Alternatives to arm and bra line lift that would give me good permanent skin tightening results without the scars? (photos)

Question

I (24 y/0) lost around 80s lbs naturally (hoping to lose ~10 more lbs) and am left with some loose skin. I don’t like how my arms and back look now but I am worried about the scars if I were to get an arm lift or bra line lift. Are there any alternatives (ex. lipo, bodytite) to give me good, permanent skin tightening results w/o the scars? Would the arm/bra line lift be worth it to also address the stretch marks? Can the bra line lift scar be placed more on my side (vertical) rather than back?

Jason Emer, MD · Answer

even skin removal is not permanent, you will age and get more loose skin despite any treatments you do. you need a brachioplasty and back lift, but you can avoid that with liposuction + internal heating like renuvion.  long term in office morpheus, thermage, and trusculpt may help slow down the aging process and boost the results of surgery.

my whole practice is doing lipoabdominoplasty, or at least liposuction with internal heating (which is not the gold standard for skin tightening with body contouring).

the smaller you are before liposuction the more contouring you can get from the procedure. most of my liposuction patients get pre and post surgical optimization with hormonal therapy (see link to help boost their weight loss before surgery and help them heal after).

You need a formal evaluation by an expert in body shaping and contouring to determine what is best.  Traditional liposuction awake and smart liposuction are old methods and do very poorly for tightening skin or significant skin tightening or contouring.  Small problem areas can be improved slightly by these methods.  The best in body contouring not only removes fat with energy devices like VASER ultrasound but also internally heat the skin with radio-frequency devices such as J PLASMA/RENUVION, InMode BodyTite, ThermiRF to heat the under surface of the skin and tighten it at the same time as fat removal. These combinations are called 4D HIDEF VASER contouring and can only be done by a well . trained body contouring specialist. At the same time fat should be harvested, PRP and stem cells added and injected into muscles or indentations/cellulite to get body shaping and contouring.  This is known as a Brazilian butt lift when you inject the fat to the buttock for contouring and lifting, but fat can also be used in areas such as the chest/breast, arms/shoulders, calves and face.  Cellulite should also be treated with cellfina, sculptra, subcision and/or fillers such as bellafill, renuva synthetic fat, or sculptra.  If skin is very loose before surgery then it will need to be removed such as lower abdominal skin (tummy tuck/abdominoplasty), breast skin (breast lift), arm skin (brachioplasty).  Overall you need a full assessment, but simple liposuction alone will not tighten skin and needs a combination of various methods -- fat removal, skin tightening, defining, fat grafting, skin removal -- to get the best in body contouring and body sculpting.  Dr. Emer.

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

Alternatives to arm and bra line lift that would give me good permanent skin tightening results without the scars? (photos)

Answers (2)

Recommended reading

Everything you need to know about Skin Tightening

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.

Alternatives to arm and bra line lift that would give me good permanent skin tightening results without the scars? (photos)

Answers (2)

Browse related questions

Recommended reading

Everything you need to know about Skin Tightening

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.