Dr. Lissa just sat her re-certification exam in plastic surgery and one of the most striking questions for her involved identifying the procedure which is associated with the worse scar in plastic surgery. Well, the answer is traditional brachioplasty scar and this was no surprise to Dr. Lissa! Poor scars destroy the cosmetic look of any plastic surgery, so Dr. Lissa has been thinking “differently” about treating heavy arms. Heavy arms mean a lot of heavy lifting in the operating room and during the post operative healing period. Trying to destroy the typical pattern of poor healing in large heavy arms, Dr. Lissa has combined one stage and sometimes staged intraoperative awake procedures with skin tightening techniques to produce arms which are toned for some of her clients and for other clients their arms now neatly slip into the sleeve of garments. Minimum or scarless brachioplasty can be performed comfortably in the awake state for clients with BMI’s as low as 28 to as high as 42.
Fluctuations in weight, aging, and family genes can result in excess fat and skin causing your upper arms to have a drooping, sagging appearance, commonly referred to as “bat wings.” To make matters worse heavy arms are associated with large bras rolls which makes all shirts gather and buckle along the arms. This condition of heavy arms also makes simple gym exercises difficult because the arms are JUST TOO HEAVY. Unfortunately, weight loss in high BMI clients still results in heavy arms and this is frustrating. However, many women do not consider an arm lift because of the horrible long scar involved in a traditional brachioplasty procedure and the general anesthesia which increases the risk of blood clots.
An awake arm lift, or brachioplasty, is a surgical procedure that debulks and reduces local pockets of fat in the upper arm/chest region and tightens and smooths the underlying supportive tissues of the arm to produce more balanced and smaller arms. When Dr. Lissa performs an arm lift, she analyzes multiple views of the arm and chest to maximize fat removal and she creates a “nice and natural “transition from the arm to forearm. More importantly Dr. Lissa’s creates an arm contour which compliments the non lipo suctioned areas so that as her clients continue to lose weight, the post-brachioplasty arm continues to complement the rest of the body. Dr. Lissa’s goal is to minimize the scar and debulk the arms to produce arms which complement the body and figure.
This trending setting technique of awake brachioplasty surgery for high BMI clients strategically liposculpts the arm and tightens the overlying arms at the same time. Periodically, shortened incisions are added to minimize droopy skin excess. Dr. Lissa’s minimum or scarless arm lift surgery paired with careful and high touch post op care results in maximum circumferential arm reduction. After this outpatient awake procedure, most patients can return to work after about one week and can resume exercise in four to six weeks.
If you are bothered by heavy arms and excess fat on your upper arms, and desire smaller and /or shapely arms, take the first step and call Dr.Lissa’s office (404) 240-2804 to schedule a consultation. Dr. Lissa and her team will evaluate your arms and body contour goals and then recommend several options to obliterate those heavy arms .
We’re here to help, with a number of patient resources designed to make your experience as comfortable as possible. Read through the materials below, and don’t hesitate to reach out and set up your consultation to learn more about what we can do for you.
