Brachioplasty Gallery

A woman in her mid 50’s who has lost more than 60 lbs with diet and exercise. She is troubled by the ‘bat wing’ appearance of her upper arms and also by the droopiness of her D cup breasts. She would like to be slightly smaller but lifted and still proportional. She is shown before and again nearly 7 months after a mastopexy (breast lift) / minor reduction and a bilateral brachioplasty (upper arm lift). Although scars will typically continue to fade for up to 2 years, she is already quite pleased with her results. The appearance of the upper arms is improved with the arms at the side and raised. The tradeoff of a brachioplasty (upper arm lift) is a scar that is visible and sometimes unfavorable on the inner arm that is hidden with the arms at the side. Some surgeons prefer to place this scar at the back of the arms, but this would be visible with the arms down, and not my preference. As is typical with a brachioplasty in a patient with poor skin elasticity the results are not “perfect” but are much better. Swelling after surgery tends to re stretch the skin slightly, and there is no longer enough “spring” left in the skin to bring it completely back to the contour achieved at surgery. And tighter would risk skin breakdown, wider scars, and possible problems with pressure on the nerves and blood vessels of the arms. But much better is much better. The excision has been continued into the upper axilla (arm pit area) and down the lateral upper border of the breast to improve the contour.