Gastric Balloon is a short term weight loss procedure that helps you to lose weight without any surgery. It creates a feeling of fullness quicker after smaller meals and reduces your hunger allowing you to control your portion sizes. Gastric Balloon is a good option if you are looking for an alternative to’ going under knife’ for weight loss.
It provides a weight loss option for selected patients when diet and exercise have failed, and surgery is not recommended or wanted. By using the dietary advice, you can learn healthy eating habits and change your lifestyle. Therefore, you can lose weight quickly and keep the pounds off long-term.
What is a Gastric Balloon?
A gastric balloon, also known as an intragastric balloon is a soft silicon balloon. Surgeon inserts this balloon into your stomach so that you can achieve weight loss. As this balloon partially fills the stomach, you feel full and you don’t crave to eat food.
Procedure
It is inserted into the stomach through the mouth without surgery. Firstly, the doctor inserts an endoscopic camera into the stomach. If no abnormalities appear, then Gastric Balloon is placed through the mouth and down the esophagus into the stomach. Once reached inside the stomach, then it filled with a sterile saline solution, through a small filling tube attached to the Gastric Balloon. Once filled, the doctor removes the tube by gently pulling on the outer end, leaving the balloon inside the stomach.
It is for temporary weight loss and will be removed after six months. It also helps you lose enough weight to undergo Gastric Banding or Gastric Bypass Surgery.
It’s procedure overall takes only 20-30 minutes and requires minimal recovery time. You can go home on the same day, or the day after the procedure.
Gastric balloon pill capsule
The gastric balloon pill capsule is a new type of gastric balloon. You swallow a capsule that is attached to a thin tube. When it is in position at the top of your stomach, the balloon is inflated using gas through the tube. The tube is then removed. No sedation is required. Up to 3 balloons can be placed in your stomach to continue to facilitate weight loss over the 12 week treatment. At the end of this period, the balloons are removed in a short endoscopic procedure.
Treatment Cost
India is the most preferable destination for patients who are looking for low cost obesity treatment. The cost can vary depending on type of surgery and other medical conditions of a patient.
USA $8,500
UK $6,800
India $2,500
Thailand $3,750
Singapore $4,500
Mexico $4,000
Canada $7,000
The cost of the Gastric Balloon in India is typically a fraction of the cost for the same procedure and care in the US and other developed countries. However, low costs does not mean that the hospitals compromise with the quality of medical treatment.
Gastric Balloon in India is a great option for a medical tourist from abroad. The hospitals for gastric Balloon in India offer attractive packages to medical tourists, which enables them to save thousands of dollars. These packages include treatment cost, and all the costs that a foreign medical traveler would otherwise incur including boarding, hotel booking, traveling accommodation and food costs.
Why the Gastric Balloon?
- Non-Surgical:–
It is non-surgical that creates similar changes to the stomach as some of the weight loss surgery techniques. For example the LAP band. - Lesser Recovery Time:– Because it is non-surgical, there are no recovery issues that relate to surgery. For example, there is no hospital stay, no wounds, to care for, and very limited concern over complications or self-monitoring.
- Reversible:– Many weight loss surgeries are permanent. Gastric sleeve, for example, is irreversible even after weight loss. Gastric balloon is only a 6-month treatment, but the doctor can reverse or remove it at any time if necessary.
- Less Expensive:– The Gastric Balloon is less expensive on the whole as it is a non-surgical procedure.
- Fewer Complications:– With no surgery and no permanent removal of any part of the body, there is very little risk of complications. There are some risks like – gastric balloon rupture. But the risk is very low, and many safety precautions are made to reduce this risk. Other complications are unlikely.
- Few/No Long Term Side Effects:– Some stomach discomfort is common in the short term, mainly nausea. But in the long term, there are very few side effects or complications that you need to watch out for. The gastric balloon can stay safely inside the body with ease for 6 months.
Who Need Gastric Balloon
- If you have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30-40 kg/m2 and unable to lose weight through diet and exercise.
- If you have medical conditions such as type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure, the gastric balloon may help you to achieve long-term weight loss. Along with this procedure, a health care provider will supervise your diet and exercise plan.
- It can help to reduce the risks associated with surgical procedures on obese patients.
- A screening process will help your doctor see if the procedure might be beneficial for you.
Why Use Gastric Balloon For Weight Loss?
Gastric Balloon is the non-surgical treatment option for weight management. It is also a good option for those patients who need to lose weight before an operation to reduce their medical risks. This procedure can be less efficient and slower than the surgical weight loss options. But it is a useful way to lose weight if you don’t meet the criteria for the surgical weight loss procedures. The Balloon is useful if you have a BMI between 30 and 40.
It is a temporary aid to achieve weight loss in patients with moderate obesity. It is less invasive than other surgical weight loss procedures.
The Gastric Balloon aims to provide a short-term solution if you are struggling to lose weight even after making a real commitment to lifestyle changes, such as a calorie-controlled diet. It can help you lose weight relatively quickly by making your stomach feel fuller.