Sagging skin on the arms is one of the most common aesthetic issues among men and women alike. While the appearance of your arms may make you feel discouraged, getting the arms of your dreams is well within your reach. At Plastic and Cosmetic Center of South Texas in San Antonio, TX, we can help you get those dream arms with an arm lift, a procedure designed to remove excess fat and skin from the arms so that they look tighter and more toned.
How Long Does an Arm Lift Last?
An arm lift will provide you with beautiful, shapely, toned arms that last for many years. This procedure is intended to be permanent, but it cannot stop the aging process. Eventually, loose skin may appear on your arms, but it will be nothing compared to the loose skin that this procedure will remove. You can rest assured that when you choose this procedure to improve the appearance of your arms, you will enjoy those results for many years.
The Importance of a Healthy Lifestyle
You play a role in maintaining your results post-op. By adding some simple habits to your lifestyle, exercising, and eating a healthy diet, you will be able to enjoy your results for years. For most patients, these habits are already built into their lifestyle; for others, they take some work to develop. However, once you see your results post-op and experience your new arms, they will be well worth any effort you have to put forth to maintain them for as long as possible.
Exercise
Once your procedure is over and you are fully recovered, you can begin to work out again. However, your results from working out will be far more noticeable than they were previously because the excess skin and fat will be gone from your arms for good. This is the time to focus on building lean muscle mass through targeted arm exercises. Your results will look that much better when you focus on toning and further defining your arm muscles.
Strength training is the best way to further tone your new arms. The primary muscles in your arms are your shoulders, rear deltoids, which are the back of your shoulders, biceps, and triceps. Working out each of these muscle groups regularly will help tone and define the area so that your results look even better. If possible, enlist the help of a physical trainer who can help push you and teach you how to work out and reach your body goals.
Nutrition
Another way to maintain your results is by eating a healthy diet. Fad diets rarely work, and when they’re over, they typically make you gain back all the weight you lost, if not more. A healthy, balanced lifestyle is the best approach to maintain your new arms. Eating a diet rich in healthy fats, lean proteins, and fruits and vegetables will help you maintain a healthy weight, which will, in turn, help you maintain your results the longest.
Avoid sweets, starchy, simple carbohydrates, and excess alcohol consumption. Use natural sugars as opposed to artificial or chemical sweeteners and eat desserts in moderation. Avoiding sugar and an excess of complex carbs while eating a diet rich in plant-based foods will help you maintain a healthy weight.
Hydration
Hydration is essential for youthful, elastic skin. Maintaining adequate hydration from day to day will go a long way in helping your skin stay elastic and youthful. If you drink any beverages that strip water from the body, like caffeinated drinks or alcohol, make sure that you replenish your system with enough water to balance out the water that those drinks took from your system.
Water-rich fruits and vegetables contain significant amounts of water, so adding these to your diet counts as part of your water intake. Additionally, avoiding excess salt can help prevent dehydration and will keep your skin looking healthy post-procedure.
Skincare
When it comes to skincare, the face gets all the attention. You may buy some products to treat your hands, neck, and chest, possibly your feet, but your arms? No one really thinks about investing in skincare products for their arms. However, once you undergo this procedure, caring for the skin in the area can help your results last that much longer. You don’t need to apply skincare masks to your arms, but you should invest in a quality body moisturizer to use daily.
Also, protecting your arms from excess sun exposure and skin damage will help keep the skin as elastic as possible for as long as possible. When your arms are exposed to the sun, make sure that you apply a high-quality sunscreen to avoid sun damage which leads to the premature aging of the skin.
What Causes Sagging Skin?
Different factors cause sagging skin, including fluctuations in weight, a significant weight loss journey, genetics, and the aging process. One of the most common reasons for sagging skin is aging. The aging process leads to a decrease in elastin and collagen production which leads to skin laxity.
Different people experience different degrees of skin laxity, yet they share a common discontentment with their arms. The aging process cannot be stopped, but it can be reversed and temporarily halted thanks to effective contouring procedures like the arm lift.
What Is an Arm Lift?
The technical term for an arm lift is Brachioplasty. This procedure is designed to reduce the sagging and drooping skin that develops on the arms as a result of excess fat pockets, aging, weight loss, and weight fluctuations. It aims to create more defined-looking arms that are tighter, smoother, and more toned. This procedure aims to accomplish what you cannot do at the gym or with diet changes: remove excess skin and reduce stubborn fat.
Customizing Your Procedure
The benefit of this particular procedure is that it can be completely customized to the patient’s desires and needs. Some patients require more extensive reshaping, which is why Brachioplasty is such an effective solution. Other patients need less reshaping, which is why they make good candidates for the mini Brachioplasty. During your initial consultation, we will create a treatment plan that helps you reach all of your arm goals.
The Full Brachioplasty
A full Brachioplasty addresses the full upper arm. It removes excess skin that creates the “batwing” look and excess fat from the armpit to the elbow. It reshapes the entire upper arm to make it look more defined. It almost always involves liposuction to remove stubborn fat and reach the patient’s aesthetic goals.
The Mini Brachioplasty
A mini Brachioplasty reduces fat and excess skin from the upper arms, but it stops there. It does not address the entire portion of the upper arm because some candidates for this particular procedure don’t need to improve the appearance of their entire arm; just a portion of the upper arm.
The benefit of a mini Brachioplasty is that it provides an effective way for those who don’t need a full Brachioplasty to still improve the appearance of their arms and reach their ultimate goals.
Liposuction
We can also customize your procedure with liposuction, an add-on procedure that permanently removes excess, stubborn fat from a treatment area. Liposuction occurs when the surgeon makes a small incision in the treatment area and then inserts a cannula, which is a very thin tube, to gently soften and suction out stubborn fat from the area.
This procedure permanently removes the fat cells in the target area so that the entire area looks slimmer and more defined. We can add this procedure to your arm lift if stubborn fat is one of the primary issues making you unhappy with the appearance of your arms.
What Kind of Results Can I Expect?
We’ve all seen those tight, toned, defined arms of the actors and actresses who grace the covers of fashion and lifestyle magazines each month. If you’ve stared longingly at those covers, only wishing that those arms could be yours, this procedure can get you one step closer to making all of your arm dreams come true.
You can expect tighter, leaner, more defined arms after this procedure. Because it removes excess skin and fat, any muscle you have built will become much more visible after your procedure.
Am I a Candidate?
The best candidates for this procedure are healthy adults who have reached their goal weight but still have an excessive amount of loose skin on their arms. Whether aging, weight loss, or genetics have caused excess skin and fat to develop between your armpits and your elbow, this procedure will improve the appearance of your arms and deliver long-lasting results.
Ideal candidates should also be in good health, free of any medical conditions that could negatively impact the recovery process or the surgical procedure itself. Another important qualification of candidates for this procedure has to do with realistic expectations. This procedure does result in a scar, so those who want to undergo an arm lift must be aware of the type of results they will get, as well as the scar.
Committed Candidates With Realistic Expectation
Additionally, candidates who qualify for this procedure must be committed to maintaining their results post-op with a healthy lifestyle, nutritious diet, and consistent exercise routine. During your initial consultation, our surgeon will discuss this procedure and allow you to answer any questions you may have regarding the procedure itself, the recovery process, and the results. We’ll provide you with all of the information you need so that you are fully prepared.
We will also discuss your goals, review your health history, and confirm that you are in good health and that this procedure is the best option for you. Then, we can help design a treatment plan that will help you reach your goals. We’ll determine if a full or mini arm lift is right for you and will also determine whether we will use liposuction during your procedure. Our goal is to help you reach your arm goals, and we are committed to helping you get the best results possible.
Transform Your Arms
If you’ve spent decades hiding your arms with long sleeve shirts regardless of the weather, we want to help you feel confident in a sleeveless shirt. If you have always been curious about an arm lift but aren’t sure if you qualify as a candidate for this procedure, we can help determine if Brachioplasty is right for you. Contact the experts at Plastic and Cosmetic Center of South Texas in San Antonio, TX, today to learn more about this procedure and if it’s right for you.
