Loose skin is an embarrassing problem that typically occurs when someone loses a lot of weight, or drops weight fast. Losing more than 3 lbs. a week increases the likelihood that your skin will have a saggy appearance. There are ways to tighten loose skin, but to what degree these methods help depends on your age, how long your skin was stretched, how much weight you lost and how fast you lost it -- as well as genetics. Tightening your loose belly skin won't happen over night. It's a process that can take up to two years.
Loose Skin Remedies
Step 1
Stay hydrated. Being adequately hydrated is an important factor in maintaining skin elasticity and flushing toxins from your system. Drink at least 2 liters of water each day.
Step 2
Gain abdominal muscle to replace those lost pounds and improve the appearance of loose skin. Do abdominal exercises, including bird dog, plank and side plank, two to three times a week with a rest day between workouts. For the best results, your muscles should fatigue before 12 repetitions. If you can complete more than 12 reps, increase the load or resistance of the exercise. Do one to three sets of each exercise.
Step 3
Use coconut oil to massage your skin every day. Coconut oil is good for remedying wrinkles and loose skin, while massage improves blood circulation. Regularly massaging your belly will help to build your skin's elasticity by tightening the tissues and muscles underneath the surface.
Step 4
Exfoliate your skin with a loofah at least three times a week to stimulate circulation, and then moisturize with a skin tightening cream. Look for creams with the following ingredients: yeast extract, aloe vera extract and soy protein. These tighten the skin by producing collagen and elastin, as do CoQ10, Vitamin C and estrogen.
Step 5
Get a tummy tuck, known as abdominoplasty. If you cannot tighten your loose belly skin with other methods this is your last resort. Abdominoplasty involves removing loose skin from your lower abdomen. As an added benefit, you can choose to remove nearly all of the fat and stretch marks from your lower abdomen.
Things You'll Need
- Loofah
- Coconut oil
- Moisturizing cream
References
- All Women's Talk: 12 Ways to Tighten Loose Skin After Weight Loss
- Get Fit Guy; How to Tighten Loose Skin After Weight Loss; Ben Greenfield
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Skin, Blemishes and Wrinkle Treatment
- Beauty for Female Treatments; Make Skin Firmer Naturally -- Ingredients That An Effective Skin Tightening Cream Should Contain; Caroline Igwe
- Body Building; Battling Loose Skin, Stretch Marks, Gyno and Winning!; Louis Dorman
- Best Natural Skin Care; How to Firm Sagging Skin: Five Incredible Tips; Ingela
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