These arms are NOT the result of plastic surgery!
Seattle Plastic Surgeon discusses options for upper arms.
The thermometer in Seattle is finally hitting 70 degrees after the most wretched sping in recorded weather history and I’m getting a lot of questions about upper arm enhancement.
The First Lady’s arms are the result of good arm genes and a great personal trainer. Also, she has not yet entered the menopausal years (more about that in a future post). For those without Mrs. Obama’s genes or trainer, there are a few procedures that can be done to improve the upper arm. Which procedure is the most appropriate is dictated by several factors:
- Skin tone
- Thickness of the fat layer
- Condition of the underlying muscles
- Scar history
Patients with a thin layer of fat and poor skin tone are usually older and thin. The only procedure that will improve the upper arm is a brachioplasty. This procedure involves removing the excess skin of the upper and inner arm. This always leaves a scar from the axilla (arm pit) to the elbow. I strive to keep this scar on the surface that is hidden against the side when the arms are down. The question patients must ask them selves is: “Am I willing to trade these bat wings for a scar?” In patients who heal well and the scar is narrow and light, the answer is usually “yes” but I do have one brachioplasty patient who has a lovely arm shape and excellent scars who is still too self-conscious to go sleeveless. I may have hit a surgical home run with her but I don’t consider the case a complete success.
Patients with chubby upper arms and good skin tone are great candidates for the CAST procedure. This procedure involves circumferential treatment of the arm with very careful tumescense power- assisted liposuction. The fat removal is limited to the outer arm where the excess fat resides but the inner arm is also treated with undermining the skin with the blunt liposuction cannula off of suction to stimulate shrinkage and tightening of the skin. Patients wear a compression bolero to help the skin tighten postoperatively.
Patients who are “in between” are often candidates for a combination procedure where the incision and resultant scar can be confined to the axilla and the very, very upper inner arm where the sun hardly ever shines.
So if you want perfect Mrs. Obabma’s arms, sorry it’s not likely to happen. But is you want better arms, there is likely something I can do to get you to your personal best.
Thanks for reading!
Seattle Plastic Surgeon, Lisa Lynn Sowder, M.D.
@lisalynnsowder
