I am so sick and tired of nurses and other people talking about my "funny shaped" arms!!! I have lost 50 pounds but my arm flab is still there. Now from the elbow on down my arm is pretty thin. Once you pass my elbow, my arms look huge. I was looking at my bat wings in the mirror yesterday and I was wondering if I would ever fix this problem. I've done the exercises to work those muscles but I'm getting nowhere. So right now I'm thinking I may have to have some sort of surgery to fix this problem. I don't plan on going that extreme until after I get to my goal weight. It's just very frustrating and I hate wearing shirts or dresses that do not have sleeves!
So, has anyone had some sort of surgery? If so, what was the expense and level of pain?
Brachioplasty... Those I know who've had it say that it was the most painful plastics procedure they had done.
Next time a medical professional or someone else comments upon your arms... Reply with something like: I can wear sleeves... Too bad we can't cover up insensitive comments so easily.
I saw my bat wings in the mirror today and it took me by surprise. Usually I don't look up at the mirror without clothes on!
I don't know how I will ever fix them. It's almost like my arms looked better when I was heavier; I mean, they were big but they were solid. And of course that brought up my bathing suit fears again, this is going to gross people out in my pool.
I saw some Ralph Lauren summer tshirts with sleeves that go more to the elbow than your average summer shirt. I think I might grab 1 or 2 just to have them. I haven't seen anything as nice as these ones. Most stores have the short armed tshirts that let all the flab hang and swing.
Hi!! I can't believe anyone would be so insensitive especially a medical professional (if you still wanna call them a professional after that) to comment on your arms!!!
I know that one of the members on here had one and posted pics of it though no postop yet. Check this thread out for more info on pain and expenses and I'm sure she may chime in for more input since she has experience with that. HTH!
I did not thing it was painful at all. I didn't have a full brachiplasty though - although my doctor says its no different - just a longer scar going down the arm. I have an L shape scar in each arm into the armpit. Some people get T shapes but generally L is pretty common.
There were times it hurt , like when I got into my bed one day without the proper support (I generally slept on the couch for the first week), and the wound separation hurt at first (or more was really uncomfortable), but as soon as I went to the doctors and had it properly packedi t was fine. There was never unbearable pain though. I probably got the wound separation from thinking I could do too much too soon - mostly because I felt fine. The other thing that hurt was the drains I had for a week - those burned sometimes - drains aren't necessary standard and I think she only gave them to me because I had liposuction too.
It is now 2 months later I have no regrets. And I have full use of my arms and activities with no restrictions.
I have big arms naturally I will never have skinny girl arms. My flab was bad so despite not wanting to lift weights because my arms get very muscular I decided muscular was better than flab. I bought a weight bench. Been doing presses regular and on an incline, doing curls and triceps excersize. I am only up to 35 lbs but my hubby said the other day that it amazes him that any movement I make my arms look like I am flexing. I still have some flab left but I think I might be able to tackle it by increasing the weights I use. I love lifting now and feeling strong.
I'll say this - you and I are same height & I was very close to your starting weight. I thought my arms would never go down! Thing is, I always had big arms/strong shoulders, it's part of my body. Had them all my life. I was not delicate! :P
I will say once I got under 200? My arms became better. They still jiggle a bit because I'm not doing weights as much as I ought, but they look pretty darn fine for a gal who was near 300 lbs 2 years ago.
I say: give it some time. My body dropped inches at the weirdest times and places during my initial loss. I have a measurements list on my blog that shows how stuff progressed over time - it's not very even month to month! But those arms will come down, tone up, and once you get closer to your goal... I think you'll be surprised at how they look.
I lost a lot of flab in my arms by doing Zumba!! My teacher does SO many arm movements, I lost an inch over a few months (which left my arms not skinny, but when I hold them up the underarm jiggle is hardly there anymore). I think zumba did for my arms what running does for your legs!
I know this isn't a surgery, but just wanted to throw it out there
I had bat wings for a long time, and was even thinking about surgery maybe, if I couldn't stand it, but they shrunk over time.
I was down to maybe the 160s before it happened, and I lost a couple pounds over a week or two that didn't seem to be coming from anywhere. . . and then I looked in the mirror and was like, my bat wings are smaller!
So of course, YMMV, but I'm pretty sure a LOT of it is just time. TIME TIME TIME. Continuing to lose weight or maintain weight with regular exercise and good diet contributes to your body redistributing fat and muscle, so even if you don't lose a pound, you may actually be losing some fat and replacing it with lean body mass, resulting in a general shrinking effect.
I have a lot of arm flab too. I always had flabby arms though so hating my arms is nothing new for me. I've started going hardcore with the tricep work as I'm told that the tricep muscle is actually 75% of your upper arm. Everyone's so obsessed with the bicep which is actually a pretty tiny muscle. So I'm going to give it my all with the tricep work and see where that gets me. Otherwise, I'll be in 3/4 sleeves until I can afford a more permanent solution.