Is It a Good Decision to Combine Liposuction and Arm Lift?

According to a recent poll, women admire the arms of first lady Michelle Obama, followed closely by Jennifer Aniston. Jessica Biel and Demi Moore also received enough votes for their toned arms. This shows the importance women attach to shapely, attractive arms. Loose hanging skin and tissue appear in the arms after bariatric and weight loss surgery. Arm lift or brachioplasty surgery is a practical cosmetic surgery option available to restore the lost arm contour. This surgery involves a simple removal of skin and fat, and plastic surgeons choose one of the locations – medial arm, posterior arm or posteromedial arm – for the final placement of the arm scar. None of these locations has proven to offer less wound healing complications or superior scar result over the other.

For non-weight loss patients who have aesthetic concerns regarding the appearance of their arms, liposuction is the only option to achieve better looking arms (due to the scar arm lift surgery leaves). Despite the benefits offered by arm lift, the scar that may remain is the concern of many. A paper ‘Avulsion Brachioplasty: Technique Overview and 5-Year Experience’ published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery reviewed the benefits and improved outcome when liposuction and arm lift are combined.

The relevant points as discussed in the study include the following.

Liposuction and Arm Lift

  • 44 consecutive armlift patients over 5 years were assessed on the basis of a treatment combination of liposuction and skin resection.
  • The average amount of liposuction aspirate was 340ml per arm.
  • The skin resection average was a weight of 90 grams.
  • No after surgery complications such as hematomas or infection were noticed.
  • Only one of the patients reported a seroma.
  • Half of the candidates, who were reviewed, required dressing care for wound dehiscence.
  • Nine of them (20%) reported a scar revision within the first year following surgery.

The report highlights the importance of combining liposuction to improve arm lift surgery results. The additional lipo helps to debulk the arm and makes way for a better reduction in its circumference. In addition, it preserves the lymphatics and minimizes the after surgery swelling.

A good surgeon will evaluate your actual condition and health status and only then advise the procedure ideal in your case. In most cases, an arm lift surgery can provide a degree of tightening to the arm whereas liposuction may be recommended in some other cases to get rid of excess fat and offer a more attractive look for the arms.

The latest ASPS data showed 4,565% increase in the demand for arm lift procedure since 2000. It is considered that the rise in popularity might have been fueled partly by the sleeveless fashion trend and the increased focus on strong-armed celebrities.