options for loose/excessive skin?

[Bakajin]

Hi all.  I've been searching a lot through  Gynecomastia websites and forums but I've been unable to find much information on surgery for fixing loose skin.  Most of the surgery details/costs seem to relate to the removal of fat or gland material and I can't seem to find too much on what can be done for people who have excessive skin.

My situation is as follows;  From age 13 to 18 I went from 5'11" 170 pounds to 6' 275 pounds.  This resulted in a lot of stretch marks and big droopy man breasts.  At the time I was worried about having gyno but being so overweight I never looked too far into it.  From age 20 I decided to finally make a serious effort to lose weight.  I've been doing weight lifting, kickboxing, judo and mixed martial arts for the past 8 years and I now generally weigh from 195-205 pounds and my body fat ranges from about 12-16%.

The problem is that my skin is very loose and droopy, especially around my chest and stomach.  When I stand up straight with my arms back I look normal enough and I can appear fairly muscular when I flex.  However when I slump, sit or bend over with my arms down my breasts and stomach droop badly and I really look like I have man breasts.  There is still some fat and possibly some gland tissue there but I suspect its mostly just loose skin.   Its not really noticable when I wear a t-shirt or when I'm in a judo compeition.  However I've held off from competiting in kickboxing & mma simply because I'm too embarrassed to fight barechested.

I'd really appreciate any information or experience people have had with surgery that involved reducing loose skin around the chest (and even around the stomach).  what were the costs like?  how effective was the surgery?  what was the recovery time like?  Scars dont bother me at all, I'm just desperate to lose the droopy skin.

any and all information will be greatly appreciated as this condition has caused a lot of stress and depression for me over the years.  Its really frustrating to train so hard and yet still be too embarrassed to compete in the sports I love or even go to the beach with my girlfriend.

thank you in advance

[Paa_Paw]

It sounds like you are dealing more with skin that has been stretched due to obesity than you are with Gynecomastia.  The skin may firm up some, but I can't five you a point of reference at to what to hoope for in that regard.  

Removing the sagging skin is something that a cosmetic surgeon can do for you.  If your weight loss is permanent and your weight is now stabilized, a consultation with a cosmetic surgeon may well be in order.  At least this would give you a reference point re: cost etc.  I usually would advise  seeing both an Endocrinologist and a Psychologist before consulting with a surgeon but it sounds like you already have a handle on the source of your problem.

If your weight loss was more recent and over a short period of time, It might be better to wait and see how much the skin will naturally shrink.

Good luck.