Plastic Surgery: Brachioplasty

Arm lift or arm tuck, is a plastic surgery procedure designed to remove redundant, flabby, and sagging skin folds of the upper arms. Rashes as well as the inability to wear any sort of sleeve can be caused by hanging arm skin folds.

Brachioplasty now gives patients the freedom to have a lifestyle that they could not enjoy before. In fact, arm lift surgery has become so popular that according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, statistically the amount of brachioplasty surgeries since 1997 has tripled, with in 2005, nearly 15,000 procedures were being performed. Men have also undergone this surgery and it is not exclusive to women.

Many participants for brachioplasty are those who have had Bariatric Surgery and have lost massive weight because of it, also known as "lap banding" or "stomach stapling."This surgery is not that all beneficial because one of its results is sagging skin that hangs from the arms and other parts of the body.

Other candidates for this procedure are those who have attained upper arm flabbiness, that is mainly caused by the loss of elasticity that accompanies aging or chronic tanning.

The impact of this surgery might be felt when the candidates wearing blues or tight shirt that shows them their arm. Basically, they feel a lot more confident when wearing those shirts.

People who are not very good candidates for arm lift surgery are those who predominantly have excess fat. This includes those men and women that are better served with first undergoing liposuction. Infection called hidradenitis suppurativa in their armpits causes people with this infection to not be able to undergo this surgery until treated appropriately. It is not recommended to have brachioplasty if you have had extensive breast cancer surgery because you risk your body to have a chronic arm swelling after the surgery.

Depending on the amount and location of your excess skin, the type of arm lift performed will change. If excess hanging skin is located within two inches from the armpit, the axillary brachioplasty will be performed. For those people who have excess skin that extends like a "Bat Wing" from the elbow to the armpit, the only option is the standard brachioplasty or standard arm lift including the complete removal of the arm flab.