Are you 100 pounds or more overweight? Have you tried to lose weight naturally and just can't seem to do it? If this is you, you may be a candidate for weight loss surgery. Every year more than 180,000 people have some type of weight loss surgery. If you are considering a weight loss procedure, read this article to learn answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.

What Types or Weight Loss Surgery Are Most Common?

Currently, the two most common surgeries performed for weight loss are Gastric bypass, or Bariatric surgery, and Lap Band surgery.

What Is Bariatric Surgery?

When you have bariatric surgery, the doctor creates a smaller stomach pouch for you and a new channel that goes to your lower intestine. Sometimes the size of the stomach is reduced up to 90% and you will only be able to eat 15 ml of food as opposed to over 1 liter.

This is how bariatric surgery helps you lose weight. With a smaller stomach, you are unable to eat as much food and you feel full after eating a very small meal. Because you are eating so much less, you will lose weight quickly.

What Is Lap Band Surgery?

Lap Band surgery is done by placing a band around your stomach to make it smaller. By doing this, you will be able to eat much less food and lose weight as a result. Lab Band surgery is much like Bariatric surgery without surgically making your stomach smaller. It is believed that it is safer because of this.

Is Weight Loss Surgery for You?

Weight loss surgery is for people who have a body mass index of 30 to 40 or are 100 pounds or more overweight. If you have less than 100 pounds of excess weight to lose, it would be a better option for you to try other means of weight loss.

Many people think they can't lose weight by themselves with just diet and exercise, but even after you have Lap Band or Bariatric surgery, you have to change your eating and exercise habits. It would be best if you try to make these changes before you consider surgery.

If you have any pre-existing medical conditions such as cardiovascular problems, your surgeon most likely will not approve you for the surgery. With heart problems, it is an extra risk factor to operate on you under general anesthesia.

If your weight is the result of overeating and lack of exercise, you are a candidate, but if your excess weight is due to medical conditions like diabetes or thyroid problems, these procedures won't help you.

What are the risks?

There are many risks with weight loss surgery. Minor risks are:

• wound infections
• digestion problems
• bleeding
• dietary intolerance
• hair loss
• dry skin
• menstrual irregularities

Serious or life-threatening complications include:

• blood clots
• heart attack
• serious infection
• serious hemorrhaging
• surgical failure – leakage of stomach acids
• hernia

Serious or life-threatening complications occur only in 1% to 5% of all people who have weight loss surgery. Death is, of course, a serious complication but occurs less than 1% in all surgeries.

What are the results?

With weight loss surgery, you will most likely lose up to 75% of your excess weight within two years. However, you will also have to commit to making drastic lifestyles changes and learn to eat healthy and exercise. If you don't make these changes, chances are you will end up being overweight again.

How much does it cost?

The typical price of Bariatric surgery is approximately $25,000 or more. In some states, your medical insurance may cover some or all of the costs.

Lap band surgery will cost anywhere between $17,000 and $30,000 for your surgery and post-operative care providing you do not encounter any complications.

Many people are going to other countries to have their weight loss surgery performed at lower costs, but you need to seriously consider the risks of doing this. While medical costs are sky-high in the United States, your odds of having a good surgeon, good medical care, and sterile facilities are much greater here than in other countries.

Another expense that you might want to consider is the surgery that is required after your weight loss surgery. When you have these types of surgery, you will lose a great deal of weight which will leave you with a lot of excess skin. This skin cannot usually be lost by diet and exercise and plastic surgery is required to get rid of it. This is very expensive, but you may want to consider it and figure the cost into your total treatment expenses.

Bariatric and Lab Band surgery are both very effective in helping overweight people lose their excess weight. Before you consider surgery, you need to seriously think about the above questions and carefully weigh the costs and risks to see if they are worth it to you.

Jason Ladock

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