An arm lift is a cosmetic surgical procedure to improve the appearance of the under portion of your upper arms.
During an arm lift — also known as brachioplasty — excess skin and fat are removed from between the armpit and elbow. The remaining skin is placed back over the newly repositioned contours to create a more toned look.
Who are good candidates
In general, arm lift candidates include:
- Adults with significant upper arm skin laxity
- Adults of any age whose weight is relatively stable and who are not significantly overweight
- Healthy individuals without medical conditions that impair healing or increase risk of surgery
- Nonsmokers
- Individuals with a positive outlook and realistic expectations
Consultation
Before the operation, you will need to discuss a range of medical issues with your doctor or surgeon. They will talk to you about your:
- Physical health – an examination will help your doctor or surgeon to decide if the treatment is appropriate
- Medical history – some pre-existing medical conditions and surgery you’ve had in the past may influence decisions about this operation, including the type of an aesthetic that is used
- Risks and possible complications – it is important that you understand the risks and complications so that you can weigh up whether brachioplasty is right for you
- Medication – tell your doctor about any medication that you take regularly or have recently taken, including over-the-counter preparations like fish oils and vitamin supplements
- Past reactions to medication – your doctor need to know if you have ever had a bad reaction or a side effect from any medication, including anesthesia
- Preparation for surgery – the surgeon will give you detailed instructions on what you should do at home to prepare for surgery. For example, they may advise you to take a particular medication or alter the dose of an existing medication. Follow all instructions carefully
Procedure
Your options will be dictated by your skin quality and the extent of excess underarm fat and skin. Your surgeon will help you make the right choice based on your anatomy and preferences.
Liposuction: Arm liposuction is an option for you if your skin has enough elasticity to shrink around the remaining tissues after your fat is removed. If your skin has poor elasticity, tissue sagging will be even more pronounced after fat is removed. Liposuction may also be used as an adjunct for fat removal in a standard brachioplasty procedure.
Limited incision brachioplasty: If excess hanging skin is located close to the armpit, your surgeon may be able to pull up and tuck this excess skin into the armpit. This works best if you have loose, crepe-like skin in the lower inner arm area near the armpit and do not have too much excess fatty tissue.
Standard brachioplasty: If your excess skin extends like a bat wing from the armpit to the elbow, the only option is complete removal of the arm flab in a standard brachioplasty.
Extended brachioplasty: An extended arm lift is similar to a standard brachioplasty, except that the incision is extended along the arm down to the body to include loose skin and fatty tissue that might be just under the arm area along the side of the chest wall. Loose skin in that area is common in patients who have had massive weight loss.
Brachioplasty is usually performed under a general anesthetic and may take up to three hours. Generally speaking, the operation involves:
- The surgeon makes a cut on the inner surface of your upper arm from the armpit to the elbow. (Occasionally, the cut is made on the back of the arm.)
- Extra fat is removed with liposuction, which involves the insertion of a thin tube (cannula) into the fat deposit. The fat is vacuumed out with a suction pump or large syringe.
- Underlying muscle is tightened with stitches to smooth and define the shape of the upper arm.
- The extra skin is cut away.
- The cuts are closed with stitches
Risks
Is it safe?
Arm lift surgery risks include:
- Anesthesia risks
- Bleeding
- Damage to deeper structures such as nerves, blood vessels and muscles
- Fatty tissue under the skin might die (fat necrosis)
- Fluid accumulation (seroma)
- Infection
- Numbness or other changes in skin sensation
- Pain, which may persist
- Poor wound healing
- Possible need for revisional surgery
- Sutures may not absorb, but spontaneously surface through the skin, causing irritation, drainage and redness
- Unsightly scarring
Is it painful?
You’ll be under general anesthesia during the surgical procedure, so you won’t feel anything until you wake up. Before they send you home, your provider’s staff will make sure you’re not feeling too much discomfort and have a prescription for pain medication, to help you through the toughest stretch.
The initial post-surgery recovery can be uncomfortable (about a 4 out of 10 on the pain scale), but the discomfort tends to abate after three or four days.
Recovery
After an arm lift, your incisions will be covered in bandages. Your arms will be loosely wrapped in elastic bandages to minimize swelling. Small tubes might be placed in your arms to drain any excess blood or fluid.
You’ll likely see someone from your plastic surgery team within a day or two after your arm lift. He or she may remove your bandages and drainage tube if used. Our plastic surgeon recommends to wear a compression sleeve for a few weeks to keep swelling down.
In the first few days after an arm lift:
- Avoid lifting your arms above shoulder level for three to four weeks
- Avoid physical and athletic activities with your arms that might stretch the incisions for four to eight weeks after surgery.
- Take pain medication as needed and use topical or oral antibiotics as directed to prevent wound infections.
Results
By removing loose skin, an arm lift can give your upper arms a more toned appearance.
The smoother, tighter contours that result from arm lift surgery are apparent almost immediately following your procedure. Initial results will be obscured by swelling and bruising, and a scar will remain where the incision was made.
The results of arm lift surgery will be long-lasting, provided that you maintain a stable weight and general fitness. As your body ages, it is natural to lose some firmness, but most of your improvement should be relatively permanent.
Things to keep in mind:
If you have excess arm skin, but underlying fat keeps the skintight, an arm lift and liposuction combination is sometimes an option. But for most patients, an arm lift, not liposuction, is the best fix for saggy underarms. Because liposuction alone won’t treat the problem of excess skin for most people
