Hands swelling after arm lift
Hey arm lift pros, if you had a lot of hand and lower arm swelling after your arm lift, would you tell me about how long this lasted? I had an arm lift(my arms were very large) Monday, along with tummy tuck revisions. The revisions were big, nearly a tummy tuck again! I am wearing
very tight arm sleeves, as well as an abdominal binder. My hands and fore arms are so swelled they look like monsters!
Thanks for any info on this.
very tight arm sleeves, as well as an abdominal binder. My hands and fore arms are so swelled they look like monsters!
Thanks for any info on this.
I had the exact same problem. I had 5 separate procedures ll the same day, but the only place noticeably swollen were my hands. They looked like I had a baseball mit on tem. I'm thinking mabe 5 days went before one of my nurses cut my compression garment. I would say the she made a lash less than a half on an inch on the elastic part that is around my forearm. I would say within 24 hours the swelling was gone.
Jennifer
Jennifer
I had my arms wrapped pretty tightly all the way to my wrists. My hands were the size of baseballs! It helped to move my fingers. I had a hard time holding a pen and spoon or my glass because they were so swollen. I started forcing myself to type and that helped a lot.
12/09 and 6/11, 9 skin removal procedures with Dr. Sauceda in Monterrey Mexico
Revised to the Sleeve after losing 271 lbs with the LapBand.
My arms were srapped tight with ace bandages all the way to my fingertips the first 3 days to prevent swelling. After that, they were fine.
Laura
Laura
Laura in Texas
53 years old; 5'7" tall; HW: 339 (BMI=53); GW: 140 CW: 170 (BMI=27)
RNY: 09-17-08 Dr. Garth Davis
brachioplasty: 12-18-09 Dr. Wainwright; lbl/bl: 06-28-11 Dr. LoMonaco
"May your choices reflect your hopes and not your fears."
Ladies, thank you so much for your answers. I ended up last night having to remove the sleeves as they became more and more painful. Not sure if they were just too small to begin with, or I'm just too swelled for the sleeves. Hubby wrapped my arms securely with some kind of stretchy bandages the hospital had put on me before the sleeves. My arms and hands are still huge, haven't gone down at all. I will see my dr. tomorrow and discuss it all with her.
This arm lift is kicking my butt, much more than the TT ever did. Oh, well, I'm sure it will be worth it later.
This arm lift is kicking my butt, much more than the TT ever did. Oh, well, I'm sure it will be worth it later.
Looking_Forward
on 4/18/12 10:47 pm
on 4/18/12 10:47 pm
I'm sorry you're experiencing so much swelling. I can tell you that when I went for my follow up my doctor was impressed with my lack of swelling. He said he typically sees "man hands" at the first follow up. For me the tummy tuck was a piece of cake, the arm lift has been much more difficult. I'm 2 months out on Sunday & I still have open wounds in both arm pits that need to heal. My advice is take care & don't overuse your arms. In retrospect, driving is what caused the strain on my arm pits & I was only driving when it was absolutely necessary.mBest of luck to you!
Cindy
2 days after surgery, I had to start back on my prescription diuretic. To help drain the hands a bit, raise arms bent at the elbow at shoulder height (so hands are by the top of your head), squeeze your hands together 5 times, then stretch your fingers again. Squeeze another 5x, and stretch. Do this 3-5 times. Sometimes, it will be enough to slip off rings that are too tight. It just helps the drainage in the hands. Old Bowen Therapy trick.
My forearms hurt about 4 weeks out and I was using a heating pad on each arm for 5min in the morning and at night. I'm sure it was from the bra/arm sleeve compression garment. That only lasted a couple of weeks.
My forearms hurt about 4 weeks out and I was using a heating pad on each arm for 5min in the morning and at night. I'm sure it was from the bra/arm sleeve compression garment. That only lasted a couple of weeks.
Chris
HW/225 - 5'1" ~ SW/205/after surgery 215 ~ CW/145~ BMI-25.8~Normal BMI 132 ~DS Dr Rabkin 4/17/08
Plastics in Monterrey - See Group on OH Dr Sauceda Jan 13, 2011
LBL, BL, small thigh lift, arms & a full facelift on 1/17/11 UBL 1/21/13
Love my Body by Sauceda
Chris, thanks for the info! I'll try that and see how it works. Most of the hand swelling has gone down, and could actually get my rings on. Saw the dr. today and she decided my arms are have too much swelling to use the sleeves right now. So I'm wrapped in bandages instead. She also put me in a garment that covers me from just below the breasts to below the knees because of my TT revisions. I'm calling them, "Granny's long johns"!
If your hands are swollen then your garment is too tight and you're producing a tourniquet effect. If you experience this you need to take your wrap or garment off and find a looser fitting dressing. This type of over tight situation can cause your brachial artery or vein to clot off if it is too intense or prolonged. Many of us have gone to no or minimal wrapping following brachioplasty for this reason.
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