topic Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT in Wellness

SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

NanaS — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:09:42 GMT

IM IN MY EARLY 70S AND HAVE THE EXCESS SKIN/FAT HANGING ON MY UPPER ARMS WHEN I HOLD OUT MY ARMS. IT REALLY BOTHERS ME AND I MAKE IT A POINT NOT TO WEAR SHORT SLEEVES OR SLEEVELESS CLOTHES BECAUSE OF IT. WHAT I WOULDNT GIVE TO BE ABLE TO WEAR SLEEVLESS DRESSES OR TOPS IN THE HOT SUMMER MONTHS ! DO ANY OF YOU HAVE THIS PROBLEM OR KNOW OF ANYONE THAT MAY HAVE HAD THIS SURGERY DONE? IM JUST WONDERING IF ITS WORTH THE EXPENSE .

Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

Sunnycorle — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:19:59 GMT

A friend of mine did it years ago and loved it. It cost her about 8 Grand then about 10 years ago. She has since gained weight again and her arms have gotten bigger due to weight gain. So you have to maintain your weight for it to really make a diff. Good luck to you.

Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

ahoymate — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:21:52 GMT

Seriously, surgery? Surgery is risky and being your age I wouldn't entertain this. Spend your $$$ by getting a trainer or advise and enjoy your life.

I agree with above, the fat will come back unless you watch your diet and exercise.

Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

NanaS — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:30:04 GMT

I MIGHT ADD THAT A SUBSTANTIAL WEIGHT LOSS IS WHAT CAUSED THE EXCESS SKIN TO HANG ON MY ARMS. NO AMOUNT OF WEIGHT TRAINING CAN DO ANYTHING FOR IT. IT WOULD HAVE TO BE REMOVED SURGICALLY.

Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

luvingit — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:34:51 GMT

I am 65 and if it bothered my that much, I would do it. Talk to your doctor first, but fixing up hanging skin and attached fat is very doable in this day and age I would think.

Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

ahoymate — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:38:09 GMT

On 6/12/2014 NanaS said:
I MIGHT ADD THAT A SUBSTANTIAL WEIGHT LOSS IS WHAT CAUSED THE EXCESS SKIN TO HANG ON MY ARMS. NO AMOUNT OF WEIGHT TRAINING CAN DO ANYTHING FOR IT. IT WOULD HAVE TO BE REMOVED SURGICALLY.

Yes, I understand this can be one of the side effects of losing lots of weight. Still, surgery is risky and life is short. No harm getting consults from several board certified plastic surgeons. Don't fall anyone less or someone who touts cheapest price. This is your life. Best to you.

Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

goodstuff — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:41:00 GMT

I used to work as a medical assistant for a surgeon who (among many other kinds of surgery) performed weight loss surgery -- so I've seen lots of patients who have lost significant amounts of weight and developed significant loose, hanging skin on the upper arms, tummy, and elsewhere. Exercise and "toning" won't fix this; basically, they had lost a lot of the underlying fatty tissue and their skin became a few sizes too big. Especially when you're a bit older, it doesn't have the elasticity of younger skin, and it droops and hangs rather than "snapping back". This is something I almost always noticed when mature women had WLS. They lost weight and were happy about the health benefits, but they often looked instantly older because their faces and bodies "fell" with the dramatic weight loss. The truth.......and having cosmetic surgery to remove excess skin and firm up your whole body is no small undertaking, financially or medically.

Surgery to remove excess skin is no fun. It is painful, leaves scars, and can lead to infections and other complications that one risks with plastic surgery. As with any surgery, the risks are higher for older patients. This kind of surgery is expensive and often not covered by insurance. However, some people find it worthwhile to lose the "wings" of loose skin that they found unattractive and bothersome, and results can be pretty good if you have a good surgeon. If you're interested, you might research excellent plastic surgeons in your area and go in for an consultation just to find out what can be done, what it costs, what's involved -- and if they'd consider you as a candidate.

Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

scotnovel — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:43:37 GMT

I think it depends partly on your overall health & any related risks of having surgery. It is a fairly extensive surgery and might not be something that someone who is in their 70's should undertake unless you are in top health. If you really want to do it, I would get an opinion from your regular doctor too not just the plastic surgeon.

Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

NanaS — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:45:56 GMT

GOODSTUFF..... Thank you for your remarks. Lots to consider and I value everyones opinion.

Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

goodstuff — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:48:06 GMT

On 6/12/2014 Scotnovel said:
I think it depends partly on your overall health & any related risks of having surgery. It is a fairly extensive surgery and might not be something that someone who is in their 70's should undertake unless you are in top health. If you really want to do it, I would get an opinion from your regular doctor too not just the plastic surgeon.

Correct. Just about any good plastic surgeon (or other surgeon) will require older patients to get medical clearance before having any kind of significant elective surgery. Often this includes general health clearance from one's primary care doctor plus cardiac clearance from a cardiologist -- and perhaps other clearances for those with other health issues.

Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

chrystaltree — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:55:39 GMT

Well, I thought about for years. After consulting with two plastic surgeons, I decided not to have the surgery. It would expensive, surgeon's fees and hosptial fees would have come to $16,000. I lost 170lbs about 20 years ago and my upper arms are jiggly wiggly. No say exersize! Exersize doesn't do anything to combat loose skin. Actually, my muscle tone is excellent, they tell me. It's just the skin. I decided not to have the surgery because the doc would have to make an incision from an inch or two below my under arm all the way down to my an inch or two above my elbow. They cut away the excess skin and stitch you up. I would have had taut arms but I would have had a long scar. They would make the scar on the underside of my arm but it would be visible. So, instead of hiding my jiggle wiggle, I'd have to hide a scar. One of the surgeons I saw, said that he rarely does the procedure now and when he does, he only will do it on people who developed the problem after losing a great deal of weight. He said men are generally pleased with the result but women are never pleased because they just exchange one problem for another one. But if your arm problem really is just fat, lipo works for some. The problem with that is you have to maintain your weight for life. If you gain weight, the new fat won't go to your arms because fat cells have been suctioned out. Instead it will go to the closest part of your body. So, you could end up with fat accumulation on your back or your around your waist.

Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

violann — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 21:01:12 GMT

My arms have layers of jigglies and wigglies, but the description of the scars definitely convinced me not to consider surgery. I'm very fair, so any scarring would be really prominent on me.

Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

Kalli — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 21:04:02 GMT

I have skinny arms and even when I did Body for Life, which totally sculpted my arms and made them look great, I still had a little jiggle when holding my arms out straight.

I agree you should look into this surgery and get all the knowledge possible to make an informed decision. Once you do all that and if you can afford it, it's your body so do what makes you happy.

-Kalli

Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

goodstuff — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 21:07:45 GMT

These pictures illustrate typical scarring after surgery to remove lose skin from upper arms after massive weight loss. Certainly there's less hanging skin causing problems........but many women don't consider the look conducive to going sleeveless.

Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

Kalli — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 21:08:31 GMT

On 6/12/2014 violann said: My arms have layers of jigglies and wigglies, but the description of the scars definitely convinced me not to consider surgery. I'm very fair, so any scarring would be really prominent on me.

violann, I'm very fair and I hardly scar. I noticed my friend, who is of Greek origin and sports a wonderful deep golden tan in the summertime gets more scarring than I do. I didn't even get 1 stretch mark during my 2 pregnancies and she was only pregnant once and has lots.

So I figured fair people might not scar as much. But it's harder to hide because we don't get very tan? Hm...

-Kalli

Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

hckynut — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 22:52:03 GMT

My wife looked into this with a Plastic Surgeon, which is also a hockey player and a friend of mine, after losing half of her weight. Even though I had her doing lots of arm exercises, even some with more resistance to help grow the muscle, she still has a lot of loose skin on that triceps area.

There is only so much that can be done once the elasticity is gone from the skin. Some are more fortunate genetically than others when it comes to even skin retraction after being stretched.

He told her he could do the surgery but could not make any guarantees about the final outcome for her. He showed her pictures of before and afters of patients with arms that look similar to hers. He also said that in each case, even though they looked the same "before", the "after" did not have the same outcome for all of them. Told us it was more specific to the person/their genetics and also how much their muscle tissue had deteriorated over the years from lack working to maintain the tone and/or muscle tissue.

She is younger than your age and he said that many times age is much less a factor that ones previous lifestyle/amount the skin stretched from overweight and then the person individual ability for muscle tissue to expand and grow through resistance exercises post surgery.

Even with a huge discount from him it was still pretty darned expensive. She decided at that time that there are many more things in her life she would rather use that money for than for this cosmetic procedure. My doctor friend being completely honest in saying "he could not guarantee" exactly what the outcome of the surgery would be. He said many are realistic about what this surgery can and cannot do and are happy with the results that get from it. Others? Not so much, they expected more and were disappointed.

'Bout all I got for you on this one.

Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

willdob3 — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 23:00:15 GMT

I'd definitely consider it especially since you've lost a lot of weight. Those suggesting weight training simply have no clue when it comes to this.

I've lost a lot, too, and could use head to toe skin removal surgery. Seriously.

I would probably only seriously consider surgery on my arms if there would be no visable scars. I've read so many stories about women having this type of surgery & being left with horrible scarring so they were still not comfortable showing bare arms.

Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

foundinlv — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 23:17:42 GMT

Dermatologists have amazing tools these days and it might be advantageous to make an appointment and see what they have in the way of noninvasive procedures.

Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

NickNack — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 23:26:36 GMT

I know someone who had it done, and she was in horrible pain for quite a while after the surgery. She had lost a lot of weight and also had a tummy tuck and a boob job. I believe the pain for this surgery is more significant than for some other surgeries.

Re: SURGERY FOR EXCESS ARM FAT

willdob3 — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 23:29:06 GMT

On 6/12/2014 ILikeShade said:
Dermatologists have amazing tools these days and it might be advantageous to make an appointment and see what they have in the way of noninvasive procedures.

I don't know of any non-invasive way to remove skin. You pretty much need to cut it away. Sure wuld bee nice though.