative fat injection would help people with tight scalps. Of course, the fat could just liquify and may not help at all. I have no knowledge about or experience with fat injection and the risks could outweigh the benefits but I would be interested to hear the thoughts of a doctor who has used fat injections elsewhere.