If you’ve lost a lot of weight recently, then you may have noticed that you have a bit of loose skin hanging around. Common areas for extra skin after weight loss include under the arms, under the chin or a pouch around the stomach. But loose skin can appear almost anywhere on the body, especially if you have lost weight rapidly.
Before we go on, let’s start with a brief anatomy overview, from the outside in. First you have your skin, a nice protective layer and the largest organ of the integumentary (external layer or covering) system—think of it as the wrapper that holds your body. Then you have a layer of body fat. Under that is where your muscles live. So when you lose a substantial amount of body fat, along with some muscle (which is common in rapid weight loss), you are literally removing the mass that has previously been stretching your skin. When that mass is gone, you're left with a partially empty wrapper.
What causes loose skin after you lose weight?
Your skin is a very elastic organ that has to stretch as you move and grow. It also has to shrink if you lose fat and muscle. But your skin is not just one big piece of rubber that covers the entire body—it's an organ. Just like all the other organs in your body, it's made of cells.
Though the skin cells on the outer part of your skin (the epidermis) are constantly being sloughed off and replaced with new cells, the skin cells under the epidermis are a bit more permanent.
Different layers of your skin have different types of cells. Though the skin cells on the outer part of your skin (the epidermis) are constantly being sloughed off and replaced with new cells, the skin cells under the epidermis are a bit more permanent. These layers of the skin, called the dermis and sub-dermis, are made up of elastic connective tissues, fibers, blood vessels and all sorts of components that can stretch or contract depending on how they’re treated.
When you lose weight, and especially when you lose weight very quickly, these elastic components of your skin not only lose the layers of fat that keep them stretched out over your body, but they also don’t have much time for their elasticity to adapt to your new body shape.
Is it loose skin or just stubborn fat?
In general, immediately after weight loss, the majority of loose skin is actually just excess subcutaneous body fat covered by skin. So even if you have hit your “goal weight,” you may actually still have some of this body fat hanging around.
Subcutaneous fat is referred to as "soft fat," which can be easily confused with plain old skin. This type of fat can be very stubborn, which means it can take a long time to disappear after you've lost weight. And...
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