|
|
Wave goodbye to flabby arms
 Still got wobbly arms
despite the fact that you've done as many
bicep curls and
tricep dips
as you can muster? The problem of flabby arms is more common in
women who have lost a lot of weight. If you were over weight, the skin of your
arm has to stretch to accommodate the increased volume of your upper arm. After
weight loss, the skin
usually fails to tighten and sags. Brachioplasty is performed to correct this
problem of loose hanging skin of your arms.
There are some surgical options, too.
DITCH YOUR WINGS
For many women, being uncomfortable with upper arm area of the body is
annoying in sunny weather, when all around are slipping into tanks and
sleeveless tee-shirts. It's unclear why some women have flabby arms and others
don't - obviously exercise has a lot to do with it, but many believe that so
does genetics.
For a permanent solution to arm-loathing problem, there are a couple of
surgery options. Arm procedures are less talked about than other forms of
surgery and the results are usually less dramatic than those you can expect to
see elsewhere. Essentially the choice is between lipoplasty (or liposuction) to
remove fat, or an 'arm lift' (brachioplasty)
to get rid of excess skin. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.
You should however not ignore the fact that surgery can be effective at
reducing fat, it will
never give your arms the tone and definition that's so attractive when peeping
out of sleeveless shirts. Only exercise will do this. That said, if your saggy
arms are the result of
ageing
skin, or major weight loss,
exercise can improve but not eliminate the problem. Plus the older you are,
arguably the longer it's going to take for you to see results from a regular arm
workout.
ARM LIFTS
 For most women - especially those who don't have masses of weight to lose -
the arm lift (brachioplasty) is the best option. It tightens loose skin, and
by stretching
it, 'irons out' any rough or creepy patches. It can be done under either local
or general anaesthetic, and bruising and swelling normally last for no more than
a couple of weeks, although you will have to wear a bandage or special
compression garment for several weeks. You can
exercise again after six weeks.
For those women who think skin tightening is not quite enough but don't need to
loose enough fat to warrant a full-blown lipoplasty procedure, small amounts of
fat can sometimes be removed at the same time.
Brachioplasty's biggest disadvantage is its scar - it's usually a long, heavy,
crooked line from the elbow to the armpit. Although it's on the underside of the
arm, many women see the choice between flabby arms and unsightly scar as a
difficult trade-off. Also, brachioplasty is not suitable for patients who have
had a mastectomy (the arm's lymph drainage system may already be damaged) or
those who suffer from excess sweat formation.
FIGHT THE FLAB
 Where arms are disproportionately flabby, or where the patient is more than
around 30lbs (14 kilos) overweight, lipoplasty will give better results -
although if the amount of skin you can pinch under the
biceps is 5 cm (2
inches), then there will still be flabby skin even after lipoplasty. An incision
is made around the elbow and skin suctioned out in exactly the same way as in
other parts of the body. You'll have bruising and swelling for about three
weeks, after which your operation will have 'settled' and you'll be able to see
your new shape - although it can often take a couple more months before you get
the optimum results.
Many women worry that if they have fat removed from their arms, it will result
in unsightly, flabby skin afterwards. Unless a large amount of fat has been
removed, the skin tends to shrink back to fit its new size and will not sag -
although you may be more prone to sagging in the years to come than you may
otherwise have been. Advocates of the new ultrasound-enhanced lipoplasty claim
that this is even better at helping skin to shrink, although the jury is still
out on this.
LIPOSCULPTURE
 Small-volume lipoplasty (SVL), sometimes referred to as liposculpture, is
a relatively new development in arm surgery, and bridges the gap between
brachioplasty and lipoplasty. Small incisions (around 3 mm) are made at the
elbow and other strategic points, depending on the areas being targeted. Pockets
of fat where the arm meets the chest - front and back - are most frequently
worked on, but other areas such as the wrists and elbows are also candidates.
Only small amounts of fat are removed, using a very fine cannula or syringe.
Small-volume lipoplasty is excellent for 'finishing off' a job of 'regular'
lipoplasty or for sorting out minor niggles - but as with its larger-volume
counterpart, it can be expensive, complicated and painful. Your arms would have
to really upset you for you to consider SVL on its own.
The ideal candidates for arm lift surgery are adults who desire a more
youthful and less flabby appearance, in the upper arm. Liposculpture, in many
cases, (when excess fat and not excess skin is the problem) may be a more
appropriate alternative.
Related Links
|
|
|
|
|
