Arm Lift Revision

[shellbell125 41]

Is there anyone who has had to have a revision to an arm lift. I had one last year and while it is significantly better, it's still bad. The dr. said he can do it again but that the skin is so stretched that while it will be better it won't be perfect. He said the scar tissue shouldn't be an issue. I always heard working around scar tissue is difficult.

Before and After pictures - thoughts? Would you do it again? (he said he would do it for free if I had Lipo on the thighs which I had been thinking about) (see other post on flabby thighs)

[Djmohr 6,965]

@@shellbell125

I am really curious. Did he say why you did not get a better result? I ask this because I have very large bat wings and I definately intend to have brachioplasty and I would be very disappointed if my wings were not gone.

I have not had any consultations yet and do not know too much about expected results but if I am going to go through that surgery and be left with rather large scars (which I am ok with), I would at least like to know that the wings will be gone forever.

One of the things I am worried about is that it seems to be the last place where my weight is coming off. I want to make sure I am at my goal and have stabilized before moving forward. I keep wondering if I will actually lose all the fat there.

I would guess if I do it too soon I could lose more weight and then I would just have smaller bat wings.

I am just wondering why and I really appreciate your sharing your story with us.

[Threetimesacharm 1,400]

I personally have had an arm lift in January 2013 and had great results. I have had other plastic surgery where I feel like you that they did not remove enough skin in the first place. Having consulted with another PS he did say that with bariatric patients you really have to be aggressive when removing the skin. It looks like your PS was not aggressive enough. If you can go to someone else I would, otherwise definitely I would go for a revision.

[jess9395 5,450]

I will post some pictures when I can, but I wanted to say my plastic surgeon warned me that arm lifts have lower satisfaction rate among most bariatric patients because often they can't remove as much as we'd like simply because the skin there gets very thin and delicate coupled with the fact that the tension and stress placed on that particular scar is much higher than the scars for Tummy Tuck, thigh lifts, breast lifts, butt lifts, etc. if they remove too much the scar will pull and become wide and knotty. So they can't typically remove as much as we'd like. On top of that the nerves and tendons are closer to the area they are operating on than in any of those other areas so there is danger in being too aggressive there too. This of all areas really needs someone who specializes in bariatric patients.

That said, compared to mine yours doesn't look nearly as aggressive. I was down to 18% body fat and had almost no subcutaneous fat in that area... And he warned me I still wasn't gonna have the true muscle definition showing through that I had underneath. He was so aggressive and I had so little fat he almost nicked a nerve separating the skin/subcutaneous fat from a tendon. Immediately post op he checked my ability to feel sensations in that area and luckily there was no nerve damage.

[shellbell125 41]

@@Djmohr

Jess9395 said it best. He said the skin is already pulled, you can see the stretch marks. He said that sometimes things may have to be done in steps and I would get another opinion, but he's redoing it for free (since I'm getting liposuction in thighs). He's an extremely well known surgeon in bariatric patients in our area, so I don't feel like he's a bad surgeon or anything. I would love to see your pictures.

[shellbell125 41]

HAve any of you ever been on the site realself? I typed in the arm revision in search bar and got lots of good feedback that comes from doctors (at least let's hope)

=Having a secondary arm lift, or brachioplasty, is not as uncommon as you would think. Further weight loss, under-correction are common factors that lead us to consider secondary brachioplasty. The "flaps" are actually more hearty after the primary procedure and there is usually less to do, resulting in a more spot-on post-op result that my patients love.

=Yes, it is possible to have a second arm lift performed. It's not uncommon in our weight loss patients that they have skin that is poorly elasticized - that it tends to stretch out easily, despite a properly performed initial surgery. And if you have lost more weight, this may also be contributing to the looseness that you see. More skin excision might help the situation. Speak to your local surgeon about this idea.

=You can have a second arm lift or brachioplasty. After massive weight loss, the skin looses its elasticity. After body contouring procedures, sometimes it is necessary to revise the procedures or re-excise the excess skin which develops over time. From El Paso, Las Cruces, Mexico.

[ausmith 374]

Is there anyone who has had to have a revision to an arm lift. I had one last year and while it is significantly better, it's still bad. The dr. said he can do it again but that the skin is so stretched that while it will be better it won't be perfect. He said the scar tissue shouldn't be an issue. I always heard working around scar tissue is difficult.

Before and After pictures - thoughts? Would you do it again? (he said he would do it for free if I had Lipo on the thighs which I had been thinking about) (see other post on flabby thighs)

IMG_0382.JPG IMG_0383.JPG

IMG_1585.JPG IMG_1586.JPG

I would get it revised not that I couldn't live with what you have but you have already been through it and don't have the result you wanted. In regards to the lipo by doing that won't it leave more loose skin on your thigh's?