The request for cosmetic surgery to treat the arms and hands continues to grow, which can be explained by the need to wear short-sleeves or sleeveless tops when summer heat arrives. The flabby appearance of the inner side of the arms can become a significant problem causing self-image and confidence issues, which motivates patients to seek cosmetic treatments.
Excess skin in the inner arms : why does it happens and how to get rid of it
What causes excess skin and the flabby appearance of the arms ?
In a lot of cases, weight loss (dietary restrictions or bariatric surgery) can cause the issue in the arms and torso areas. Excess skin does technically result from weight loss, it results from weight gain, since the skin has to stretch to accommodate more fat volume. However, when it is stretched, skin loses more or less of its ability to retract. While certain individuals with good skin quality might not show any skin issues after losing weight, others with normal or poor skin elasticity end up with excess skin, because skin has not been able to retract after weight loss. Excess skin in the inner side of the arms tends to distort the whole figure, but it also causes movements and clothing issues.
What can be done to improve the shape and tone of the arms ?
Cosmetic surgery offers the only truly efficient solution to excess skin in the form of a procedure called brachioplasty, commonly called the arm lift. Like other lift procedures, brachioplasty uses the skin resection technique, often combined with liposuction. Incisions run along the inner side of the arms and in the underarms for less visibility. An arm lift is typically performed with one or multiple techniques :
- Liposuction to remove unwanted fat deposits in the inner side of the arms;
- Axillary brachioplasty : this type of arm lift uses an incision in the underarm only, which is suited for the removal of slight to moderate excess skin.
- T Shaped incision : this arm lift technique combines the axillary incision to an incision along the inner side of the arm to remove greater amounts of excess skin.
- Extended brachioplasty (torso and forearms) : incision can extend more or less to the torso and forearms in cases of severe skin laxity.
