I have always been in pretty good health, so I was surprised one day when my doctor told me my blood pressure was a bit high. She told me to begin watching my salt intake, start exercising, and to try to relax. Well, I intended to follow her advice when I left her office, but the next day I was back to my same habits. I kept using the salt shaker and didn't begin an exercise routine like I had planned. When I went for my next check-up, she told me that my blood pressure was even higher and approaching a dangerous level. I had to begin a blood pressure medication to manage it. I wanted to create a blog to share my story and remind people to listen to their doctors' advice. If a few lifestyle changes can improve your health, then you should make them.
Maybe you've tried different weight loss programs in the past without much success. Weight loss is difficult and far more complicated than diet gurus would have you think. If you've tried diet and exercise to no avail, you don't have to just accept your fate and go on living life as an overweight person. The gastric balloon procedure can help you lose weight and live a healthier life. Here are a few benefits to this procedure.
1. You don't need to have surgery.
Surgical stomach reduction procedures like gastric bypass and the lap band procedure have been around for years, and they have helped a lot of patients lose weight. But the idea of going under the knife for weight loss does not appeal to everyone — and it's not safe for everyone, either. The gastric balloon procedure is not a surgical procedure. Rather, your doctor has you swallow a special, inflatable capsule. The capsule then fills with air. It takes up space in your stomach, so you feel full and are less interested in eating. The whole thing can be done without anesthesia or sedation, and there are no incisions.
2. The procedure is temporary.
Another downfall of gastric bypass is that it is more or less permanent. You can only eat a few tablespoons of food at a time for the rest of your life! The gastric balloon procedure, on the other hand, is meant to be a temporary fix. Your doctor may leave the balloons in place for 3 or 6 months — however long it takes for you to lose the necessary weight. Then, the balloons can be deflated and removed. If you end up needing them again to lose weight, they can be reinserted.
3. You can have the gastric balloon procedure even if you're not morbidly obese.
For most other weight loss procedures, you need to be quite overweight, sometimes morbidly obese, to qualify. This is not the case for the gastric balloon procedure. It has been used successfully on patients who are just moderately overweight, although it works for obese patients as well. If you've been turned down for other weight loss procedures because you were not large enough, then talk to your gastric doctor about gastric balloons because you are probably a good candidate.
If you would like to learn more about gastric balloon procedures, then reach out to a medical weight loss clinic near you.
Share23 April 2019
