To think excess skin removal should be available on the NHS?

[TheGoodEnoughWife]

I know being fat is seen as being self inflicted although I don't agree that it is and that people over eating should be taken as seriously as people under eating. But that isn't necessarily my point here..,

I am very overweight (about 6st overweight but am tall) and one of the things in the back of my mind is that if I lose weight my saggy skin will be awful. The reality is my 'strain' on the NHS being overweight has the potential to be great - surely encouragement to lose weight would cost the NHS less in the long run?
It would be helpful maybe to me and others who need to lose a lot of weight to know that treatment for excess skin would be available to them?

Now I may get flamed about self inflicted and so on but if I drive a car badly and crash I would be treated on the NHS, if I drink like a fish and cause myself illness I would be treated on the NHS, if I go about extreme sports and hurt myself I also would get treated on the NHS.
(I don't do any of those things!)

Any one see where I am coming from?

self-inflicted issues are treated all the time-smoking, drinking, extreme sports, driving a car!

You have to compare like with like. You can ruin your appearance with alcoholism, drug taking and risky activities. The NHS won't fix that for people. Neither as a reward for beating your addiction, nor as encouragement to staying on track.

And that is the thing. Encouraging people to lost weight as the long term benefits are less strain on the NHS.

(And as aside to the 'what more do I want' as far as I know if you are alcohol dependent you can go to the AA. There are meetings everyday that you can just drop into. What about that for overweight people? Somewhere you can go to get through each day because it is hard, some days are harder than others but on the difficult days somewhere to go and chat would be good. I can only think of paid by yourself Slimming World type things and then not everyday? I hope in my lifetime there is a shift from 'overweight - just eat less' type of attitude but will get off my soap box now! Lol)

If you lose it sensibly rather than by crash dieting, and do plenty of exercise, it might not look too bad. Good luck with it. I need to lose a stone and a half, and am finding it hard to become motivated.

I don't know how much surgery to remove skin would cost but maybe putting aside the money you'd spend on snacks, takeaways, alcohol etc would go some way towards a private op? I know someone who saved about £150 per month and bought herself a holiday when she hit her target. I don't think that cosmetic procedures should be available on the NHS.

I definitely agree that the reasons why people are fat, are often complex. I'd like to see more NHS therapy available for compulsive eaters before they get obese.

The AA isn't funded by the NHS There is nothing stopping anyone forming a similar group for overweight/obese people.

Thank you to those sharing their weight loss and amount of excess skin. I really am trying to lose weight and do need to just keep going without thinking about how I will look and concentrating on being healthier. It helps to know that sometimes the skin thing isn't such an issue.

No. Sorry. There needs to be more accountability in this country where the NHS is concerned. So if you're fat, or on your way to becoming fat, you need to realise that a long term consequence of being fat is having excess skin. Ergo if you then lose weight etc, you'll have excess skin. Sorry if it sounds harsh but that's your problem, not that of the UK taxpayer. If you want your excess fat skin removed/tucked etc, I would say that you should pay for it yourself.

There is something along the lines of AA.

www.oagb.org.uk/find-a-meeting/

If there are no local meetings, maybe try contacting them. There may be other local interest and the chance of a new group being set up.

Really there is not enough money for 'keeping people alive and healthy' essentials in the NHS. There needs to be a cross-party political debate on what 'we' are prepared to pay for and what 'we' are not, but it won't happen as the reality is too dire. Personally I'm glad I don't have to make the choice between buying a parent of 2 young children an extra 6 months life or preventing a teenager's disablement from getting worse to the point of total dependence and incapacity or helping an infertile couple have a child or providing excess skin removal, because I just couldn't choose. I do believe we all need to take responsibility for our own health, but who hasn't needed a hand from time to time?

Yabu. As much as I sympathise. I need to lose around 4 stone (already lost 2.5) and will be left with lose skin and it fills me with dread. If I ever get to my goal weight I'll decide at the time if I could be selfish for once and take out a loan for surgery. I wouldn't expect it on the Nhs. I will look better (with clothes on!) and I'll be healthier, that's motivation enough for me to lose the weight.

Thank you all for your input and I do get where most are coming from. I do think there is more to being fat than a 'tough luck, shouldn't have eaten so much' attitude but I also do understand that there are difficult decisions made within the NHS all the time.

Sorry chewing NHS did fuck all to help me lose weight. Well apart from denying me surgery until I lost it. I ask for help but was basically told I didn't qualify.

I'm on the fence on this one. There are degrees of excess skin. If you lose 15st, you are definitely going to have loose skin. Which if significant could actually be really debilitating. You are at risk of sores and ulcers, it can prevent you from doing exercise and cause mobility issues, as well as cause serious psychological issues and be considered disfiguring.

If you lose say 4st, you are more likely to end up with minimal loose skin, maybe not perfect but not debilitating.

So I think in the first scenario it should be dealt with surgically, in the second it shouldn't. But I think these days there is a pretty much blanket ban. Which I think is regrettable.

Apologies if this question offends but if someone loses six stone plus doesn't that translate to a huge saving on discretionary food that could fund a cosmetic procedure.

FWIW people like BUPA have stopped funding ops for excess skin removal, including for things like septate and microperforate hymens. At least the NHS puts right congenital problems.

YABU. The NHS wouldn't treat my DD when she was ill through no fault of her own, it's cost me 15k so far because the NHS failed to diagnose her and said she needed no treatment. It's only because I didn't believe them and paid for private treatment that she was diagnosed, she's now been ill for a year because of how useless they were.

Sorry damn auto-correct

I've experienced a seven stone weight loss in this past year following bariatric surgery.
Yes I have some loose skin. Who cares????
I can walk easily. Blood pressure is normal. Blood sugar is normal. When my grandchildren arrive one day I will be able to sit on the floor with them and play. I can fit into chairs, I can try shoes on in a shoe shop without struggling. I no longer need painkillers for sore feet, aching hips and knees. I feel liberated from the disability that was my obesity.
My DH is so proud of me and I am proud of myself.
Dont let the skin thing prevent you from losing your weigh OP, if you can. It is of minor consequence. Good underwear copes with most of it. And careful choice of clothes, styles. And a pair of bat wings are nothing compared to what I had to cope with before.
Seriously, go for it!

I don't have excess skin at all and I put on 5 stone with each pregnancy. I crash dieted too but then did a lot of exercise, maybe that helped.

This is an example of the level of loose skin I think should be treated. Not slightly flabby arms or a wobbly tummy.

metro.co.uk/2016/05/30/woman-says-she-looks-like-a-human-puddle-after-extreme-weight-loss-left-her-with-excess-skin-5912766/

And this guy.

metro.co.uk/2015/03/21/man-overwhelmed-with-emotion-as-he-reveals-his-excess-skin-to-the-world-for-first-time-after-losing-270lbs-5114580/

Both of those people are fundraising and I think are in the US, I'm just trying to give an example.

The NHS is there to help those in need. This is a want, not a need and you should pay for it yourself if it bothers you. You really think they should divert money from paediatrics / radiology / cardiology, etc, etc, for something like this?

You sound as if you're looking for an excuse not to lose the weight.

I am surprised to hear that they dish out boobs jobs though, so will sign up

I lost 5 stone and have no excess skin at all.

My sister is losing weight, she needs to lose around 14 stone and she is worried sick about excess skin. I would like the NHS to be able to fund it but I understand why they don't and can't.

I have hundreds of lipomas, I either have decorum's disease or 'just' multiple familial lipomas. They depress me like fuck, I feel ugly, they itch, they hurt like hell when someone so much as brushes their hand over one. They won't give me lipo to get them out because they say it is cosmetic only and not a threat to my health. I disagree that it is cosmetic only but I have lost the fight.

I work in many clinics and they are very strict on what they will remove now. Not long ago a patient had a skin condition, harmless but unsightly and a little sore at times. Laser treatment would have solved it but the powers that be would not give the go ahead and it would have taken seconds to treat.

I agree with pp. It's a cosmetic issue not a medical condition.
If the nhs was well funded then yes sure it should be available, but it's not so there are higher priorities.

YABU. Children's families are having to beg, steal and borrow for treatments not funded by the NHS that may save their lives and you want them to fund this for you? FFS.

Perhaps I chose a poor turn of phrase but 2 women in my circle of friends have had breast enlargement on the nhs.
They were given it as it had as they said it had a detrimental effect on their mental health to be flat chested.
I see no difference to this and the skin removal.
They should do both or neither.

I'm currently awaiting a date for a gastric bypass
I'm dreading the excess skin
The hospital have already told me they won't remove excess skin under the nhs

Apologies if this question offends but if someone loses six stone plus doesn't that translate to a huge saving on discretionary food that could fund a cosmetic procedure.

It's highly unlikely. A 'full body lift' is likely to cost £10-15k in the UK. Maybe more. Even if you saved £100 a month on food (which I would say is highly unlikely anyway), you are looking at 10-15 years to save enough.

And actually I don't think people do save much money. It's not like overweight people just eat the same as non overweight people but double (although clearly over eating can be an issue). A lot of the time it's from eating unhealthy but cheap foods. 5 sugary doughnuts from a supermarket cost 60p, for example.

I suppose if a person was overweight because they existed solely on take aways, they might save money if they switched to a home cooked healthy diet.