Bat-Wings: The dreaded hanging arm skin after WLS

Gastric bypass surgery is just the first step that many morbidly obese patients take in total body remodeling. A residue of massive weight loss is the dreaded “bat wings.” You know what I’m talking about: that skin on your upper arm that hangs like bat wings if you open your arms to fly. Wave your hand and the bat wings will too. For some, after massive weight loss, there’s so much skin that it’s hard to find shirts with sleeves that fit well, and worse, it’s embarrassing to wear sleeveless shirts.

To do?

Exercise:

The first line of defense is weight training or strength training during the rapid weight loss phase. Many patients report satisfactory contraction of the skin of the upper arms when they have incorporated light exercise during weight loss. Biceps curls and triceps pulldowns are the best exercises to firm up your upper arms. Arm training requires minimal equipment (2 light dumbbells at 3-5 pounds each) and limited space. It should be noted that the younger the patient and the fewer times they have seen a significant change in weight, the more chances they have to tone and shape their arms with exercise. Now, that doesn’t relieve older patients of the obligation to exercise; it just gives a little more encouragement to younger people having weight loss surgery.

Liposuction:

The next option, but not very plausible, is liposuction. Liposuction is only suitable when there is a lot of fat and the skin is tight. Lipo sucks out the fat and allows the skin to shrink. This is not plausible for most WLS patients because they have already lost the fat leaving an empty balloon of skin on the upper arm.

Brachioplasty:

The last resort is the $5,000 arm lift called brachioplasty. Brachioplasty is a surgical procedure that removes excess skin from the upper arm.

Incisions and Scars in Arm Lift

Scars are the biggest drawback of this operation. They will extend from the armpit to the elbow, along the inner side of the arm. This operation changes an aesthetic problem (loose skin) for another (scars). In general, people with very loose sagging skin are more likely to find this trade-off worthwhile. Those with a small amount of slack probably won’t want the scars.

Kaye Bailey © 2005 – All Rights Reserved