Mother of 2 young kids wants arm lift. Is it this a recommended procedure with toddler at home during recovery process? (photo)

Hello Mkn5239, thank you
for your question. In my professional opinion, yes, of course you can have the
surgery, but you will need some assistance at first. Since your 1-year old will need to be taken
care of, someone will have to assist you for your first 10-14 days. After that,
you may be sore, but you should be able to lift your child. It will be
essential during your recovery that you wear your compression garments to help
with swelling because of your active life style. 



Sincerely,

J.
Timothy Katzen, M.D.

Thank you for the picture. When you can start it based on your families needs depends on your family support. If you have tremendous family support and you are reasonable to know that you can start sooner rather than later. If you have modest to minimal family support and I would not recommend this until your children or family are a little older.

If you have enough helping hands around for the first 2-3 weeks of recovery then you should start now! There's nothing better than getting your dream body back after significant weight loss! If you won't be able to have someone helping you out with the kids for 2-3 weeks then I would wait a couple more years until your children are slightly older and don't need to be lifted as often, maybe in that time you could work on a little bit more weight loss (if there's any left to lose). Good luck and congrats!

Congratulations on your weight loss. That is very impressive. An arm lift does not involve any cutting of the muscles, tendons, or supporting structures of the arm. It does however involve removing skin and fat. The skin will be a bit tighter than it is now and the incision will cross into the armpit making our motion a bit uncomfortable. I typically advise my patients to limit activity for at least 2 weeks. It is possible you will be able to lift your children after one week but I would plan on having help available for 2 weeks. You will also need pain medication for the first several days and you would not want to try to lift them while on medication. When you go for your consultation, your plastic surgeon can give you a better idea of how long his/her patients take to recover. Best of luck to you.

Full brachioplasty is not to be taken lightly. You will need 2 to 3 weeks healing time. Thus lifting a toddler would be very difficult... 

With an arm lift there will definitely be some limitations on physical activity.   If you have young children you should expect to need some help for the first 3 to 5 days.  

Thanks for your question. First, I would like to congratulate you on your weight loss! If you are considering a brachioplasty, I would advise you to arrange for some help in the home for the first 2-3 weeks as it will be extremely difficult to take care of yourself and young children. Good luck to you.