As soon as you have made up your mind to undergo weight loss surgery, the next thing you need to do is choose between lap band and gastric bypass surgery. Gastric bypass surgery has been around for thirty years, which is the country’s most common weight loss procedure. The lap band surgery, on the other hand, is a new procedure and is not as invasive as the gastric bypass surgery.
When you are choosing between gastric bypass & lap band, you need to know the differences between the two procedures to help you decide which one is ideal for you.
Lap band surgery reduces the amount of food you can eat. It also causes the body to slow its absorption of what you eat. It also creates a sense of being full and sated. Gastric bypass also reduces the amount of food you eat, but it also decreases the amount of calories your body absorbs.
Both gastric bypass and lap band surgery will require you to avoid sugar and carbonated drinks. Both also require patients to consume protein-rich foods and limit their calorie intake to between 1000 and 1200 calories per day after the first two years of the surgery. After the surgery, the doctor will advise you to avoid high carbohydrate and high calorie foods. Eating between meals will also be discouraged. You will also have to change your eating habits and one of them is by chewing your food slowly and thoroughly before swallowing it. It will also be recommended to take in a moderate amount of water or any liquid during meals.
Gastric bypass and lap band surgeries both affect the amount of nutrients being absorbed by the body so the doctors will advise you to take vitamins and other health supplements. They may prescribe you to take iron, calcium, vitamins D and B12 to help fight anemia, osteoporosis and other health problems.
When it comes to the duration of the operation and period of recovery, the lap band surgery will take about an hour while gastric bypass surgery will take about two to three hours. Gastric bypass will require you to stay longer in the hospital for up to three days compared to just an overnight stay when you have a lap band procedure. You will only miss a week or so of work for lap band while a three-week rest is required for gastric bypass surgery. For lap band, you can expect to be fully recovered in about six weeks. Gastric bypass patients will take about three months to fully recover.
What are the advantages of lap band and gastric bypass surgeries? Gastric bypass which is a permanent procedure will result to quickly shedding off excess pounds six months after the surgery, as this will restrict the amount of calories that your body will absorb from the food you eat. This also greatly decreases the amount of food you can intake. On the other hand, lap band surgery is not as complicated but has lower risk of malnutrition, and is significantly safer as well as reversible.
Whatever your choice of procedure is, it is always best to consult your doctor. Experts in the field of bariatric surgery are the ones that can help you decide which procedure is best for you.
Gastric bypass surgery in Dallas can allow you to lose those stubborn pounds and transform yourself into a healthy and more active individual. You can learn more about gastric bypass surgery Dallas and other surgical weight loss methods by talking to an experienced bariatric surgeon.