Arm lift surgery, also called upper arm brachioplasty, is a cosmetic surgery that can treat loose, sagging skin, remove excess fat, and sculpt the arm to make it appear more toned, leaner, and youthful in appearance. Many women find they are unhappy with the “bat wing” appearance of their upper arms, especially after menopause, when hormonal changes can damage the skin in this area. Whether your concerns stem from the natural aging process, weight fluctuations, or a combination of both, our plastic surgeon will help you create arms that you can feel confident about!
Quick Facts About Arm Lift
- Arm lifts are surgical procedures
- At Reflections, arm lifts are performed by a plastic surgeon
- We perform surgery in a private accredited surgical suite (full medical care without risks or costs of hospital stay)
- The procedure tightens loose skin, contours & defines arm shape
- Long-lasting transformation
Best Options to Include in Your Upper Arm Lift
Arm lifts, like all of our procedures, are customized to the individual’s needs and goals. We offer both surgical and non-surgical treatments for the upper arm, and while this page focuses on the surgical options, you can combine surgical and non-surgical options for your procedure with us. We will discuss the options that will suit you best during your consultation. If you are considering surgical treatment options for the arm, these are the current best techniques we believe give the best results:
Surgical Excision (Removal) of Loose Skin vs. Skin Tightening Treatments
Removal of loose skin is something we include in every arm lift – in fact, this alone can constitute your entire arm lift, especially if you have a satisfying shape and size to your arm, and your concerns are truly limited to loose skin. This is common in older patients when skin elasticity has diminished, as well as patients who have quickly lost a lot of weight.
Those who have moderate to good skin quality can consider a skin tightening procedure, such as ThermiTight or Smartlipo, as an alternative to loose skin removal, and the main reason one would choose skin tightening instead is a desire to avoid scarring. Removing excess skin along the length of the upper arm creates a scar alongside the bottom of the arm, which some patients find to be unacceptable. We do have a team of trained laser physicians who can help reduce the appearance of scarring, but you can also avoid the scars altogether using a treatment that doesn’t remove the loose skin, but instead attempts to tighten it. Those with severely damaged collagen support in the skin (skin is no longer elastic or firm, and is thin with many fine lines or has stretch marks) will find skin tightening procedures can provide little to no improvement for them, and are better suited to surgical removal of excess skin.
Liposuction (Removal of Excess Fat)
Those with excess fat in the arms will benefit from liposuction as a part of their arm lift procedure. Liposuction can both sculpt the arm’s shape to appear more toned, and reduce the weight that weighs down on thin skin, which if left untreated would reduce the longevity of your skin lift procedure, by stretching out tightened skin more rapidly and leading to a return to sagging arms).
We offer both traditional liposuction performed under general anesthesia and laser lipo performed under local anesthesia.
Learn MoreEnsuring Any Arm Lift Scars Heal Well
If you have an arm lift, or brachioplasty, where excess skin is removed from the arm, then you will have a scar. Young, healthy patients with resilient skin tend to heal the best in terms of scarring, and are also the least likely to need skin removed. So, for most patients who have an arm lift, proactive scar management is important.
This can be simple, such as avoiding sun exposure and using a silicone cream. Or, it can be managed more proactively with lasers, steroid injections, and constant care by doctors with experience in cosmetic healing. This is something you’ll likely already know if you need, based on how your previous scars have healed. For a patient who knows they tend to have bad scars or someone having a revision (who has proven they haven’t scarred well in the past), this is a unique opportunity to be managed by a physician who will use every tool at their disposal to get the best outcome possible.
Why Choose Reflections for Your Arm Lift?
Reflections Center is home to a team of top physicians who provide the best of both surgical and non-surgical treatments – and that’s truly rare when it comes to arm lifts. Most practices only provide surgical options. We have found even those who want a fully surgical approach to their arm lift are relieved to hear we can help them minimize and manage their scarring, which is a top concern for patients undergoing this procedure. And the ability to mix in skin tightening or laser lipo, performed without general anesthesia, is a big win for patients with health concerns or fears about anesthesia.
The best care you can receive for arm lift surgery is with a team of physicians, made up of both experts in cosmetics as well as plastic surgery.
How to Find the Best Arm Lift Treatment Doctor Near Me
The best arm lift treatment for you is the one that has this team working on your behalf, communicating with each other about the most effective way to achieve your desired results through state-of-the-art treatments and procedures.
– Do you have before and after galleries I can look at to see real patient results, specifically for the treatment options you’re recommending for me?
– Have you treated patients who look like me in their “before” photos?
– What’s the best way to maintain my results?
– What can I expect realistically from my procedure, in terms of results?
– If I didn’t limit you on treatment options, what would you recommend for me, and why?
– Given my limits with budget and lifestyle (downtime required, not wanting general anesthesia, concerns about scarring, etc.), what would you recommend as the best option?
-
Skin Tightening For Body
Skin that is loose enough to require removal during an arm lift is skin that could easily stretch out again if the collagen and elasticity is not improved (and especially if excess fat weighs it down). Skin tightening procedures stimulate the body to grow new collagen, for longer-lasting and better results.
-
Minimize Scarring
One of the biggest concerns patients have about arm lift surgery is that there will be a visible scar for the rest of their life. With scar treatments, our physicians can complement the natural contouring achieved through arm lift by simultaneously ensuring any scars are as inconspicuous as possible.
