Does the thought of sleeveless tops and dresses give you anxiety? Are you uncomfortable with your sagging underarms and wish they were more toned? With an arm lift, you can lose that stress and get the fit and trim arms you deserve!
An arm lift, or brachioplasty, removes extra skin and fat and tightens and smooths out the remaining tissues. As a result, your upper arms look better defined and free of sagging.
How Does Sagging Skin Develop?
Sagging skin can develop as a result of a number of factors, including genetics and the aging process. If you’ve suddenly lost a fair amount of weight, sagging skin can form due to the skin’s inability to shrink back down.
How to Prepare for a Brachioplasty
• Smokers are advised to quit the habit or take a break for at least a month or two prior to the surgery to reduce the chance of post-surgical complications. Smoking also leads to a longer and less comfortable healing period.
• Dr. Patel will run some basic physical tests on you to check if the procedure will be a health risk. If it will be, it may not be advisable to proceed with it.
• If you regularly take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), you will be asked to stop taking them around two weeks before surgery.
How Is the Arm Lift Performed?
An arm lift is usually completed within three hours. It can be performed in many ways, but the most common option involves Dr. Patel making incisions on the backs and insides of your arms. The incision may reach your armpit, depending on the amount of tissue to be removed.
The next step is to administer anesthesia. You may be given local anesthesia with sedation or general anesthesia depending on Dr. Patel’s preference. Dr. Patel will create marks on your skin to determine where he will make the incisions.
The incisions will be made, and then loose skin will be removed with a scalpel. If you have excess fat in the area, liposuction will be used to remove this fat. The remaining skin will be redraped and tightened, and the incisions will be closed with surgical sutures.
The Healing Process
In the initial days of recovery, you might be asked to wear a compression garment to control post-surgical bruising and swelling. Dr. Patel may also make use of drainage tubes to drain excess fluid and blood resulting from the surgery. The recovery period shouldn’t take more than two weeks; after this, you should be able to go back to work.
Contact Us to Learn More
An arm lift is an effective cosmetic surgical procedure used to get rid of embarrassing bat wings. You may lose some of this newfound firmness with age, but the results from the surgery will last you for several years.
Find out more about what an arm lift can do for you – contact us to schedule a consultation with Dr. Parit Patel, a board-certified plastic surgeon with years of experience. Dr. Patel will be available to answer your questions and review before-and-after photos with you.