Dr. Walid K. Ashkar, MD, Facharzt Consultant, Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery Director, Plastic Surgery and Dermatology Center International Medical Center, Jeddah As we grow older, the skin of the upper arm can become loose and flabby, creating both discomfort and lack of self confidence. People who have achieved significant weight loss (following bariatric surgery, for example) usually experience the frustration of having excess skin and persistent fat along the upper arms. Arm lift surgery which is medically known as Brachioplasty, remove excess fat and skin yet helps to create more youthful contours in the upper arm. Nowadays we are facing two huge problems: Obesity and the other one is an obsession to lose weight by any means possible. Thanks to the advancements in the field of medical sciences, solutions to almost all problems are available. That, however, does not mean that one should wait for the situation to aggravate and then consult a doctor. Keeping one's weight in check is the best way to fight various preventable diseases. The problem arises when people take initiatives on their own without consulting experts. They tend to ignore an important fact that we all have unique bodies with different requirements and fulfilling those needs sometimes call for the adoption of different approaches. With the technological advancement in the field, cosmetic surgery has emerged as an art that gives best possible results with minimum, almost none future health complications. You just need to trust your doctor and his/her expert opinion. Why waste huge amount of money over quick-fixes with adverse side effects? Don't fret and just approach your doctor. Such types of surgeries are known as reconstructive surgeries, which are required when a person loses massive weight rapidly and is left with saggy skin around his/her arms. Arm lift surgery is a short way to improve your quality of life and restore your self-confidence. Being an expert in the same field, I endorse this technique with full confidence. Arm lift surgeries are suitable even for people in their teen age and for individuals facing the problem of arm skin laxity. It is only a doctor who could identify the cause of this flabbiness. There are three categories of this flabbiness. In the first type, a person is faced with skin redundancy, which usually results after weight-loss surgeries. People with the second type experience both skin redundancy and fat accumulation in arms. The third type involves only fat accumulation. The surgery is performed under local anesthesia along with some sedatives, as per the requirement. Although in most cases, it is carried out under general anesthesia. After the surgery, patients should be careful with exercises and other stressful physical activities. It takes only two-three weeks for a person, who has undergone arm lift surgery, to resume his/her routine life activities.
