An arm lift, also called brachioplasty, is designed to remove tissue excess from the area of the arm pit to the elbow. As we age and lose elasticity in the skin, tissue in this area tends to sag and become less attractive both in and out of clothes. Patients who have lost weight may find that the excess skin in this area is similarly unattractive. Arm lift techniques are designed to address these issues and provide improvements in these regions allowing improved form and comfort in tank tops, short sleeve shirts, and tighter sleeves.
With the ability to utilize the breakthrough skin shrinking technology of J-Plasma, patients can now take advantage of not only a reduction in fatty excess but an actual tightening of the skin as well. Either alone or with the use of liposuction at the same time, J-plasma makes the difference in providing a more youthful appearance to your arms and can do so while avoiding the scars of the older operations used for arm lifts.
The classic arm lift is performed using an incision on the inner lower aspect of the arm extending from near the elbow up to the arm pit where it usually ends in an “L” or “T” shape. It is best used for patients who’s tissue excess does not extend onto the trunk of the body.
The extended arm lift uses the same incision as the classic arm lift, with the addition of an extension of the incision through the arm pit region and variably down the side of the body to address tissue excess that may be located below the arm pit axillary area.
The answer is… sometimes. Patients with good skin elasticity and a bit of extra fat may benefit from liposuction of the arm.
While there may be some short term discomfort associated with an arm lift, this is usually very well tolerated and relatively short lived.
Patients may have drains and will have a mildly compressive dressing for a few days following surgery, but there is minimal dressing and maintenance following there removal of these healing aids. Vigorous exercised is avoided for the first month or so after surgery, but patients find that in the few weeks following surgery they can easily return to their daily activities. Arm lifts are some of the best tolerated procedures performed at the Center for Body Contouring.
Arm lifts are associated with a linear scar in the region of the incision, but our state of the art techniques for scar therapy using Embrace Scar Therapy have been effective in minimizing the appearance of scars after arm lift procedures.
