Hagopian Plastic Surgery: Thomas Hagopian, MD
99 Krog St. NE, Unit C110
Atlanta, GA 30307
Phone: (404) 885-8542
Tuesday–Friday: 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
After significant weight loss, or sometimes as a normal process of aging, it’s very common to develop excess skin on the upper arms. Board-certified plastic surgeons Dr. Thomas Hagopian and Dr. Courtney Cripps tighten loose skin on your upper arms with an arm lift at their Atlanta, GA, plastic surgery practice.
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VIEW PHOTOSAn arm lift, also called brachioplasty, surgically removes excess, lax skin from the upper arms to create a firmer, smoother contour. While you are under general anesthesia, Dr. Hagopian or Dr. Cripps removes excess tissue through carefully planned incisions typically placed along the inside of the arm, between the armpit and elbow.
For patients with excess or unevenly distributed fat, our surgeons may combine brachioplasty with advanced liposuction. Dr. Hagopian takes a comprehensive 360-degree approach to arm liposuction, treating the arm from the wrist to the shoulder, including the forearm and deltoid region when appropriate. Addressing the entire arm rather than focusing only on the underarm helps create more balanced proportions and a smoother transition between treated and untreated areas.
Depending on your needs, our surgeons may combine arm lift surgery with VASER® ultrasonic liposuction and BodyTite® radiofrequency-assisted technology. These technologies help remove fat while encouraging additional skin contraction. In appropriately selected patients, Dr. Hagopian has observed skin contraction of approximately 30% to 40% when these technologies are incorporated, compared with about 10% from liposuction alone.
Dr. Hagopian also uses an avulsion technique for appropriate arm lift patients rather than relying solely on traditional wedge excision. This approach is designed to preserve more of the lymphatic channels, blood vessels, and connective tissue beneath the skin. Preserving these important structures may help reduce the risk of complications such as lymphedema, hematoma, and postsurgical numbness while still allowing significant amounts of loose skin to be removed.
The exact combination of skin removal, liposuction, and skin-tightening technology is customized to your anatomy. The goal is not simply to make the upper arm smaller, but to create a natural, proportionate contour from the shoulder through the forearm.
Plastic surgery is the perfect field for Dr. Hagopian, who has a knack for fixing things and helping people. He’s a former firefighter/paramedic, and he had a business building highly sought-after custom taillights in medical school. He met his wife, Nurse Hagopian, at Emory University, and they bonded over many shared interests, including a commitment to exceptional patient care.
Meet Dr. Thomas Hagopian
Georgia native Dr. Courtney Cripps has returned home to bring her expertise in facial, breast, body, and reconstructive plastic surgery to Hagopian Plastic Surgery. With advanced training at NYU Langone Health and a personalized approach to patient care, she is dedicated to helping every patient achieve natural-looking results that reflect their goals and lifestyle.
Meet Dr. Courtney CrippsDr. Hagopian performs more than 100 brachioplasties each year, including a high proportion of cases involving lipedema patients with diseased fat, significant excess skin, and elevated surgical complexity. These are cases that most body contouring surgeons are not trained to handle.
Peer surgeons across Atlanta and the Southeast regularly refer their arm lift patients to Dr. Hagopian, sending cases they consider outside what most body contouring surgeons are trained to handle.
You may be a candidate for an arm lift if you have experienced significant weight loss and want to tighten skin on the arms only. An arm lift can also help patients with lipedema and elevated BMIs. If you are also looking to address laxity on your abdomen or buttocks, you may be a better candidate for a body lift.
The cost of an arm lift, which includes liposuction of the arms, varies depending on several factors. Arm lift pricing factors include the complexity of the procedure and your specific aesthetic goals. We will give you a personalized price quote at your consultation so you can take it home and consider your options. Keep in mind that we offer payment and financing options to make paying for your procedure more convenient and affordable.
For optimal healing, it’s essential to follow your aftercare instructions closely and allow adequate downtime. You can expect some swelling, and it may take a few months to subside completely. While every patient varies, here’s a typical timeline of what to expect throughout your recovery.
In addition to adhering to your post-op protocol, you can ease your recovery and enhance your results by following these tips:
Before surgery:
After surgery:
Our surgeons may employ liposuction during your arm lift and suggest one or more complementary body contouring procedures to help you achieve optimal results. For example, a drainless tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) can complement an arm lift by further balancing your body contours. Or, you may wish to opt for a breast lift or nipple and areola reduction to complete your look.
A brachioplasty, or arm lift, is a procedure to remove extra skin from the arms. The goal
of this surgery is to improve the contour or shape of the arms. Brachioplasty can consist
of just the upper portion of the arm, from shoulder to elbow, or be an extended
brachioplasty and capture the forearm as well.
Brachioplasty is an out-of-pocket procedure in our practice.
This is typically a drainless procedure, but there could be extenuating circumstances requiring
drains for the best healing outcomes.
The most serious complication is a blood clot. Although this is rare, it is a medical
emergency. Signs of a blood clot include swelling to one leg with pain and redness in the
area. If you experience these symptoms, immediately report to the emergency room for
evaluation.
The minor complications after Brachioplasty are wound healing issues, hematoma,
infection, or seroma.
A seroma is a fluid collection, and small seromas will typically heal on their own.
A seroma that is the same size or shrinking will often go away. Targeted
compression on these smaller seromas will help them heal fast. A hematoma is
a blood collection that typically is hard and painful. There can be skin changes
(redness, darkening, bruising). Usually, hematomas go away on their own, but if
they are growing or become extremely uncomfortable, additional surgery may
be required. Both are unilateral, meaning one-sided.
Occasionally, a wound can form on the incision, usually in the armpit, where
there is a lot of friction and moisture. This can happen for a number of reasons
including infection, tension, or the skin not getting enough blood at the end of
surgery. Usually, these wounds are small and heal with a little ointment and a
band-aid, but sometimes they can be large and require treatment at a wound
care clinic or even a surgical revision
We recommend compression for 3 months after surgery. We will provide the surgical
garment that you will leave the hospital wearing. Ensure you have one size down from
your current size in compression to wear starting at the 1-week post-op mark.
Click here to see our recommended compression and order straight from Amazon.
Arm lift surgery can significantly improve the appearance of your arms, boost body image, and allow for greater comfort and confidence in clothing, workout gear, and swimwear. Arm lift patients on the popular medical review site RealSelf give the procedure an impressive 91% “Worth It” rating.
If your arms have good skin elasticity and your primary concern is stubborn fat, liposuction alone may be enough rather than an arm lift. If you have loose or sagging skin, often the case after significant weight loss, an arm lift is usually necessary, since liposuction can’t tighten skin on its own. Our surgeons frequently combine the procedures in a single surgery for patients with excess fat and loose skin.
Remember, an arm lift is a body contouring vs weight loss procedure. The amount of weight lost is typically minimal—usually just a few pounds from the removal of excess skin and fat. The main goal of the procedure is to improve the contour and appearance of sagging arms, not to achieve significant weight loss.
Remember that the swelling after surgery may take weeks to months to completely
resolve. At the 3-month mark we typically take the “after” pictures, which is when your
swelling and appearance will be mostly settled. Asymmetry can be helped with in office
procedures.
Scar revision is another in-office procedure that can help the appearance of your scars
after surgery. If you are prone to keloids, please tell your surgeon beforehand so we can
pre-treat you. If keloids develop after surgery and you have not had keloids before,
steroid injections may improve hypertrophy.
Yes, although mid-arm banding can be particularly challenging to correct, especially in patients with a higher BMI. Mid-arm banding appears as a noticeable indentation or constricted area around the middle of the upper arm, creating an uneven contour with fuller tissue above and below the band.
Dr. Hagopian has developed a specialized approach based on his high-volume experience with complex arm contouring cases. Rather than relying on a standard brachioplasty incision, he uses a customized incision pattern designed to release and correct the restrictive band while improving the contour of the entire arm.
If you would like to learn more about tightening your skin with an arm lift, please call (404) 885-8542 or request a consultation online.
