Am I A Good Candidate For An Arm Lift?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I would like your input on the possibility of me being a good candidate for an arm lift procedure. I am 28 years old, I have lost 80lbs through diet and exercise, while I still have more weight to lose, I do not think that my arms will see any more of an improvement. I have also had abnormally large arms, as the photo shows, my left is approximately 2 inches larger than my right. Do you believe I could be a good candidate for this procedure? Is liposuction an option? I am concerned about bad scarring given that I am African American.

A: By your pictures which show large hanging ‘bat wings’, you would be an excellent candidate for arm lift. I would agree that the size of your arms is not going to change at all with more weight loss. The biggest issue is the amount of arm skin that you have which can neither shrink nor disappear with liposuction. The only way to get improvement is with an excision procedure where the excess arm skin and fat is removed. This would drop your circumferential arm size down to about half, if not more, than what it is now.

The dilemma that you have is that no change can be done to your arms without the scar. Nothing else will make any difference. You do not have the luxury of having a scarless operation that will work. You have to decide to balance the scar and its associated risks vs. living with your arms the way they are. I can not say I have seen any worse scarring in African Americans with arm lifts than any other patients who have had the procedure.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana