The Body Renewal Program at Santa Barbara Face & Body is a physician-led pathway for restoring the body after significant weight loss, including changes that follow GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro. Led by board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Alain Polynice, it treats skin laxity, breast deflation, and abdominal redundancy as one coordinated arc: body-composition readiness, pre-operative optimization of nutrition and tissue, surgery tailored to your anatomy, and a structured recovery program — Recover Beautifully™ — rather than a single operation.
Losing a significant amount of weight is a real accomplishment. But skin that was stretched for years often will not retract, breasts lose volume and settle, and the abdominal wall can stay loose even when the weight is gone. This is not a failure of effort or discipline — it is what happens to tissue, and it is exactly what surgery is for.
The Body Renewal Program exists because these changes are rarely solved well by one procedure done in isolation. How well you heal depends on how well you are prepared, how the surgery is planned around your body, and how your recovery is supported afterward. The program treats all three as part of the same journey.
- Have loose or hanging skin after significant weight loss
- Notice breast deflation or a loss of upper-body volume
- Have abdominal skin or muscle laxity that diet and exercise won’t resolve
- Have seen tissue changes after GLP-1 use (Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro)
- Want to feel like yourself again now that the weight is off
- Are still actively losing weight, or your weight hasn’t stabilized yet
- Are early in a GLP-1 course — timing matters for tissue quality
- Have health conditions that affect healing or nutrition
- Aren’t sure which changes matter most to you — the consultation maps it
- What it is
- A physician-led pathway to restore the body after major weight loss
- Designed for
- Skin laxity, breast deflation, and abdominal change — including after GLP-1 use
- The arc
- Readiness → preparation → tailored surgery → guided recovery
- Recovery
- Recover Beautifully™ — structured, physician-guided healing
- Led by
- Dr. Alain Polynice, board-certified plastic surgeon
- Where
- Santa Barbara, California
The program, stage by stage
Your plan is built around your anatomy, your history, and your goals. Most patients move through four stages.
1. Assessment & readiness
Many patients arrive saying a version of the same thing: “I lost the weight, but now I don’t recognize my body.” The program begins there. Dr. Polynice assesses your skin quality, breast and abdominal changes, and where you are in your weight journey, then maps which concerns to address and in what order.
Readiness also means body composition. Through physician-guided Body Composition Optimization, we look at whether your weight is stable, whether lean muscle has been preserved — a real concern after rapid GLP-1 loss — and the right timing to operate on healthy, stable tissue.
2. Preparation — before surgery
Better-prepared patients heal better. Preparation typically begins six to twelve weeks before surgery and is designed to bring you to the operation on strong, stable tissue.
- Nutrition & protein. A protein and nutrition plan built to preserve muscle and support healing — especially important after GLP-1 weight loss and for peri-menopausal patients.
- Nutrient review. Targeted bloodwork to find and correct deficiencies — iron, vitamin D, and others — before surgery, so your body has what it needs to recover.
- Supplement support. A conservative, evidence-informed supplement framework to support healing and tissue quality.
- Skin & tissue conditioning. Physician-grade Alastin body treatments in the weeks before surgery to improve skin quality and support collagen and scar readiness.
3. Surgery, tailored to you
The procedures are chosen for your body and sequenced thoughtfully rather than all at once: removing excess skin, restoring breast shape and volume, repairing and flattening the abdomen, and refining the overall contour — with an eye to proportion and to scars that settle well.
4. Recover Beautifully™
Recovery is planned, not left to chance. Recover Beautifully™ is a structured, physician-guided healing program that carries you through the months after surgery in three phases.
- Immediate recovery (weeks 0–2). Managing swelling and comfort with compression, a physician-designed recovery kit, incision guidance, and a clear line of communication. Medical LED (red light) supports healing and calms inflammation.
- Tissue recovery (weeks 2–8). Scar modulation and swelling reduction — silicone therapy, scar-massage guidance, and, when appropriate, laser scar treatment to soften redness and refine texture.
- Regenerative recovery (months 2–6). Supporting collagen remodeling and final scar refinement as the result settles — and your confidence returns with it.
For selected higher-risk cases — revisions, healing concerns, or a history of smoking — we coordinate with a medical hyperbaric oxygen center to give compromised tissue the best chance to heal.
What it can address
Depending on your assessment, your program may draw on one or several procedures:
- Abdomen. Tummy tuck to remove loose skin and repair separated muscle.
- Breasts. Breast lift, with or without augmentation or fat transfer, to restore shape and volume.
- Arms & thighs. Arm lift and thigh lift for loose skin on the limbs.
- Full-body contour. Body lift, contouring & liposuction, and skin tightening where circumferential change is needed.
- After GLP-1. A dedicated post-GLP-1 contouring path for the specific tissue changes that follow rapid medical weight loss.
Not sure where to start? That’s what the consultation is for. Dr. Polynice will look at your body as a whole, talk through what’s realistic, and map a plan and a timeline that fit your life.