What Is an Arm Lift:
Arm lift surgery raises, firms, and tightens the skin of the upper arm. Excess skin is removed and the surrounding tissue repositioned to create a more youthful and pleasing body contour (and to stop your arm from continuing to flap in the breeze after you’ve stopped waving goodbye).
Who Can Benefit From an Arm Lift:
Arm lift surgery is performed on those with large amounts of loose, hanging skin on the upper arm. Its goal is to return the body to a more normal appearance after loss of skin elasticity due to extreme weight loss, or age-related changes.
Although small amounts of fat can be removed along with your excess skin, an arm lift is not intended to remove significant fat deposits. You should be stabilized at or near your ideal weight before having a arm lift. In cases where there are small local fat deposits with poor skin elasticity, your surgeon may recommend a combination of liposuction and arm lift surgery.
Who Is a Good Candidate:
The best candidates for an arm lift are non-smokers who are in generally good health and maintain a stable weight through a commitment to a healthy diet and lifestyle. It is also important for the patient to have a positive outlook and realistic expectations about outcome.
Pre-Operative Considerations:
Your surgeon will usually order pre-op lab tests to confirm your health status. He or she may also require that you adjust, cease, or begin taking certain medications in the week or two before your surgery, including avoiding aspirin, many anti-inflammatory drugs, and herbal supplements, for two weeks prior to surgery. If you smoke, you may be asked by your surgeon to stop in advance of surgery.
Recovery & Downtime:
Most patients can return to non-strenuous work after 2 weeks. Strenuous work or exercise should not be resumed until at least 4 to 6 weeks have passed. It is important that your incisions are not subjected to excessive force, abrasion, or motion during this time. As with all surgery, it is important to understand that these guidelines can vary widely based on the patient’s personal health, the techniques used, and other variable factors surrounding the surgery. Any severe pain should be reported to your doctor.
Risks & Complications:
Risks and possible complications include:
- unfavorable scarring
- excessive bleeding or hematoma
- skin or fat necrosis (tissue death)
- poor wound healing or wound separation
- blood clots
- anesthesia risks
- deep vein thrombosis
- cardiac and pulmonary complications
- persistent edema (swelling) or fluid accumulation
- persistent pain
- temporary or permanent change/loss of skin sensation
- unsatisfactory aesthetic results requiring revisional surgery
- recurrent looseness or sagging of skin
After surgery, call your surgeon immediately if you experience chest pain, shortness of breath, unusual heartbeats, or excessive bleeding.
Costs:
The average total cost of an arm lift varies from $3,000 to $5,000. The discrepancies in cost have to do with the complexity of the procedure, your surgeon’s skills, qualifications, and reputation, and on the geographical area. (For example, in the U.S., costs tend to be higher in the northeast and the west.) Total costs include your surgeon’s fee, anesthesia fees, facility fees, lab fees and medications.
Complementary Procedures:
Arm lift surgery is often done in conjunction with other surgeries to enhance the patient’s results. Often, other body lifting procedures may be desirable, such as a breast lift, tummy tuck, thigh lift, or butt lift. If you have loose hanging skin in multiple areas from the waist down, you may want to consider a procedure known as a belt lipectomy, or body lift. In addition, extreme weight loss can affect the elasticity of the facial skin as well, so a face lift, neck lift, or brow lift may be desired.
Seeing Your Results:
Most swelling should subside within the first 4 to 6 weeks, although your final result may not be fully evident until up to 3 to 6 months following your procedure. Your improvement should be permanent provided you do not lose or gain a significant amount of weight. However, age and gravity will eventually cause some loss of firmess.
Your surgeon will strive to place the scar as inconspicuously as possible, so that it will not be noticeable when the arm is lying flat against the body. Although they are permanent, scars will improve over time, continuing to flatten and fade for up to two years.
