Many men and women struggle with flabby or sagging skin on the upper arms, a problem that can be exacerbated by age or major weight loss. An arm lift, or brachioplasty, can improve skin tone, firmness and contours throughout the upper arms.
Dr. Ricardo A. Meade is a board certified plastic surgeon and arm lift specialist serving the entire Dallas-Ft. Worth metro area, with offices in Plano and Dallas, Texas. In addition to arm lifts, Dr. Meade offers a full range of body contouring procedures, and has helped thousands of men and women feel more confident about their appearance.
An arm lift removes loose skin and fatty tissue in the upper arms for a slimmer, more toned look. While liposuction can sometimes be enough for minor upper arm contouring, lipo alone can’t improve the appearance of excess skin. An arm lift can help balance the proportions and scale of your upper arms along with eliminating any hanging skin that may be a concern as well.
Please contact us online or call 214.823.1691 for more information on brachioplasty at our Dallas or Plano plastic surgery offices. We encourage you to view arm lift photos in our real patient before and after photo gallery to get a better sense of what this procedure can achieve.
Your Consultation
An in-person consultation with Dr. Meade will give you the opportunity to discuss your arm lift goals. During this time, he will go into more details about both the surgery and recovery so you’re fully informed about what to expect. He will also provide a cost estimate for your brachioplasty procedure, including detailed price information.
Preparing for Surgery
Since safety is always the number one concern, Dr. Meade may require specific lab tests or additional medical evaluations to determine your candidacy for an arm lift. Adjusting your current prescriptions or vitamins and supplements you may be taking could be necessary as well. It’s important to follow Dr. Meade’s instructions on avoiding the consumption of alcohol or drugs and abstaining from smoking for the recommended period before and after your procedure.
The Arm Lift Procedure
Brachioplasty will permanently remove fatty deposits and drooping skin throughout the upper arm from armpit to the elbow, sometimes in combination with additional body contouring procedures. However, an arm lift can also be performed as a solo surgery. Dr. Meade may recommend either intravenous or general anesthesia when performing an arm lift as an outpatient procedure.
To begin surgery, Dr. Meade first makes an incision on the underside or back of the arm through which he can remove fatty tissue and trim away excess skin. The scar is placed to be minimally visible and well- camouflaged beneath and behind the arm. To complete the surgery, Dr. Meade layers absorbable sutures in order to create the least obtrusive scar possible as well as prevent the inconvenience of needing stitches removed after surgery.
Recovery & Results
Each individual will experience recovery differently, although there are some commonalities you can expect. Most of our patients are comfortable enough after surgery that they don’t even finish a prescription of 40 pain pills. Dr. Meade generally recommends a week of time off from work to rest and recover before slowly resuming physical activity. It’s important to change bandages as instructed and limit vigorous physical exercise in order to preserve the integrity of your sutures. Dr. Meade will ask you to wear a sleeved vest to help limit swelling, and will also recommend that you only remove your compression garment for short periods.
Though you will likely notice an immediate change in your upper arm contours, your results will continue to improve over time as swelling subsides. You should see a visible reduction in the circumference of your upper arms along with the absence of droopy or excess skin. The final results of your arm lift will be trimmer, toned-looking upper arms that are in more balanced proportion with the rest of your body.