Sagging skin is as much a part of getting older as needing reading glasses. Ugh. For some people, this can be especially true of their upper arms. Thanks to our toasty Texas weather most of the year, we wear lots of sleeveless blouses and sundresses. But sagging, loose skin — whether it’s because the person has gained and lost a good deal of weight, or just due to normal aging — can make a woman want to cover up her upper arms.

That’s a shame. Fortunately, Dr. Barrera can tighten up those loose upper arms with a procedure called an arm lift. It will return contour and firmness to your upper arms, and will bring the sundresses back out of the closet!

Who should get an arm lift?

Everyone has some degree of slackening in our upper arms; it’s just natural aging. But if loose, flappy skin on the underside of your upper arms bothers you, it’s probably time for an arm lift. If you’re thinking about your upper arms, and how they will look when in certain fashions or situations, an arm lift could be a suitable procedure. Generally, you could have the procedure if you have loose, excess, or sagging skin on the underside of your upper arms that doesn’t respond to exercise. Or, if you’ve lost lots of weight, yet the excess skin on your upper arms didn’t go away with the weight, an arm lift can help.

The procedure

The goal of an arm lift is to eliminate the excess skin and fat from the upper arms, creating a more contoured appearance. For a very minimal approach, Dr. Barrera can place an incision in the armpit, but this only allows moderate improvement. For most patients, Dr. Barrera makes the incision on either the bottom of your arm or the backside. It usually runs from the elbow to the armpit. He then removes excess fat, tightens the underlying muscles, and removes excess skin. When the procedure is complete, you’ll go home with compression garments around your upper arms to help them adapt to their new smaller, tighter contour.

Recovery

Most arm lift patients return to work after one week and can resume normal exercise and activity within a month. Scars will fade over the next 18 months to where they will not be overly noticeable.

If you’re tired of considering how others perceive your loose upper arms, maybe you should look into an arm lift for the New Year with Dr. Barrera. Winter is an excellent time for this procedure. Contact us at (713) 468-5200 to schedule a consultation.