Lifting sagging upper arms ("angled arms") is part of the extensive range of procedures offered by aesthetic and plastic surgeons. The procedure removes sagging tissue and excess fat.
Here you will find the most important information and qualified upper arm lift specialists.
The skin on the upper arms is thinner, which means that tissue and skin can hang limply downwards from middle age. A prolonged diet to lose weight also favors sagging upper arms. Some women also suffer from tissue tears on the upper arms caused by previous pregnancies (stretch marks).
Some people perceive flabby upper arms as a physical flaw and decide to have cosmetic surgery. With an upper arm lift, excess skin and fatty tissue is removed and the arms look younger again.
The cost of a conventional upper arm lift (brachioplasty) is between 3,000 and 4,500 euros, depending on the doctor and the procedure used. A laser procedure developed just a few years ago is gentler and more cost-effective.
However, patients who have an upper arm lift should have reached their desired body weight beforehand. Further slimming after the skin tightening procedure results in additional sagging tissue on the upper arms. A second operation is then necessary.
Sagging, drooping upper arm tissue can be smoothed out again with an upper arm lift © Andrey Popov | AdobeStock
Today, two main procedures are used for an upper arm lift:
The patient is given a general anesthetic. During a two-hour operation, the surgeon removes a piece of excess skin from the inside or back of the upper arms up to the armpit. If there is still a lot of fatty tissue in the surgical area, the cosmetic surgeon will also remove this.
If the cosmetic surgeon tightens not only longitudinally but also transversely, a T-shaped scar is created under the armpits.
Once the work is complete, the surgeon attaches drainage tubes through which the wound water can drain away.
Two days later, the patient is given a compression bandage, which
the upper arms. The arms should not be strained for up to 3 weeks after the surgical procedure.
Stitch removal is followed by scar treatment. The patient must then refrain from sporting activities for several weeks.
Themain disadvantage of a surgical upper arm lift is that it leaves long and often wide scars up to above the elbow. These scars are still visible later on.
Liposuction is only performed if there are too many excess fat cells in the upper arms. It is performed under local anesthesia and on an outpatient basis. The surgeon injects a saline anesthetic solution into the previously marked area. After around 30 minutes, the surgeon can then suction out the fat cells from the fatty tissue using tiny cannulas.
Liposuction creates a 4 to 5 millimeter wound on the elbow and another small wound in the armpits.
Patients usually only feel slight pain, if any at all.
A combined laser is used in the innovative upper arm lift method. It permanently removes the excess fatty tissue. The laser treatment specializes in areas of skin that have separated from the muscle tissue - regardless of whether there is fatty tissue in between or not. It is therefore used in particular for treatments
inner thighs.
The neodymium YAG laser has a connective tissue tightening and fat cell shrinking effect. It works with two combined wavelength ranges. This enables optimal individual treatment.
In contrast to conventional methods, this technology is not associated with any health risks or scarring.
Some patients have other noticeable signs of skin ageing, such as wrinkles on the upper arms. The surgeon then adds an erbium YAG laser to eliminate them.
Skin tightening of the upper arms only requires a single procedure and is performed under sedation. The patient experiences hardly any pain afterwards and can return to their usual daily activities after a few days.
They only need to cool the areas of skin treated with the special laser and wear compression garments for a short time afterwards.
Compared to liposuction, the skin surface is significantly smoother after LASER tightening (97 percent compared to 85 percent). The risk of accidental vascular injury is also significantly lower with the laser.
Some aesthetic and plastic surgery clinics combine liposuction and laser procedures. After liposuction, they use the fractionated laser. This ensures that the collagen fibers in the entire surgical area contract. In this way, the desired skin tightening is achieved.
The combined procedure with the skin-friendly device also does not require general anesthesia. Twilight sleep is also sufficient here.
In contrast to an upper arm lift without surgery, swelling and bruising always occur after surgical skin tightening. They disappear in the aftermath. There is also a feeling of tension and pain.
The sutured scars become wider when the underlying tissue swells. If the connective tissue swelling then subsides, the tissue loosens again. This reduces the originally intended skin-tightening effect.
If the newly operated patient moves their upper arms too much after the procedure, this can lead to
can occur. Kelloids (bulge scars) are caused by proliferating wound tissue. It must then be removed in a further operation(scar correction).
Nerve damage caused by incorrectly placed incisions can lead to permanent numbness in the arms. The destruction of one of the numerous lymphatic vessels in the upper arms can cause swelling.
After the surgical procedure, the patient must not be exposed to intense sunlight for at least 6 months. Otherwise the skin on the scars could become discolored.
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