How Long Does an Arm Lift Procedure Take?

An arm lift is a highly efficacious procedure that can leave a patient with a marked improvement to their arms. This is one of the reasons that the procedure has taken off in recent years.

However, like with most invasive plastic surgery procedures, it is important to educate yourself on the details of the procedure in order to maximize your results. In the case of an arm lift, this includes how much time you should plan to spend at the clinic.

If you have an arm lift planned, take a look at this guide that can help you determine how long your procedure is going to take.

What Is an Arm Lift?

An arm lift, or brachioplasty, is a type of plastic surgery procedure that tightens the skin of the arms around itself, thus creating a taugther and more sleek appearance to the section of the arm that is targeted. The procedure acts mostly as an aesthetic procedure designed to improve people’s appearance.

How Long Does an Arm Lift Procedure Take?

There is some variability in terms of how long you can expect an arm lift procedure to take. Part of this will be contingent on the exact amount of skin and muscle that will be adjusted throughout the course of your procedure.

However, most patients can expect that their brachioplasty will take about two to three hours from start to finish. Understanding this can help you plan accordingly for the procedural and recovery period that you will inevitably go through.

What Occurs During a Brachioplasty?

In a brachioplasty, you firstly will be placed under general anesthesia to ensure that you do not feel any discomfort from your procedure. However, this adds a hurdle to some who are seeking the procedure due to the complex interaction of general anesthesia with the body. This will be discussed with your physician prior to your procedure taking place.
During the procedure, your physician will remove some fat and an elliptical segment of skin from the inner back side of your arm. After this, they will readjust the skin in this part of the body to ensure a tighter and more sleek appearance.

Following the readjustment of the skin, compression garments will be applied to help control the swelling that will occur at the surgical site. Most patients will be able to resume more or less normal activities within a few days and strenuous activities within a few weeks.

Am I a Good Candidate for Brachioplasty?

In order to make a good candidate for a brachioplasty, one needs to be physically fit enough to withstand some of the stresses of surgery and anesthesia. This means that interested candidates will have to undergo a medical exam before any actual work is done.

Should you be found to be physically fit enough to undergo surgery, you likely will be approved by your physician for the procedure. In addition, they may go over the exact set of expectations you should keep for the procedure, as, in general, it’s beneficial for a patient to keep an idea of their procedure as accurate as possible.

Overall, most patients who are interested should find themselves approved barring any serious health concerns. Should you have a condition that might interfere with the procedure, it’s possible that you’ll need to undergo additional testing before you’re approved for work?

Brachioplasty vs Liposuction

If you have excess arm skin or fat that does not appear loose, then your physician may recommend that you combine a brachioplasty with liposuction in order to achieve the results you’re looking for. This is because liposuction can be somewhat more effective at working with certain combinations of skin and fat than brachioplasty.

A combination brachioplasty/liposuction procedure may involve a sturdier medical examination period than just for either of the procedures. Should you be approved, however, there’s a strong chance that you might find that the combination procedure can give you a more accurate set of results than what you initially expected.

In addition, the combination procedure may also save you some time and money in the long run if you had thought of doing either procedure separately. Talk with your physician regarding the details of this.

The Best Arm Lift in Beverly Hills

BHPSI is one of the best resources available for receiving a quality arm lift in Southern California. If you’re interested in discussing your plans for surgery with a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, contact our office today to hold a discussion.