Weight loss surgery actually works? Here’s how

Besides weight loss pills or diets, there is the possibility to lose weight upon surgical interventions. These methods to lose weight are more common than you might think. Even top stars, actresses, and singers appealed to surgery in order to lose weight and fight against the various problems of health that are given by the excess of the body’s fat. The question is if weight loss surgery actually works? Here’s how!

Statistically and scientifically it has been proven that weight loss surgery works, even though it is recommended only in extreme situations. So, slightly overweight people should consider other methods to get rid of those few uncomfortable extra pounds.

When it comes to weight loss surgery, there are only a few interventions, more specifically only 6 methods that are truly effective and have almost no negative postoperative effect.

1. Gastric banding.

This surgery consists of fitting an adjustable silicone ring, known as a gastric band, that has the purpose of dividing the stomach into two unequal parts.

The first portion of the stomach is smaller and it communicates with the rest of the stomach through a channel that is created by the ring. The adjustable ring controls and restricts the food to pass from the stomach into the smaller part.

As the stomach is strangled by the ring, the passage of food will be slower and will help you lose weight. Two months after the first intervention you can make other adjustments in the ring’s size to manage and dictate the pace of the weight loss process.

The advantage of this surgery is that there is no section, no removal, and the device can be easily removed, in which case the stomach will gradually return to its previous size.

2. Reducing the stomach’s size.

Also known as the gastric sleeve, or gastrectomy, it is represented by a longitudinal sectioning removing about 80% of the stomach.

Following this procedure, you will be left with a gastric tube which will have a volume of about 100 ml. Thus, you will have more meals a day and you will eat food in smaller quantities. The feeling of fullness will install much faster due to the reduced size of the stomach.

The advantage of this procedure is that it helps to remove up to 70% of the excess weight and helps to improve metabolic diseases associated with obesity, such as diabetes, hypertension, and fatty liver.

3. Gastric Bypass.

A gastric bypass is a procedure that involves the separation of the small portion of the stomach to the rest of the stomach, which are not related in any way. Then, the bypass is made by connecting the upper part of the stomach directly with the intestine.

Following this procedure you will only get food in the upper stomach, then will go directly into the gut.

This type of surgery allows you to eat non-selective because fats and sugars do not pass through the gut surface that enables their absorption.

4. Gastric plication.

Gastric plication is one of the latest surgeries for weight loss and it is considered the most modern metabolic surgery.

Plications involve performing gastric folds and stitching of the gastric wall. In other words, shrinks the stomach by sewing a portion of it, which will help you lose between 40% and 70% of the excess weight during the first year.

5. Biliopancreatic diversion.

Biliopancreatic diversion is the most complicated type of weight loss surgery, recommended only in situations where the 4 types of interventions mentioned above do not work.

The surgical procedure consists of almost complete removal of the stomach and connecting directly to the small intestine. Thus, the food you eat in small quantities bypasses to the small intestine. Following this operation, the patient is dramatically losing weight, up to 90% of the excess weight.

6. Liposuction.

Liposuction is the procedure that will sculpt the body by removing the excess fat from the abdomen, buttocks, arms, thighs, cheeks, and neck.

There are several techniques for liposuction:

• tumescent technique – the surgeon injects a special solution into the fatty tissue, which may contain an anesthetic and epinephrine to control pain and hemostasis, thus, the subcutaneous tissue is elevated from the surface of the muscle, which will facilitate the extraction.
• ultrasound-assisted liposuction – ultrasound waves will break the bonds of the fat cells, in order to be extracted more easily. This method can be used in areas such as the back or pectoral area in men, which requires a much greater precision for extraction.
• laser-assisted liposuction – involves guiding the laser wave by a special cannula inserted into the fat. The laser will melt the fat cells with high precision, leaving the tissues clean and uninjured.
• liposuction assisted by the jet of water – involves a water infiltration of the tissues, dislodging the fat cells from the remaining tissue without destroying them, and then vacuuming them. It can be performed under local anesthesia and mild sedation.

As you can see from the methods from the above, any weight loss surgery guarantees a minimum of 40% loss of the excess weight, and it could get up to 90% loss of weight.

Liposuction, on the other hand, only guarantees a rebuilt body by extracting the unwanted fat, and the wanted silhouette. It can’t guarantee that you’ll not regain weight later on.

Weight loss surgery actually works and it is a method for the lifetime.