arm pics in profile

A couple of people asked, so I uploaded a "before" and a "4 days post-op" arm picture.  Keep in mind that the post-op pic os only 4 days later and my arm is very swollen still.

Yes, I know the tape he put on the incision looks like the old fashioned yellow box/strapping tape, LOL.  It hurt like a... uh... well, it HURT when he pulled that tape off!  (He had used the same tape on parts of the other incision, too.)

It's now been 2 weeks.  I am still sore (more so than I expected to be at this point) and am fighting HUGE seromas (whihc I did not expect at all), but am starting to get better use of my arms.  I can still only put on (and get off) certain types of clothes by myself, though, and am still  having to wear loose clothing to hide the swelling in my belly and under my arms.    There's so much fluid buildup along my ribs under my arms that I walk around like an NFL linebacker because I cant put my arms all the way down, LOL!

Anyway, for those of you contemplating brachioplasty, the pics are there.  I'll post another "after" pic one the seromas resolve and the swelling in  the arms themselves goes down.

Lora

WOW.. looks painful, but keep your eye on the end result.  Here's sending you good vibes for a quick recovery

 

I hope you are feeling better. That does look like it would hurt but once it is healed you will look great!!! Did insurance help you with the cost?

No, unfortunately, the cost was completely out of pocket. 

Lora

Darn! Would you recommend this procedure? or is it too soon to do so? I think I would have my inner thighs done if I can find a way ... also abdomen.

Personally, I would only recommend it if your "batwings" really bother you.  Many people (like me!) find it very painful, especially if the axilla (arm pit) is also involved... but if your batwings are really big and you DON"T have the axilla done, you end up with good looking arms but hanging skin in your armpit!  (I noticed this is several pictures... NOT attractive at all.)  It also takes quite a while to regain full use of your arms.  I wil be 3 weeks post-op on Monday and still cannot life my arms up far enough to pull a shirt over my head, put my hair in a ponytail, or reach items above eye-level in the pantry, for example.  Sometimes the scars are visible (from either the front or back of the arms) even when you are just standing with your arms down at your sides even once the incision lines fade... and almost everyone's scars will be visible to anyone looking closely enough if you are out in a sleeveless top and moving your arms around.  The surgeon cannot  guarantee -- and, in fact, will make you sign a release incdicating that there IS no such guarantee -- that the scars will not show... so you have to recognize that you would not be trading in hanging skin for perfect, model-looking arms, but would be trading in the hanging skin for more normal looking arms with scars that WILL show at certain times..

Also, the cost seems to be about the same regardless of how much skin the surgeon has to remove (a friend had hers done a month before mine, even though they weren't very bad -- she just very much wants to be able to wear sleeveless dresses/tops -- and she paid her surgeon only $500 less than I paid), and I would NOT have paid over $5,000 to have just a little bit of skin removed!

I decided to do mine because they hung down so far that the extra skin was visible even when wearing a shirt with sleeves down to the elbows (The skin  hung down AT my elbows.)  I would love to eventually have my thighs done, but after the brachioplasty, I will think long and hard about having anything additional done.

Lora