Can I Get Arm Lift Surgery On The NHS? - Cosmetic Surgery Guide


Cosmetic Surgery Enquiry

Whether or not the National Health Service will pay for you to have arm lift surgery depends on the reason for which you are having it. For example, the NHS has a policy of not paying for surgery which is undertaken for solely cosmetic reasons, so if you want to have an arm lift simply because you think it will make your arms more attractive and you will feel more self-confident afterwards, the NHS will not pay for it. That is not to say that those reasons are not justified, as how we feel about ourselves and how we look is very important to our mental wellbeing and quality of life. However, the NHS operates within a budget and prioritises surgery for those who urgently need it, or are at risk of further health complications if they are not treated surgically. In fact, health services are often cautious to use surgical procedures when there are other avenues of medical treatment open, due to the risks which surgery involves.

When will the NHS pay for an arm lift?

Reasons why the NHS may (this is not a definite assertion that they will) cover your arm lift surgery are as follows:

  • You have been undergoing other surgeries as a result of injuries sustained in some form of accident, and an arm lift is part of the final stage of your treatment. This could potentially be because your injuries mean that you have to have a full body lift.
  • You are suffering from a congenital disease (that is, a disease which you have had since birth which causes excess sagging skin on your arms).
  • You have had a traumatic injury, and this has caused excess skin on your arms to appear or caused existing skin to sag.

The NHS will only offer to pay for arm lift surgery in very rare cases, so relying on the NHS as a source of financial support for the procedure would be unadvisable. If you believe that you have some form of extenuating circumstances which mean that the NHS would pay for your surgery, then consult with your General Practitioner about the matter.

Further Articles