A balloon is placed inside the stomach and filled, so there is less room for food and you feel full sooner. It stays for six to twelve months and is then removed. It is a temporary aid, not an operation and not a cure for obesity.
A balloon suits someone who needs to lose a meaningful amount of weight before something else — joint surgery, fertility treatment, a hernia repair — or who needs a defined starting period to change eating habits under supervision. It does not suit someone looking for a procedure to do the work alone.
The balloon is not a treatment for a BMI above 40 on its own, and it is not offered to anyone pregnant, planning pregnancy within the year, or with an active eating disorder. Screening includes a medical history, blood tests and, depending on the device, an endoscopy.
Both occupy space in the stomach. What differs is how they get there, how long they can stay and whether sedation is needed.
Placed through the mouth with a gastroscope under sedation, then filled with saline and a dye so that a leak would be visible. Takes about 20–30 minutes. Removed the same way at the end of its licensed period, usually six or twelve months.
A capsule is swallowed with water, checked on X-ray, then filled with gas through a thin catheter. No sedation and no endoscopy. It stays for about four months and is designed to pass naturally, though removal by endoscopy is sometimes needed.
Neither device works without the diet that goes with it: a dietitian-led plan, protein targets, behavioural follow-up and a structured transition back to normal eating in the weeks before removal. This is the part that determines the result.
Medical history, medication review, blood tests, and an endoscopy if the device requires one. Any ulcer, hernia or reflux is treated before placement, not after.
Usually a day case. Sedation for the endoscopic version; only water and a capsule for the swallowable one. You are observed for a few hours, given anti-sickness medication, and go home the same day.
Nausea, cramping and vomiting are common and expected — the stomach is objecting to something inside it. Anti-sickness tablets, small amounts of fluid and, if needed, intravenous fluids. Most people settle within three to seven days.
Liquids, then soft food, then normal textures over two to three weeks. Portions are smaller because the stomach is smaller. Dietetic reviews every four to six weeks; blood tests if intake stays low.
Removal takes 20–30 minutes. Appetite usually returns within days to weeks, and without the habits built during the programme, weight comes back. A maintenance plan — dietetic follow-up, activity, sometimes medication — is agreed before the balloon comes out.
A balloon is less invasive than surgery, not risk-free. These are the complications that are discussed before placement.
A balloon buys time and a smaller stomach, nothing more. It does not change how the body handles food, it does not treat the reasons eating was difficult, and the weight lost is usually modest — typically somewhere between 5% and 15% of body weight while it is in place.
Commonly in the region of 5–15% of body weight over the time it is in place, with wide variation. It is less than a sleeve or a bypass, and part of it is often regained after removal.
Placement is not painful — the throat is numbed and sedation is used. The first three to seven days usually are uncomfortable: nausea, cramping and vomiting. Anti-sickness medication is prescribed before you leave.
Normal textures, yes; normal portions, no. Eating too fast or too much causes pain and vomiting, and carbonated drinks and very fibrous food are poorly tolerated by some patients.
The stomach returns to its previous size within days. Appetite often returns quickly. Whether the weight stays off depends on what was built during those months, which is why the dietetic programme matters more than the device.
Send your height, weight and medical history. A bariatric physician reviews them and a coordinator comes back with whether a balloon or a surgical assessment fits your case — and what it involves.
General information, not medical advice. Suitability depends on an assessment by a bariatric physician, including medical history and, where indicated, endoscopy; results vary between patients.
