Best Candidates for an Arm Lift
In general, the best candidates for an arm lift include healthy adults of any age with significant upper arm skin laxity, whose weight is relatively stable and who are not significantly overweight.
Planning Your Surgery
In your initial consultation, your surgeon will evaluate your health and explain which surgical techniques are most appropriate for you, based on the your individual condition and skin tone.
Be sure to discuss your expectations frankly with your surgeon. He or she should be equally frank with you, describing your alternatives and the risks and limitations of each.
Your surgeon will give you instructions to prepare for surgery, including guidelines on eating and drinking, smoking, and taking or avoiding certain vitamins and medications.
The Surgery
Incision length and pattern depend on the amount and location of excess skin to be removed, as well as the best judgment of your plastic surgeon.
Incisions are generally placed on the inside of the arm or on the back of the arm, depending on the surgeon’s preference, and may extend from the underarm (axilla) to just above the elbow. If fat is to be reduced during your arm lift, it will be excised or treated with liposuction.
Depending on your specific conditions, incisions may be more limited. Then, underlying supportive tissue is tightened and reshaped with internal sutures. Finally, the skin is smoothed over the new contour of your arm.
Your incisions will be closed with absorbable sutures, or stitches that will be removed within 1-2 weeks following your arm lift.
After Your Surgery
The smoother, tighter contours that result from brachioplasty are apparent almost immediately following your procedure, although initial results will be somewhat obscured by swelling and bruising. Your new, shapely and toned upper arm is dramatically improved both in appearance and feel.
