How the lap band/gastric band helps you lose weight

The gastric band works like a belt on your stomach, creating a new, smaller stomach pouch and leaving the larger part of the stomach below. This new upper pouch can only hold a small amount of food: you feel full sooner, so you eat less.

What exactly is a lap band?
It’s an adjustable silicone ring placed around the stomach. It makes the stomach smaller so it fills with food a lot quicker. During surgery, it is connected to an access port below the skin via thin tubing. This allows the surgeon to inflate, deflate and adjust the lap band to the right level of weight loss.

Laparoscopic - quicker, less invasive and less traumatic than conventional surgery
The surgery is performed laparoscopically. In other words, through much smaller incisions than traditional surgery (it is also known as keyhole surgery). While all surgery is serious, laparoscopy can be performed more quickly and is less traumatic than conventional surgery. It also has fewer risks and generally a faster recovery time.

Adjustable, reversible
Once in place, the band can be inflated or deflated to tighten or loosen it. Post-surgery adjustments are a normal part of your follow-up (something to take into account if you’re thinking of having surgery abroad). The adjustments only take a matter of minutes but they ensure you get the right level of satisfaction from your food and from your weight loss. And of course, unlike some other forms of bariatric surgery, if you’re unhappy in any way, the operation can be reversed, and the band simply removed.