Losing weight can be a struggle. Trying to lose weight on your own can be daunting, and the results can be disappointing, even if you’ve tried your best. We just have to admit that sometimes we need a little help.

 That’s where Orbera™ comes in. It can help give you a push to get the results you’re looking for when losing weight.

Simply put, Orbera™ is an outpatient, minimally invasive procedure where your physician places a soft, expandable intragastic balloon in your stomach. No surgery, and you get to go home the same day. Most patients are even back to their normal activities the next day.

 “The balloon makes you feel full earlier and longer, which decreased your appetite over time,” explained Dr. Cameron Askew, a Bariatric surgeon who is trained in the procedure. “It’s designed to stay in your stomach for about 6 months. At that point, you should be ready to continue the program without the balloon to help you control your appetite.”

A 12 month program is included with the procedure, with multiple visits with your doctor and a dietitian to help you with the dietary and lifestyle changes that help you with losing weight.

“Before the procedure, patients visit with myself and the dietitian. Just before the procedure, patients switch to a liquid diet.  After the procedure, the liquid diet slowly progresses to a regular diet followed by routine visits with myself and the dietitian to insure a healthy diet that will allow them to be successful with weight loss for a total 12 month program,” Dr. Askew said.

This procedure is especially helpful for patients who have been unsuccessful with diet and exercise alone, but are not interested in surgery. “It has more significant weight loss results than diet and exercise or medications, but is less invasive than surgery.  There are no permanent changes to the patient’s anatomy and the stomach will function normally once the balloon is removed,” she said. “Patients lose and keep off an average of 38% of their excess body weight after a year.  It gives us another great tool on the spectrum of obesity treatment options.”

Orbera™ is approved for patients with a BMI between 30 and 40, which means those who are about 50-100 lbs. overweight. Prospective patients also need to be able to undergo endoscopy, have never had surgery on their actual stomach, cannot be pregnant and cannot suffer from autoimmune diseases such as Lupus or Crohn's disease. It is a cash-pay-only procedure, and includes placement, removal, 6 physician visits and 8 dietitian visits.

If you think the Orbera™ procedure might help you on your weight loss journey, please call (833) 292-6406 for more information.