Exercise can strengthen and improve the underlying muscle tone of the upper arm, but it can’t address the excess skin that has lost elasticity. 

An arm lift, or brachioplasty, reshapes the upper arm by removing excess skin and fat. Patients experience an immediate change in the shape and size of their arms. 

Wake Forest Baptist Health surgeons are experts in performing this procedure, and can help patients feel comfortable wearing clothes and participating in activities that they wouldn’t have thought possible. 

Brachioplasty: What to Expect

Our surgeons first evaluate a patient’s skin redundancy and laxity. If there is good skin tone or minimal skin sagging, fat deposits can be reduced by liposuction alone. But marked skin redundancy or laxity requires excisional surgery. 

A surgeon makes an incision in the internal side of the arm, along a line extending from the armpit to the elbow. The length of the incision varies depending on how much skin and fat need to be removed.

This outpatient surgery typically lasts two to three hours. Compression garments may be recommended for several weeks. The scar can take several months to improve in appearance.