article_snippet: After weight loss, proteins in skin tear and break, resulting in a loss of elasticity and strength .
article_snippet: But they may not realise dramatic weight loss can have a deeply distressing side-effect: excess skin.
article_snippet: This hidden downside of losing weight occurs as a result of damage to the deeper layers of skin, the dermis, which contains two proteins: elastin, which helps it retract, and collagen, for strength.
article_snippet: When the skin is stretched too much through weight gain, these proteins tear and break, resulting in a loss of elasticity and strength.
article_snippet: Unfortunately, while losing weight causes the fat cells to lose the fat cells fat, the skin cannot retract.
article_snippet: Doctors say the excess skin after weight loss is the same skin damage that occurs during pregnancy — but all over the body.
article_snippet: Factors that affect how much skin is left include age, how quickly the weight was lost (gastric bands are slower than bypasses, for example), and, for women, the number of children she has had.