21. The Truth About Loose Skin After Weight Loss | What Surgery Can (and Can’t) Fix

Losing a significant amount of weight is an incredible achievement, but what people don’t always expect is what comes next. For many patients, excess skin becomes the final barrier between how they feel and how they want to look. In this episode, we’re breaking down what massive weight loss surgery actually involves, what patients should realistically expect, and why this process is almost never “one and done.” Dr. Shawna Kleban joins Dr. Kortesis and Dr. Bharti to walk through the full journey: from timing your surgery to understanding staging, recovery, scars, and results. This is one of the most honest conversations we’ve had about body contouring: what works, what doesn’t, and why experience matters more than most people realize.Shawna R. Kleban, M.D. is a board-certified plastic surgeon and partner at HKB Cosmetic Surgery, specializing in massive weight loss body contouring and advanced 360-degree surgical techniques.Connect with Dr. Kleban:Shawna R. Kleban, M.D. at HKB Cosmetic SurgerySome key takeaways from this episode include:Why doing everything at once isn’t the goal, and how staging surgery actually leads to better resultsThe incision detail most patients overlook (and why it matters more than you think)How surgeons decide what can safely be combined in a single procedureWhat it’s really like to recover from body contouring surgery after massive weight lossWhy your body responds differently after weight loss… and what that means for your resultsThe real, behind-the-scenes of how surgeons plan complex, multi-stage transformationsHow the GLP-1 boom is quietly changing the future of body contouring surgeryDr. Kleban’s perspective on what it actually takes to become a plastic surgeon, and stay in itWelcome to HKB Uncut: the Health, Knowledge, and Beauty Podcast. On this show, Dr. Bill Kortesis & Dr. Gaurav Bharti unpack the newest techniques and trends in cosmetic surgery, how to tune out the social media noise to make empowered decisions about your appearance, and what you need to know before you book a procedure. Dr. Bill Kortesis and Dr. Gaurav Bharti are board certified plastic surgeons and Co-Founders of HKB Cosmetic Surgery, an award-winning practice with ten locations across five states. Connect with HKB: WebsiteYouTubeInstagramBefore & After GalleryBlogTikTok