And those upper arms…
It’s true. If you’ve gained and then lost a good amount of weight, it’s likely your upper arms are loose and may even flap back and forth a bit when you move your arms. The situation can be scary enough that you avoid baring your upper arms in sleeveless blouses or swimsuits. And that’s no way to live with our toasty Gainesville weather!
Dr. Gaines can perform an arm lift for patients with loose upper arm skin. This procedure removes excess skin, tightens muscles, and gives you back your firm, contoured upper arms.
Who should get an arm lift?
Everyone has some degree of slackening in our upper arms; it’s just natural aging. But if loose, flappy skin on the underside of your upper arms bothers you, it’s probably time for an arm lift. If you’re thinking about your upper arms and how they will look when in certain fashions or situations, an arm lift could be a good procedure. Generally, you could have the procedure if you have loose, excess, or sagging skin on the underside of your upper arms that doesn’t respond to exercise. Or, if you’ve lost lots of weight, yet the excess skin on your upper arms didn’t go away with the weight, an arm lift can help.
The procedure
The goal of an arm lift is to eliminate the excess skin and fat from the upper arms, creating a more contoured appearance. For a very minimal approach, Dr. Gaines can place an incision in the armpit, but this only allows moderate improvement. For most patients, Dr. Gaines makes the incision on either the bottom of your arm or the backside. It runs usually from the elbow to the armpit. He then removes excess fat, tightens the underlying muscles, and removes excess skin. When the procedure is complete, you’ll go home with compression garments around your upper arms to help them adapt to their new smaller, tighter contour.
Recovery
Most arm lift patients return to work after one week and can resume normal exercise and activity within a month. Scars will fade over the next 18 months to where they will not be overly noticeable.
If you’re tired of considering how others perceive your loose upper arms, maybe you should look into an arm lift for the New Year with Dr. Gaines. Winter is a great time for this procedure. Call us at (352) 333-9600 to schedule a consultation.