Arm Lift: Your Questions Answered

Saggy upper arms are something that commonly occur with age, but they can also be caused by weight loss.

To be left with so-called “bingo wings” when you’ve worked so hard on your figure is especially disheartening. If you’ve given up on the gym and are wondering about arm lift surgery, read on for answers to our top 10 most frequently asked questions...

1) Can sagging arms be treated non-surgically?

Improvements in skin tone and texture can be achieved through non-surgical treatments like Venus Legacy, which triggers the production of collagen via radiofrequency. However, if you have significant amounts of loose skin and fatty tissue, this treatment alone won’t be enough to combat the problem. Venus legacy can be used to great effect following an arm lift to really tighten and tone the upper arm skin.

2) Do I need an arm lift or liposuction?

If you have fatty deposits on your upper arms but tight skin you could be a candidate for liposuction. If, on the other hand, you have excess fat and lax skin, liposuction would not be sufficient. This is because liposuction has little effect on the elasticity of the skin. You would therefore be left with hanging arm skin.

3) What is a mini arm lift?

A mini arm lift is a procedure with a shorter incision that is hidden in the armpit area, however not all patients are suitable candidates. When loose skin is confined to the upper arm, near or in the armpit, this technique can be used, but it will not produce much improvement in patients with laxity throughout the entire upper arm. In that case a full brachioplasty (arm lift) is the best option.  

4) What scars will an arm lift leave?

A full arm lift involves making two incisions; one horizontally in the armpit and one vertically, which extends from the armpit to the elbow (exact length varies depending on how much excess skin is to be removed). The incision is placed on the inner arm, in the groove between the biceps and triceps, so that the scar is hidden when the arms are down. Your scar will fade over time, but its visibility will depend on your skin colouring and individual healing capacity.

5) Will an arm lift correct the crepey skin on my arms?

Tightening the skin via an arm lift will help to correct the crepey appearance. However, the trade off of having a scar may not be worth it if you do not have significant amounts of excess skin. Skin quality can be improved via non-surgical treatments such as radiofrequency and mild chemical peels.

6) Will an arm lift help sagging skin on the forearms?

A standard arm lift does not address sagging skin on the forearms. The procedure can be modified to include a forearm lift, however this will involve an additional incision on the inner forearm. A forearm lift can also be performed in isolation, but patients with loose forearm skin generally have loose upper arm skin as well. Hence, it is more common to combine the procedures.

7) Will an arm lift work for stretch marks?

If you decide to undergo an arm lift, an area of skin on your upper arm will be surgically removed, along with any stretch marks present on that skin. However, the stretch marks outside of the surgical excision area will still be there. Their appearance can be improved with skin resurfacing treatments such as Venus Viva.

8) I have saggy elbows. Am I a good candidate for an arm lift?

If the sagging is caused by excess fat around the elbow, isolated elbow liposuction may be sufficient. If it is caused by loose skin, you probably also have laxity of the upper arm skin and a full arm lift is the best option. The arm lift will be modified to tackle the loose elbow skin, with a crescent incision placed above the elbow.  

9) How long is the recovery from an arm lift?

Arms lifts are usually performed as an outpatient surgery (you go home after surgery), in just a few hours. There is relatively minimal discomfort associated with the procedure and, if you have a desk job, you may return to work in a few days. If your job is physical, however, you may need to factor in several weeks off. Heavy lifting should be avoided for six weeks.

10) How long do the results of an arm lift last?

The results of an arm lift are permanent. However, your body will continue to age, including your skin. This means you may develop loose skin in the future, albeit far less significant. You will need to avoid considerable weight gain and weight loss post-surgery to maintain the results.

Do you have further questions about arm lift surgery? Contact Ocean Clinic for a consultation or send us a message on Facebook.

What You Need to Know if Your Teen Wants Plastic Surgery

Growing up in an age of selfies and social media means there’s more pressure on today’s teenagers to “look good” than ever before.

If your child has started talking about wanting plastic surgery, this article will help you discuss the subject with them.

In the US, around 230,000 cosmetic plastic surgeries are carried out on patients aged 13 to 19 annually. Nose reshaping is the most popular procedure, accounting for 14% of total procedures on teens. This is followed by breast surgery, male breast reduction and ear surgery.

When is cosmetic plastic surgery considered for children?

While it is usually preferable to wait until adulthood for plastic surgery, most surgeons will consider it on a case-by-case basis. In situations where a teen’s health is being impacted, for example where large breasts are causing back pain or a nasal deformity is obstructing breathing, the benefits may well exceed the risks.

However, doctors will also consider psychological motives. For example, if a child is being bullied because of certain physical feature, then surgery could be beneficial to their mental health. Equally, if they are so self-conscious about the way they look it is making it difficult for them to live a normal life, surgical intervention could be in their best interest.

What are the minimum ages for procedures?

If your child wants rhinoplasty, it is recommended to wait until nasal growth is completed. This occurs earlier in females (age 15/16) than in males (age 16-18). There are exceptions to this rule, like if a child has a deformity such as cleft lip and cleft palate.

Breast surgery of any type ideally shouldn’t be performed until a female is 21-years-old, once breast development has finished. However, in some cases, a breast reduction might be performed as young as 15. It is important to be aware that patients who have breast reductions carried out before maturity might experience further breast growth.

Boys with gynecomastia (over-development of male breasts) can have male breast reduction from a minimum of 13-years-old.  

Breast augmentation is generally not deemed suitable for teenagers, except in the case of severe breast asymmetry or a deformity of the chest. Silicone implants are only approved for use in patients 22 years and older.

Ear correction surgery (otoplasty) can be performed from five-years-old, as ear growth is completed close to this age.

What procedures should teens not have?

Unless performed as part of a breast reduction surgery, it is not recommended that a teenager undergo liposuction. This is because body weight continues to change during adolescence and hormones drive the laying down of fat in areas across the body. Liposuction should not be considered until a stable, healthy body weight has been reached.  

Non-surgical cosmetic procedures, such as cosmetic injections and lip filler injections, should also not be performed on children under 18 years of age. While these procedures are frequently performed on adults with minimal side effects, there has been no research carried out to ensure they are safe for adolescents.

What other factors should be considered?

A plastic surgeon will take a number of things into consideration when assessing your child’s suitability for treatment. Firstly, they’ll want to hear from your child the reasons why they want surgery. This will include their expectations for the results of the surgery.

The surgeon will determine your child’s emotional maturity and help them understand things such as the risks and limitations of the surgery and how extensive the recovery process might be.

They will also want to hear your views as the parent or guardian and, if you decided to go ahead, will require you to sign a consent form.

Choosing a surgeon for your teen’s plastic surgery

When selecting a surgeon for your child, first and foremost, ensure they are registered with the certifying body in their country of practice. Ask how much experience they have in the procedure your child desires and whether they have performed it on a minor before.

As well as surgical expertise, your chosen surgeon should be able to demonstrate empathy with younger patients, be able to communicate with them effectively and make them feel comfortable. Finally, don’t rush into a decision - teenagers can be fickle. Give them plenty of time after the consultation to decide if this is what they really want to do.

To book a consultation for your teen or request more information, contact Ocean Clinic Marbella via our contact form or call 951 775 518.

Ocean Clinic Takes Dentistry Into The 21st Century

Dr. Nina King joins Ocean Clinic to offer an advanced field of dentistry known as prosthodontics. We asked her for the low-down…

What is prosthodontics?

“Prosthodontics deals with the replacement of missing teeth and the related mouth or jaw structures by prostheses. It involves a bit of everything; dentures, implants, crowns and bridges. There is a huge cosmetic side to it but it also looks at how everything functions based on a healthy foundation. We make sure everything works well together, as a whole.

“After dental school, I did an additional seven years of formal postgraduate training in England and qualified as a UK registered specialist in 2006 from the Royal College of Surgeons, London.”

So, is prosthodontics a more holistic specialty in dentistry?

“Yes. Unfortunately general dentistry sometimes focuses on individual things rather than looking at the whole picture. A simple example is a tooth that keeps chipping or breaking. We might just keep repairing the tooth instead of looking at why it’s happening e.g. the bite is too heavy on that tooth and they need to replace some of their missing teeth.

“When things are done in bits and pieces, rather than holistically, the patient can eventually reach a tipping point where they’re getting pain in their jaw joint or where they’re unable to eat, and often that’s when they come to me. Some of the stuff I do is quite complicated because I may need to replace a lot of failed dentistry that the patient previously had.”

How do you help patients from a cosmetic perspective?

“A lot of patients come to me because they’re getting married or they’re applying for jobs and want their teeth to look their best. Or it could be a more embarrassing problem, such as not being able to go for a meal with their partner in public because they have loose dentures that fall out.

“As well as implants and bridges, I work with all types of veneers, including prepless veneers (the most well known brand is Lumineers). The beauty of no-prep veneers is we don’t take anything away from the tooth. They’re really great for making small changes, such as colour changes.

“For tooth whitening, we’ve switched over to a system called Opalescence Boost. We don’t use the whitening lamp as we’re recognising now that the heat from the lamp, although it accelerates the process, can also dehydrate the teeth a little bit and cause more sensitivity.”

You have recently returned to Spain from Dubai. What brings you back?

I previously ran Oasis Dental Clinic in Marbella but then the opportunity arose to take a two-year contract in Dubai. It was working in a very established group of dental practices and also teaching in a post graduate university, which really interested me. I’d always planned to come back to Spain at the end of the contract.

Why have you chosen to join Ocean Clinic?

I’ve known Dr. Kaye professionally since he opened Ocean Clinic and we have become friends. We have similar values and ethics in terms of taking care of people and going the extra mile. I think it’s so important. It’s not just about the treatment that we deliver; it’s everything that comes with that treatment. The environment of Ocean Clinic, the staff, the professionalism and quality of care, are second to none and it has a great reputation as a result.

“We’ve actually been discussing the partnership for a number of years because what I do very much links into what they do here. The smile plays a huge role when it comes to facial aesthetics, so dentistry complements the offering very well. The idea is that everything is in-house - either patients come to me after having surgery, or they see me first and then decide to have a surgical procedure to further boost their confidence.”

What do you hope to bring to Ocean Clinic?

“I am really focused on delivering great aesthetics and want to take dentistry a bit more into the 21st century. I have made investments in new technology and now have some great equipment that allows me to cut out involvement of the dental laboratory. Digital scanning means certain types of crowns and bridges can be made in-house. So, instead of having a temporary crown put on and then coming back in a week or two for the final labwork, patients can have the work completed in a single visit.

“I’m very interested in seeing patients who’ve had large back fillings that are breaking down or need replacement crowns because this technology is just amazing for that.”

To make an appointment to see Dr. Nina King contact Ocean Clinic Marbella on 951 775 518.

Minimally Invasive Cosmetic Procedures Can Improve Psychological Wellbeing

If you’re thinking of trying a minimally invasive cosmetic procedure, you should go ahead according to the results of a new study.

Treatments like facial fillers and chemical peels don’t just make you look better, they can make you feel better too, by improving psychological wellbeing.

The study polled 500 adult patients who had undergone a non-surgical cosmetic procedure between 2016 and 2017 and nearly seven in 10 said they had the treatment in order to boost their wellbeing.

Other motivations cited were health, such as wanting to prevent worsening of a condition or symptoms, as well as a desire to “look good professionally”. A further 61% said cosmetic procedures were a way to “treat themselves or celebrate”.

The author of the study Dr. Murad Alam, Vice Chair of Dermatology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said seeking cosmetic procedures was not about vanity.

"Patients' motivations for cosmetic procedures are not trivial. People who get such treatments are sensible, normal people who are not just obsessed with their appearance. They have a range of motivations.

“Apart from motivations pertaining to aesthetic appearance, motives related to physical health and psychosocial well-being, such as the desire to feel happier and more confident, or improve total quality of life,” he said. “Even spouses did not influence their behavior in this regard, and they did not generally get procedures to please a spouse or significant other.”

Alam added that the range of minimally invasive cosmetic procedures now available offered many of the benefits of traditional plastic surgery but without the downtime. The procedures undergone by those in the study included injectable fillers, cosmetic injections, Dermapen, chemical peels, tattoo removal, hair removal, laser and light treatments for skin resurfacing, as well as skin tightening and fat reduction treatments utilising radiofrequency or ultrasound.

There were some procedures in particular that offered people a real boost to their wellbeing. More than 86% of people who had body contouring treatments did so for psychological and emotional reasons. The same was true for 86% of people who had acne scar treatment and 73% who had tattoo removal.

Head Surgeon at Ocean Clinic Marbella, Dr. Kai Kaye said: “These findings reflect what we see in the clinic amongst our patients every day. Minimally invasive procedures offer an instant confidence boost and this can impact on all parts of a person’s life.

“Because these treatments are affordable and have little or no downtime, they’re becoming as much of a way to do something for yourself as getting a haircut or buying a new outfit. But the great thing is, they have much longer lasting results, meaning people can enjoy the psychological benefits for months after the procedure.”

We offer a range of non-surgical treatments through our Medical Spa. Contact Ocean Clinic Marbella for an appointment on 951 775 518 or email info@oceanclinic.net