Men and women today are living longer and healthier lives than ever before, and many are making real efforts to get back into shape after years of making poor fitness choices. This is extremely exciting, and we know that there are certainly many benefits of adult fitness. However, losing weight later in life can also potentially cause some unflattering side effects that need to be addressed. Specifically, as we grow older, our skin gradually loses much of its youthful elasticity, so losing weight may leave sagging skin behind. Youthful, healthy skin “springs back” into shape after it has been pulled or stretched, but older skin can be much less resilient, and while diligent exercise tones muscle and burns fat, there is no simple way to restore the elasticity of skin that has been stretched out of shape. As a result, significant weight loss, whether through traditional diet and exercise or through advanced surgical procedures like bariatric surgery or liposuction, can often leave behind stretched and sagging skin. This can be particularly troubling in the upper arms, where the sagging can be difficult to conceal. An arm lift procedure, also known as a brachioplasty, is specifically designed to help alleviate this difficulty.
An arm lift procedure works by making an incision along the inside or back of the arm. The underlying supportive tissue is then tightened and reshaped with internal sutures while any excess fat is removed through targeted liposuction. Finally, excess skin can be trimmed and smoothed over the new contour of the arm. In the past, the possibility of arm scars made those who might have considered a brachioplasty hesitant, but advancements in suture technology and Sciton® laser skin resurfacing have increased the popularity of arm lift procedures dramatically. Fractionated and Broadband Light™ laser treatments accelerate the scar maturation and color resolution processes, encouraging scars to become finer and lighter much more quickly. According to annual statistics published by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the number of arm lift procedures performed in the United States has increased more than fifty times over since 2000 alone.
It is important to remember that arm lift procedures, like all other body contouring plastic surgery procedures, are not intended to be a weight loss method in and of themselves and should not be seen as a substitute for a healthy diet and exercise program. Ideal candidates for arm lift surgery are adults with sagging of the skin in the upper arm area, who have already achieved their target weight and who plan on keeping their weight relatively stable. While body contouring plastic surgery procedures, like arm lifts, are intended to provide permanent benefits, future fluctuations in weight can stretch the skin further, diminishing the overall results.
If you would like to learn more about arm lift surgery, or about any of the plastic surgery procedures that I perform, please feel free to connect with me, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google+ for all the latest plastic surgery news and updates. If you are interested in discussing what plastic surgery procedures might be able to specifically do for you, please contact me, Dr. Jim Namnoum, to schedule a consultation today.
