If you’re considering lap band surgery or just beginning to think about lap band surgery as a solution to your weight problems and wondering how much weigh you can lose, I will try to answer this in this short article. This is one of the questions I’m most often asked along with the cost.

If you’re just considering the lap band system because you’re just a little overweight then the lap band procedure is not for you. Candidates for lap band surgery have serious obesity issues and this is called being “morbidly obese.” There is a way to determine that through the body mass index scale – the BMI as it is called and you’re probably familiar with it.

For those who are drastically overweight, that is, having a BMI over 40, it may be recommended that you consider a surgical procedure to regain your health.

Among the various surgical techniques, the following are currently the most popular:

1.Stomach stapling 2.Gastric banding 3.Bowel bypass 4.Jaw wiring

Among these Gastric stapling and gastric banding or lapband surgery is supposedly the one requiring minimum body invasion, claiming to have higher recuperative rates in post-surgery patients.

With more than 100,000 Americans undergoing gastric bypass and lap-band surgery each year, many are finding that their skin simply can’t keep up with their rapid weight loss. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reports that the number of body contouring procedures after massive weight loss rose 22% in one year alone — from 55,927 in 2004 to 68,134 in 2005.

A tummy tuck removes excess abdominal skin and fat as well — but unlike a panniculectomy, it also tightens the muscles of the abdominal wall and repositions the navel.

“The fact is, skin becomes very loose and has no tone after losing 50 pounds or more in a very short time,” says Allan Parungao, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon and author of A Woman’s Guide to Cosmetic Breast Surgery and Body Contouring (Addicus Books, 2006).