Liposuction - Arms / Axillary Before & After Case 7, Coeur d'Alene, ID, Spokane, WA

This is a woman in her 40’s who works in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho as a real estate agent. She maintains her health and is physically active. She has a good diet but has noticed a gradual thickening and hanging in the upper arms as she ages. She loves to be outdoors during the summer but has been hesitant to wear sleeveless shirts and dresses due to the sagging and skin laxity of her upper arms. The procedure was done just before summer. She was clear in her wishes that she would recover quickly so she could enjoy herself and not be restricted in physical activity over the summer months. On examination we found fatty accumulation and skin laxity in the posterior upper arm. The right arm was worse (larger) than the left as is often the case. Most people are not symmetrical if you look closely. The procedure was explained to the patient and the surgical alternative of a brachioplasty was also discussed. This is an arm reduction operation removing skin and fat from the back of the upper arm from the elbow to the arm pit. She was not interested in having the surgical scar along the back of her arm associated with brachioplasty. We removed 600 cc total, or the equivalent of one 12 oz. soda can of fat from each arm. She took one pain pill over night and rated her pain as a 2 or 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. She had good drainage from the incision sites into her bandages which is expected and a wanted outcome. These before and after photos show the results at 4 weeks after the procedure. There is some immediate skin tightening as well as fat reduction. There is still a little thickening of the tissues still which will soften and smooth over the next several weeks. We expect to see more gradual skin tightening for the next 5 or 6 months. Although not perfect, the arms are much more symmetrical. The patient was pleased and confident to wear sleeveless clothing and was back to work in 2 days and full activity in 2 weeks.