Lifestyle Changes to Maintain Brachioplasty Results

Arm lift surgery is a big investment. If you’ve had the operation, you understand the costs associated with the procedure and perhaps endured a lengthy recovery period.

Now that you’re on the other side and have begun enjoying your arm lift surgery results, you’re likely interested in making sure your results last as long as possible. In this article, you’ll find tips and advice to keep your upper arms firm and taut for years to come after arm lift surgery.

Is an arm lift permanent?

Loose upper arm skin and excess arm fat are common complaints for many people, especially those that lost weight or are older. One of the most effective ways to tighten and tone severely saggy upper arms is arm lift surgery (brachioplasty).

Brachioplasty results can last a very long time. However, nothing in life is truly permanent. Here are factors that might affect how long your arm lift surgery results last.

Weight Fluctuations

Keeping your body weight consistent after arm lift surgery is a crucial step to maintaining your results. Let’s look at an example. If a person has arm lift surgery and later gains a substantial amount of weight, there is a good chance the upper arm fat will return. As they pack on the kilos, their skin is going to stretch to accommodate their new body shape, becoming more fragile over time.

Dissatisfied with their weight gain, the patient decides to lose weight through exercise and dieting. As they shed the kilos, the upper arm skin becomes saggy again. They are disappointed because they had an arm lift a few years earlier, and now they are back where they started.

If they had made lifestyle changes to maintain a steady weight after their arm lift procedure, this likely wouldn’t have happened. If you want your arm lift surgery results to last as long as possible, you’ll need to keep your weight stable long-term.

Excessive Sun Exposure

Prolonged exposure to UV rays can damage the skin, causing it to become saggy and wrinkled over time. A 1996 study found that spending time basking in the sun without sunblock caused “large, abnormally clumped elastic fibers and deformed collagen fibers”. Another study in 1993 determined that people with chronically sun-damaged skin had 20 percent less collagen than people that practised sun safety. Yet another research study in 2017 found that skin regularly exposed to the sun had cracks in the elastin fibers, and that the elastic fibers were shorter, thinner, and highly fragmented.

Ageing

Skin quality decreases as elastin and collagen production slow down with age. It happens to all of us at some point.

Collagen is a protein that provides structural support. Skin that is abundant with collagen is youthful, firm, and resilient. Elastin helps the skin remain supple and pliable. Skin with plenty of elastin can stretch and return to its original shape.

With each year that passes, the body’s ability to produce collagen and elastin decreases. Arm lift surgery won’t stop you from losing collagen and elastin over the years. Therefore, as arm lift patients grow older, they may notice a loss of firmness and elasticity — just like people that haven’t had arm lift surgery.

Smoking

After arm lift surgery, patients must avoid smoking. Aside from the obvious health risks, tobacco use increases production of an enzyme that destroys collagen in the skin, which makes the upper arm skin weak, fragile, and more likely to sag.

Tips for Maintaining Arm Lift Surgery Results

While some of these factors (such as ageing) are outside of your control, there are steps you can take to make your arm lift surgery results last longer.

Healthy lifestyle habits can make a world of difference in terms of how long arm lift results last. The goal is to keep your weight stable, otherwise excess skin and fat may form on your upper arms. Proper skin care and exercise can also go a long way. Follow these tips to help your arm lift surgery results stand the test of time.

Never skip breakfast

A study of 50,000 adults showed that people who consistently eat breakfast tend to have a lower BMI (body mass index) than those that skipped the first meal of the day. The researchers also concluded that breakfast should be the largest meal of the day. Eating lunch five to six hours after breakfast is considered ideal.

The theory is that eating a healthy breakfast helps people feel full throughout the day and curbs snack cravings. Eating a big meal in the morning is better than eating late at night since you will have a chance to burn off the kilojoules as you go about your day. In doing so, you’ll be able to stave off putting on extra kilos and prevent excess arm fat from returning.

Apply sunscreen

After brachioplasty surgery, it’s wise to avoid spending too much time in the sun. UV light damages the skin and leads to wrinkling and sagging. After upper arm lift surgery, that is the last thing you’d want to happen.

Sunscreen application should be part of your daily routine, even on cloudy days. To ensure you get the SPF rating on the bottle, the average adult would need 1 oz. of sunblock to cover their entire body. That is approximately the size of a shot glass. Clothing provides some protection against UV rays, so you may not need to apply as much if you wear long sleeves and pants. For your face, you will need to use a nickel-sized amount each day.

When spending the day at the beach, be diligent about applying sunscreen every two hours. If you are sweating excessively or go for a dip in the ocean, you may need to apply it more often. Remember to bring a wide-brimmed hat, swim cover-up, and a sun umbrella so you can get some shade from the UV rays.

Being mindful of sun exposure may help your arm lift surgery results last longer and keep your collagen and elastin intact.

Avoid smoking

Smoking is not only dangerous as you recover from arm lift surgery, it can also weaken the skin and lead to arm sagging and wrinkles. A small Finnish study found that smokers had a lower ability to synthesise collagen (Types I and IIII). Type I collagen provides structural support for the skin. A 2019 study also found that smokers have less skin elasticity than people who don’t smoke. If you care about making your arm lift surgery results last, skip the cigarettes.

Mind your kilojoule intake

Kilojoules are a unit of energy. They are present in most foods and drinks, with only a few exceptions, such as water or zero-kilojoule food products. Since kilojoules are a measurement of energy, you’d need to burn off the excess to maintain a stable weight.

Kilojoules are not necessarily bad for you. You need them to survive. They are only a danger when you eat too many of them. Many Australians are told to eat 8,700 kilojoules per day. This is a general rule of thumb and does not apply to everyone.

So, how many kilojoules per day are right for you? The answer depends on your sex, age, and ideal weight. Here is a kilojoule calculator to quickly figure out how many kilojoules you need to consume in a day to keep your weight steady. As you know, maintaining your weight after upper arm lift surgery is the key to making your results last a long time.

Low-kilojoule foods

If you struggle to maintain a consistent weight, here is a list of low-calorie foods to consider adding to your diet. These foods will help you feel satisfied without ramping up your kilojoule intake beyond what you should be eating. Many also contain beneficial vitamins and proteins to promote skin health and help you feel full.

• Fresh berries
• Chicken breast
• Lentil soup
• Eggs
• Whole-grain oats
• Greek yogurt
• Chia seeds
• Fish like cod and halibut
• Cottage cheese
• Watermelon

Everything in moderation

Watching your kilojoules does not mean starving yourself or only eating vegetables at every meal. You can eat dessert, but may have to trim back on kilojourles elsewhere that day. It’s all about moderation.

Stick to a nutrient-dense diet

A healthy diet rich in vitamins and nutrients supports the body’s natural ability to produce collagen and elastin, two crucial components for firm upper arm skin. It can also help you maintain a healthy weight, which is essential if you are concerned about ensuring that your arm lift surgery results last.

As you grocery shop, turn the package over before you stick each item in your cart. Nutrition labels can tell you a lot about how healthy a food is. Food labels also give a suggested serving size. Portion control is one of the keys to avoiding weight gain after arm lift surgery.

Some foods to avoid included soda, processed meats, sugary snacks, trans fats, and empty-calorie foods. Alcohol should only be consumed in moderation. Water and green tea (which is naturally low in caffeine) are better choices.

Instead, fill your plate with fish, poultry, beans, nuts, and dark, leafy vegetables. Foods containing Vitamin C and zinc are great additions to any diet. These vitamins and minerals support optimal skin health by boosting collagen production and increasing skin elasticity.

Are fats bad for you?

Trans fats are the worst kind of fat you can eat. Saturated fats are not too far behind. Contrary to popular belief, not all fats are bad. Your body needs fat for energy. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are considered healthy when eaten in moderation. You’ll find the fat content on the food labels of any prepared foods you add to your shopping cart.

Consider adding soy to your diet

Foods containing soy may also increase collagen production for firmer upper arms. A small study of 30 women took skin samples to compare the skin quality of subjects that consumed 100 mg of concentrated soy extract. After six months, 86.2 percent of the women had significantly more collagen, and 75.8 percent had more elastin fibers. Twenty-three of the 30 women had a 9.46 percent thicker dermis by the end of the study, an indicator of healthier, stronger, and more resilient skin.

What foods contain the most soy?

Soy is a type of protein. Foods high in soy include:

• Edamame
• Soy milk
• Soybeans
• Tofu
• Miso

Be mindful of what kind of soy-based foods you eat. While you may have correctly assumed that soy sauce contains a lot of soy, you may want to avoid using it as a dipping sauce too often since it is very high in salt. Some canned soups also contain soy, but again you may want to read the food label to make sure you’re not ingesting too much salt. Salt can contribute to water weight gain and cause bloating.

Is eating too much soy dangerous?

While soy has been linked to improved skin firmness and elasticity, it is not suitable for everyone. People with low iodine levels and those with kidney failure should not eat too much soy. Likewise, some people have a soy allergy or intolerance that makes it unsafe. Soy also contains isoflavones, a type of plant estrogen. Estrogen is a hormone. Too much estrogen can lead to issues such as a thyroid imbalance. When in doubt, ask your doctor before suddenly increasing your soy intake.

Get regular exercise

Staying fit will help your arm lift results last longer by curbing future weight gain. After arm lift surgery, Dr Beldholm will ask you to avoid strenuous workouts and lifting heavy objects for a few weeks. Once you are cleared for exercise, feel free to get back into the gym. Working out at least two to three times weekly can help keep the weight off so your upper arms won’t gain excess fat or develop loose skin again.

Cardio and strength training will burn through calories and keep your upper arms looking sleek. While it’s great to have a fitness pass, you can get a workout in without stepping foot in a gym if you get creative. Take the stairs, go for a walk on your lunch break, bicycle to work, go for a jog to burn off steam, or take up a new hobby that gets your blood circulation pumping. Sports such as kayaking or rowing will also help build arm muscle tone and turbocharge your endurance.

Incorporating exercise into your daily regimen will keep upper arm fat at bay so you can enjoy your arm lift surgery results longer. Whether you join a fitness class, sign up for an online workout program, or exercise from the comfort at home, there are endless ways to get active on your terms.

Try arm toning exercises

Now that you’ve had arm lift surgery to remove loose skin and fat, it may be easier to show off your upper arm muscles. To take your arm lift results further and enhance what you’ve got, spend a few hours each week doing upper arm exercises. Try adding bicep curls, chair dips, rowing, and triceps extensions to your gym routine, and you should see an increase in lean muscle mass as well as more defined, toned arms.