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  • An Arm Lift Can Eliminate "Bat Wings," But Not Without Significant Scars
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Brachioplasty is more commonly known as an arm lift, and it's probably one of the biggest procedures that I'm doing more commonly in my office and the statistics from our societies are actually showing that this is becoming a much more common procedure as well in general for a lot of plastic surgeons. An arm list comprises of an incision that goes to a varying degree down the arm or can be limited to the arm pit area or axilla depending if they just have small amounts of skin. I generally combine this with liposuction to really optimize the contour for these patients. The arm lift for most patients can be one of the more significant scars compared to some of the other body contouring procedures. I generally like to hide the scar on the inside of the arm towards the back, so it's in the most not noticeable area. I do tell patients that they sometimes have to expect a scar that sometimes last one to two years before it formally settles down.

It is one of the slower incisions to settle down. For a lot of patients, unless they really have a lot of extra skin, they're sometimes reluctant to have a scar that does go down the arm. For those patients, we can sometimes put a limited incision in the arm pit, but again if they have a significant amount of extra skin, a small limited incision is not going to be able to really handle and contour that area adequately. This is just a decision that you have to come to with your surgeon and really be on the same page so your expectations will be able to match what I'm able to deliver as a surgeon. In terms of the area, the arm pit and the axilla and sometimes that also encompasses the anterior portion of the breast. I do extend my incisions into the arm pit area to optimize the contour there. Again if there's some fullness which some patients have around the bra line especially in females, we'll do some liposuction to specifically contour those areas to really give them the shape that they desire.

An Arm Lift Can Eliminate "Bat Wings," But Not Without Significant Scars

Arm lifts are becoming more and more popular as the technique continues to be honed. Dr. Joseph Michaels talks about expectations, incisions, and scars.