What non surgical treatments would help to tighten loose arm skin after weight loss? (Photo)

Question

I had excessive weight loss & have a lot of loose skin on my arms. Im only 25, and i Would rather mot have surgery if not necessary. I hate the way it droops down. But im not looking thin little arms, i just dont want swinging loose skin. what treatments would be best for me rather than taking the route of surgery?

J. Timothy Katzen, MD, FACS · Answer

Hi niya1999, 
Thank you for your question regarding which non-surgical treatments can help tighten loose arm skin after weight loss.  There are several ways to tighten skin without surgery.  There is radiofrequency (RF) Skin Tightening.  RF is used to heat the dermis and stimulate collagen and elastin production.  RF is best for mild to moderate skin tightening.  RF requires multiple sessions.  RF is best for early or minimal laxity.  RF has minimal to no downtime.  RF is for subtle improvement only and does not correct hanging skin.  Another modality is RF Microneedling.  RF Microneedling.  combines microneedles with RF energy to achieve deeper penetration.  RF Microneedling is more effective than surface RF alone.  RF Microneedling can improve crepey texture and mild laxity.  RF Microneedling requires multiple sessions.  In general, RF Microneedling improves skin quality but has limited lifting effects.  Another non-surgical skin treatment is Ultrasound Skin Tightening.  Ultrasound Skin Tightening delivers focused ultrasound to deeper tissue layers.  Ultrasound Skin Tightening requires only one to two treatments.  Ultrasound skin tightening induces gradual collagen remodeling over 3–6 months.  Ultrasound Skin Tightening is most effective in patients with good baseline skin elasticity.  In general, ultrasound skin tightening results are modest.  Another non-surgical skin tightening modality is laser Skin Tightening.  Laser Skin Tightening heats superficial and mid-dermal layers and improves texture more than laxity.  Laser Skin Tightening is used as an adjunct, not a stand-alone solution.  Laser skin tightening is more effective for improving skin texture than for tightening.  Lastly, muscle Stimulation (EMS/E-Stim) may tighten skin without surgery.  Muscle stimulation builds underlying muscle tone and does not directly tighten the skin.  Muscle stimulation may improve arm contour in select patients.  Muscle stimulation can enhance appearance but does not fix loose skin.  None of these treatments removes excess skin or recreates the results of an arm lift (brachioplasty).  These treatments are not effective for large skin redundancy, “Bat wings” with hanging folds, or post–massive-weight-loss cutis pleonasmus.  Therefore, based on your history and pictures, you would be best suited to an arm lift (brachioplasty).  However, if you cannot live with the arm lift scar, you need to accept that you will obtain suboptimal results with any of the above non-surgical treatments.   In a longitudinal brachioplasty, liposuction is conducted from the axilla to the elbow.  An incision is placed between the biceps and triceps. The scar is positioned in this groove because the brachioplasty scar is mostly concealed when the arms are at the sides.  Tissue dissection is performed on the posterior aspect of your arms.  Unneeded skin tissue and adipose deposits are excised. The skin of the arms is re-draped.  Typically, drains are unnecessary.  Arm lifts are ideally performed under general anesthesia and take 3 to 4 hours to complete. Permit yourself a two-week recuperation period.  You must wear your compression garment for approximately six weeks. I hope that I have answered your questions regarding the arm reduction.  If you have any further questions regarding arm lift, arm reduction, brachioplasty, arm scar revision, or arm crease fat grafting, consult an experienced plastic surgeon.  To get an accurate assessment of what exactly you need, schedule a free virtual consultation.  Most plastic surgeons offer free virtual consultations. Since an arm lift can be a challenging surgery, please seek an experienced, board-certified plastic surgeon with significant experience performing this type of lift.  Do your research.  Ensure they have performed at least 150 arm-lift procedures.  Ensure they have the before-and-after photographs to prove it.  Carefully examine their before-and-after pictures and review their RealSelf ratings.   Sincerely, Dr. Katzen, MD, MBA, FACS, FICS ( Plastic Surgeon , President of  the American Society of Bariatric Plastic Surgeons, certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, Fellow of the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, American College of Surgery, International College of Surgery, and American Board of Metabolic and Bariatric surgery,  and member of the American Society of Plastic Surgery, American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery and RealSelf Hall of Fame.)

Gerald Minniti, MD, FACS · Answer

Your degree of skin laxity and excess cannot be even minimally improved by any non-surgical modality. In fact, the only surgical modality that would improve your arm contour is a full brachioplasty or arm lift.

Harry T. Haramis, MD, FACS · Answer

Unfortunately, arms can be extremely stubborn even after large weight loss.

In my experience, Vaser ultrasound liposuction will shrink arms by removing stubborn fat and tighten skin to a degree. This will reduce size considerably without an armlift scar, however, there will likely be some skin wrinkling.

Unfortunately, noninvasives usually give very limited results.

The most contoured and tightened arms would be liposuction with an arm lift  This would restore balance and remove lax skin for best results.

An exam and consultation with a plastic surgeon who performs these procedures is recommended to confirm you are a candidate as well as discuss your options and expectations.

Raffy Karamanoukian, MD, FACS · Answer

Morpheus 8 is a non-invasive skin and soft tissue tightening treatment that is consistently amazing in our patients. We use the Morpheus to exact fractional induced RF into the skin or tissue in order to tighten collagen and stimulate contraction of the tissue. For acne scars, it is quite useful to build collagen in patients who have atrophic scars but is not very productive for ice-pick scars which require TCA Cross. For tissue tightening, Morpheus is ideal for the face and neck and we often combine it with CO2 laser or Ultherapy to further enhance results. Chemical peels and skin resurfacing should be done at least 5 to 7 days after, but can be performed earlier, depending on treatment severity. Avoid exfoliating skin treatments before Morpheus and expect a period of 2-4 weeks for skin contraction to set in.

Best,
Dr. Karamanoukian
Realself100 Surgeon

Best, 
Dr. Karamanoukian 
Realself100 Surgeon

Darryl J. Blinski, MD · Answer

Based on your post a photo you have excessive hanging upper arm skin after weight loss that is not a reasonable to non-surgical treatment treatments. Your option is best as a full excision of the upper arm lift or a brachial plasty. Feature range from $8000-$15,000. Best of virtual consult with for better understanding.

What non surgical treatments would help to tighten loose arm skin after weight loss? (Photo)

Answers (5)

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