Obalon® for Weight Loss: Am I a Good Candidate?

With over 42% of adults in America obese and many millions more overweight, if you’re battling the bulge, you’re in good company. If you’ve struggled to reach a healthy weight, the caring team at OasisMD Lifestyle Healthcare can help. 

Led by board-certified plastic surgeon James J. Chao, MD, our practice assists patients in San Diego, Encinitas, and Temecula, California, lose excess weight and keep it off for good with the innovative Obalon® Balloon system.

The FDA-approved Obalon Balloon system allows you to retrain your body and meet your weight-loss goals — without surgery or pills! Keep reading to learn if you’re a good candidate for this revolutionary weight-loss system.  

Why try Obalon for weight loss?

If you’ve tried dieting and exercise but the pounds don’t seem to respond to your efforts, the Obalon Balloon system offers a way to retrain your mind and body so that you can get the weight-loss results you’ve been dreaming about. 

How it works:

As the only FDA-approved balloon system for weight loss, Obalon involves the use of gastric balloons. These medical-grade balloons take up space in your stomach, helping you feel fuller with less food. As a result, you eat less and shed the extra pounds faster.  

There’s no surgery involved — you simply swallow the balloons and your OasisMD Lifestyle Healthcare provider makes sure they’re correctly positioned using X-ray technology. Most patients swallow three balloons, but everyone’s treatment plan differs based on their current weight and goal weight. 

Swallowing and positioning the balloons takes around 10 minutes, and you can plan to have the balloons in your stomach for around six months though they can be removed in about 20 minutes at any time.  

Removal is almost as easy as the placement process. Your team member lightly sedates you to ensure your comfort throughout the short procedure. They then puncture the balloons and remove the deflated gastric balloons.     

Benefits of Obalon:

The top benefit of the Obalon Balloon system is its tremendous effectiveness. At the one-year mark, clinical studies show patients retain 89% of their weight loss when Obalon is combined with exercise and a healthy diet. 

Other benefits of the Obalon system include:

• No surgery required
• No prescription medications required
• Excellent for people unable or not qualified for bariatric surgery
• In-office procedure

What’s more? Studies demonstrate that with Obalon, patients lose about twice as much weight compared to diet and exercise alone. 

Am I a good candidate for Obalon?

Though most adult patients who need to lose between 30-100 pounds can safely use the Obalon Balloons, not everyone is a good candidate. Here’s a look at who is and who is not a good candidate for this weight-loss system:

Who’s a good candidate?

The best Obalon candidates are adults aged 22 or older who also:

• Meet the Obalon body mass index (BMI) requirements (between 30-40)
• Meet the Obalon attitude requirements (do not reside above 4,000 ft. or below 2,500 ft.)
• Are committed to a healthy lifestyle (i.e., committed to healthy eating, behavioral changes, and regular physical exercise)
• Have had trouble losing weight with exercise and dietary changes alone

It’s also important that you are in good general health and are not or do not plan to become pregnant while the Obalon Balloons are in place. 

Who should avoid Obalon?

Your OasisMD Lifestyle Healthcare provider reviews your medical history before recommending treatment with Obalon; however, several factors may mean Obalon isn’t the best treatment for you. Patients with the following may not be good candidates for this weight-loss system:

• History of bariatric surgery
• History of any GI surgery that affects the functionality or size of your digestive tract
• Current untreated H. pylori infection
• History of medicine intake that may irritate the GI tract
• History of functional or anatomical GI tract disabilities
• History of any GI disorder (e.g., irritable bowel syndrome; Crohn’s disease)

In addition, if you have a history of an eating disorder, you may not be a candidate for Obalon. Other contraindications may apply. 

Although the Obalon treatment is noninvasive, it should only be performed by an Obalon-trained physician, like Dr. Chao at OasisMD Lifestyle Healthcare. For the best results possible, follow the diet and exercise plan recommended by your OasisMD provider and continue to eat healthy foods and exercise after your Obalon Balloons are removed. 

Ready to learn more about Obalon for weight loss and whether it’s right for you? Contact the OasisMD Lifestyle Healthcare office nearest you in San Diego, Temecula, or Encinitas, California, or book your appointment online now!