Arm Scars

Hi Everyone.  I recall posting about this several months ago but I wanted to inquire about it again. ... I am going to get my arms done and want to make sure I incur the least amount of scarring. Can anyone recommend any tips or questions to ask surgeons? Any type of preferable incisions? 

I am not sure what you mean about different types of incisions, but I think the big thing is the placement of them.  The location my doctor is going for will not be noticeable from the front or back, only when I raise my arms.  I think some people heal better than others, so scarring can be unpredictable.  You might ask about compression garments, post op care, restrictions after, etc.  I am doing mine in about 6 weeks...can't wait!

I would ask if the stitches are going to be removed or if they are disolvable. For my arms, the stitches were removed around day 10. My scars instantly widened to about 1/2 inch. For my lbl, I went with a different surgeon. My stitches were left in and I have a nice neat pencil-thin scar.

Some surgeons use compression sleeves after a brachioplasty because this is a very high tension area, particularly in the arm of the hand that you use most (right handed or left handed). My surgeon, Dr. Capella, does not use compression garments in any of his surgeries and instead prefers to use a "pie crust" stitch to reduce skin tension. I very much like the pie crust incision and believe in its efficacy. It is one of the reasons that I use Dr. Capella. 

My scars on my arms are thin, but they are very dark in appearance to me. Dr. Capella is convinced they will lighten to my skin color over time. Scars never go away completely but they do lighten over 18-mos post op. If you have scars from your weight loss surgery they should give you a good indication of how you heal. 

Some surgeons believe in silicon scar treatments soon after surgery to lighten the scars. Other options include cutting put the scar once you are healed and renewing the skin together (less tension will produce a thinner scar), laser treatments, and there is an injection but for the life of me I cannot recall it - I think it begins with a K (sorry that is probably not helpful). 

Good luck with your surgery!

Last week we met with a plastic surgeon at our WLS support group. He said that scars following an arm lift tend to remain more prominent than other plastic surgery procedures. Of course individual scarring also varies. He also said that all vertical scars tend to be more prominent scars as compared to horizontal scars and scars under greater tension tend to widen. 

Scars, unfortunately, are unavoidable but their placement is important to minimize their visibility as well as their support after surgery. Brachioplasty scars seem to be the worst of any other area. Support while they are healing is really important. I have recommended tape after the steri-strips have come off consistently for several months after the procedure for many years. This is much more economical and the results in clinical studies(www.Scarxtape.com) have shown to be as effective as silicone products at a fraction of the cost.

my doctor did my arm lift and cut only under my arm,.. in my armpit. they are not noticeable unless you are looking in my armpit.. He said he did it that way so i wouldn't have those long scars down my arms. 

For most of us after losing massive amounts of weight, that method will not give us the results we want.

Yes, I agree. I do the armpit brachioplasty very often and it works quite well but improvement is limited, esp in large weight loss with the excess skin hanging down. Unfortunately, once excess skin is present and a lot of it, not really anything else but excision will help.

Dr., I had tape on my arms for approx 15 days after.  Am still in a binder (for next two weeks, at least)  Would continuing the tape for a while  longer help?  Is this something I could manage on my own?  For how long would you recommend?   And are the materials needed available generally?  thanks so much for your advice.  Bonnie