Is Arm Lift Surgery Risky? - Cosmetic Surgery Guide


Cosmetic Surgery Enquiry

Most if not all surgical procedures have risks and potential complications associated with them. These may occur during the operation or afterwards. It is important that if you make a decision about having arm lift surgery, you are aware of the risks and are comfortable with the choice which you have made.

What are the risks of arm lift surgery?

Possible risks of arm lift surgery include:

  • Obvious and unsightly scars. These may fade over time; however, the extent to which they will do so is uncertain. The size and severity of scarring may depend upon whether the layer of tissue below the skin around the incision is undermined. It is also possible that the wound or incision caused during the surgery may not heal properly, possibly requiring further surgery.
  • Hematoma, which is a collection of (usually clotted) blood outside of the blood vessel (possibly due to it being ruptured or broken during the surgical procedure), pooling in one of your organs, body tissue or the space where the surgery was performed.
  • An infection. This may be a superficial wound infection which you can notice within the first week after your operation, symptoms are pain in the area of the surgery, the skin may turn red in colour and some discharge (fluid) which is caused by bacteria known as Staphylococcus (often abbreviated to Staph). Wound sinus can also occur if some material used in the procedure is left in the wound before it is closed, causing a deep chronic abscess (a collection of pus in the tissue where the surgery was carried out).
  • Fluid accumulation, this happens when layers of tissue do not reattach after surgery and fluid builds up in the wound space. This can cause an adverse reaction as the bodily tissues are further separated by these fluids.
  • Risks related to anaesthesia, for example: arrhythmia (irregular or abnormal heartbeat), changes in blood pressure, sudden increase in body temperature, breathing problems, heart attacks, strokes and other potentially fatal complications.
  • Asymmetry, as the surgical procedure involves changing the natural shape of the arms, it is possible (but unlikely) that after surgery both arms will not look symmetrical, or will have more pronounced differences in shape than they did prior to the procedure. Again, this may be cause for further surgery to correct this problem.
  • Major wound separation, which increases the chances that your scar will heal slower and be more unsightly.
  • Fat necrosis, where neutral fats deep within your tissues may die and are broken down into fatty acids and glycerol.
  • Several risks associated with potential damage deep inside the arm, for example nerve damage (which may cause a loss of sensation or movement in the area of the surgery), blood vessel rupture (causing hematoma) and muscle damage.

Preventing risks of arm lift surgery

You can reduce the risks of side effects by choosing a practise with surgeons who are register with the appropriate organisations: the general medical council or GMC which will indicate whether or not they are qualified to carry out surgery, Royal College of Surgeons (Plast) or British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons indicate that the quality of the surgeon's work is monitored by one or both of these associations. If your surgeon has the above qualifications, then you may trust yourself to be in the hands of a professional plastic surgeon. However, it is also important that you try to find out how much experience your surgeon has performing arm lifts, and how many of these specific surgical procedures they have performed. This will give you an indication of the quality of the service which you are being given, and the quality of the surgeon will most likely reduce the risks of there being complications during the procedure.

Further Articles