Arm lift (brachioplasty)

Brachioplasty, or arm lift, removes the excess skin that hangs from the inner arm, between the armpit and the elbow. This sagging appears mainly after significant weight loss or with age, when the skin has lost its elasticity. Exercise cannot correct it. When the excess is mainly fat and the skin is of good quality, liposuction alone may be enough. When the skin is stretched, it has to be removed: the incision then runs along the inner arm, sometimes up to the armpit. Liposuction is often combined to slim the arm. The trade-off is a long scar on the inner arm. It is placed to be as inconspicuous as possible with the arm by the side, but it remains visible with the arm raised and takes several months to fade. This balance between the scar and the correction of the sagging must be clearly understood; it is explained in consultation, with time to think before any decision. At Clinique Pasteur Tunis, brachioplasty is performed in the operating theatre by a plastic surgeon, on its own or as part of a body contouring programme after obesity surgery, with regular monitoring of healing.