Excess weight makes every part of your body work harder. Your risk for certain conditions like diabetes and heart disease also increases. It also leads to low self-esteem and depression. Fortunately, weight loss surgery can help you get back to a healthy and happy lifestyle.
At Snow Bariatric Center, our staff is ready to help you with all your weight loss needs. Helping you understand the different types of surgery is the key to a successful and healthy weight loss journey. Heading up our expert team is Dr. Robert Snow, who is well versed in many different types of bariatric surgery.
Dr. Snow specializes in many different types of bariatric surgery. When you come in for your consultation, Dr. Snow performs a physical exam and asks you about your weight loss journey and previous attempts at losing weight.
Then he explains the different types of weight loss procedures, focusing on those he determines would be best for your specific case. The following highlights some of the most popular procedures we offer.
Gastric bypass is a procedure that’s used to make your stomach smaller so you aren’t able to eat as much as you could before. During this surgery, Dr. Snow divides your stomach into a smaller upper section and a larger lower section.
He then connects your intestine to the smaller portion of your stomach. This not only allows you to feel full with smaller amounts of food, but also allows your body to use fewer calories due to the change in absorption.
This type of surgery is performed using minimally invasive techniques, and it also decreases your stomach size to help you lose weight. Dr. Snow removes about 75% of your stomach, then reattaches the remaining portions to make a sleeve.
Unlike gastric bypass, with the gastric sleeve, your digestion process remains the same. However, the gastric sleeve helps decrease production of one of the hormones that makes you feel hungry, further helping you achieve significant weight loss.
The Lap-Band is a reversible procedure that gives you a lot of flexibility with your weight loss goals. This procedure is performed using minimally invasive techniques to place an inflatable band around the upper portion of your stomach.
When the band is inflated, it separates your stomach into two parts: a small upper portion and a large lower portion. The small section allows you to feel full on a much smaller amount of food. This procedure doesn’t involve removing any part of your stomach or changing the way your body digests food.
This is also known as an endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty, and it’s similar to the gastric sleeve, but doesn’t require surgery. You’ll still be asleep for the procedure, but instead of removing parts of your stomach, Dr. Snow uses a suturing device to sew your stomach into the shape of a sleeve.This allows for you to eat less and feel full without the recovery time of the gastric sleeve. It’s also fully reversible, making it ideal if you don’t qualify for traditional types of surgery.
With so many options, how do you know which type of surgery is right for you? There are several factors that go into this decision. If you’re extremely obese, gastric bypass may be your best option. Other factors that make gastric bypass the surgery for you include:
If you have any type of medical conditions brought on by your severe obesity, gastric bypass can help minimize your risk of further complications. On the other hand, the Lap-Band yields a slower weight loss than gastric bypass or the gastric sleeve, making it right if you don’t need to lose weight urgently.
The gastric sleeve is another option that’s good for certain people and conditions. Some of the factors that would make you a good candidate for this type of surgery include:
Ultimately, the decision on which type of surgery you go with is dependent on the amount of weight you need to lose and your health. Dr. Snow is an expert at bariatric surgery, and helps you determine what type of surgery will yield the best overall results.
If you’re tired of being overweight and want to discuss bariatric surgery, schedule a consultation with Dr. Snow today by calling one of our convenient offices in Texas, or requesting an appointment online.
