To begin a weight loss journey, we often find ourselves in a maze. However, with technological and medical advances, today we can talk about weight loss solutions with and without surgery. It is no longer about curious and miraculous diets offered by all the media, but about a compendium of very effective surgical and non-surgical procedures to achieve the expected weight loss goals.
Our Innova Weight Loss Solutions team offers much more than weight loss procedures. We have a human and technological team that will help you examine your goals to lose weight and a medical nutrition therapy that will also provide you with the solid foundations to continue the process and transform your life.
In the United States, it is proven that 2 out of 3 adults suffer from obesity. If you are one of those patients who has suffered from obesity, we are going to tell you the most effective methods to lose weight with and without surgery.
Surgical And Non-Surgical Solutions For Weight Loss
Any procedure that requires weight loss surgery is intended to make the stomach pouch smaller, which will make the patient feel full faster with less food. These surgical procedures may be an option for patients who have been unsuccessful with diet and exercise alone, or patients with a Body Mass Index of 40 or higher when extreme obesity is considered.
It is also a clear choice for patients suffering from obesity, type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, and high blood pressure. As surgical options we can find many options below we will describe all these surgical solutions and you will be able to determine the best option for you.
Gastric Bypass Surgery
This is the best-known surgical solution to lose weight is called gastric bypass surgery. This procedure has been performed for more than 50 years. This procedure consists of dividing the stomach into two bags, with the small intestine as a connector for the two created bags. The end result is a reduced capacity of the stomach, which leads to steady and steady weight loss.
These procedures are laparoscopic, meaning they require a longer recovery time. After this surgery, the patient must remain in the hospital for observation for two or three days and return to daily activities about 25 days after the procedure.
Gastric Band Surgery
Like gastric bypass, gastric banding reduces the size of the stomach so that the patient eats less food and feels full longer. This is an outpatient procedure where the surgeon places the band around the stomach laparoscopically. This procedure brings some complications to take into accounts such as constipation, nausea, vomiting, gastric reflux, and difficulty swallowing food.
Gastric Sleeve Surgery
This procedure is also known as sleeve gastrectomy, the gastric sleeve induces weight loss by reducing food intake. In this procedure, surgeons removed 75% of the patient’s stomach, converting the stomach into a much smaller “sleeve” that holds less food and makes the patient feel full for much longer. This surgery is dedicated to patients suffering from morbid obesity.
In other words, one of the requirements to have the gastric sleeve is that your body mass index is more than 40 or you are more than 100 pounds overweight. It is also essential to have healthy thyroid levels, blood glucose, healthy kidneys, and liver, and a medical study shows that being overweight is linked to other pre-existing conditions
These surgical procedures are an option for all those who have not been able to achieve weight loss. constant weight and that diet and exercises have not worked, it should be noted that since they are considered major surgeries, they have many more risks and medical complications, the patient must stay at least two days in the hospital, deal with the care of the scars and above all the high costs of going through a hospital. All this delays the return to normal activities of each of the patients and their abilities to develop simple things such as lifting something from the floor or lifting heavy objects.
Losing Weight Without Surgery
For all those who are determined to change what they see in the mirror, but who for one reason or another cannot access surgeries and their high costs. Today we also want to show the non-surgical weight loss options that are equally effective in achieving their goal. These procedures have been on the market for about 20 years or so and have been effective for weight loss. Some have not yet been approved by the FDA as they are considered weight loss tools and non-surgical weight loss solutions.
The Gastric Balloon
The gastric balloon, also known as an intragastric balloon, is a procedure that consists of placing a balloon inside the stomach to occupy considerable space and make the person eat less, thus facilitating weight loss. At Innova Weight Loss Solutions we have the Orbera Gastric Balloon, with more than 300 thousand balloons implanted around the world, it is the best option approved by the FDA to lose weight without surgery.
Generally, the device is made through endoscopy where the balloon is placed in the stomach and then filled with saline. This procedure is quite quick and is performed under sedation; for this reason, it is not necessary to remain hospitalized and patients can return to their normal life in a period not exceeding 3 days.
The gastric balloon can help the patient achieve a loss of around 50 pounds in a period of 6 months, which is the maximum time for a gastric balloon to be in the patient’s body. This procedure is indicated in people with a BMI greater than 30 and with associated diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and obstructive sleep apnea.
How gastric balloon procedure is performed
This procedure takes approximately 30 minutes, the same day of the procedure the patient can return home and do normal activities for a period of two or three days. The Orbera gastric balloon includes several simple and quick steps such as:
- Medication is used to sedate the patient, causing a deep sleep that reduces the patient’s stiffness and anxiety at the time of a procedure;
- It is an endoscopic procedure, so it requires the use of thin tubes that go from the mouth to the stomach and that have a camera so that the doctor can observe and perform the procedure without cuts or scars;
- The balloon is introduced through the mouth and then filled into the stomach with a blue liquid solution that serves to turn urine or feces blue or greenish in case the balloon breaks.
In order for this procedure to guarantee weight loss and results, it is very important to follow a low-calorie medical nutrition therapy that should be adapted in the first month after the procedure. It is also important to perform physical activity that, together with the diet, must be maintained after removing the balloon, in order to avoid gaining the pounds that have been lost.
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The Endoscopic Gastric Sleeve or ESG
Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty is one of the new solutions offered to patients suffering from obesity. This is a minimally invasive, safe, and affordable weight loss procedure. Using an endoscope, which is basically a flexible tube with a light and camera, the endoscopic gastric sleeve reduces the size of the stomach by creating a sleeve, using a set of sutures.
Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty is done to help you lose weight and possibly reduce your risk of weight-related health problems, such as:
- Heart disease;
- High blood pressure;
- Fatty liver disease;
- Obstructive sleep apnea;
- Diabetes Type 2.
Am I a Candidate for Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty?
Endoscopic sleeve gastropathy is available to people whose body mass index (BMI) is above 30, who have been unsuccessful in maintaining weight loss with lifestyle modification alone, and who do not qualify or want traditional bariatric surgery.
But endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty is not for everyone who is overweight. An evaluation process is required to help doctors determine if the procedure will be beneficial to the patient. It is important that the patient is willing to commit to making healthy lifestyle changes, undergoing follow-up medical check-ups, and participating in medical nutrition therapy.
Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty is not appropriate for anyone who has a hiatal hernia or a condition associated with gastrointestinal bleeding, such as gastritis.
What are the risks associated with this procedure?
Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty has shown favorable and safe results. It is normal to experience pain and nausea for a few days after the procedure. These symptoms are usually controlled with pain and nausea medications. In addition, while not designed to be a temporary procedure, endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty can become just another bariatric surgery.
How is the Endoscopic Gastric Sleeve performed?
Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty is done as an outpatient procedure. General anesthesia is used for the procedure, so you will be unconscious for a couple of hours. This procedure is performed using a flexible tube with a camera and an endoscopic suture device. The endoscope is inserted down the throat into the stomach.
The small camera allows the doctor operating the endoscope to see and operate inside the stomach without making incisions in the abdomen. Using the endoscope, the doctor makes stitches in the stomach. The sutures change the structure of the stomach and leave it in the shape of a tube. This restricts the amount of food you can eat because you feel full sooner.
Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty and the Orbera gastric balloon for weight loss are usually performed only after you have tried to lose weight by improving habits such as diet and exercise for effective results. To start your weight loss journey, you can make an appointment at one of our locations in New York and Puerto Rico, or you can make an appointment here and start transforming your life with Inova Weight Loss Solutions.