Excess Sagging Skin around your Arms

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The multiple layers that make up the skin around your arms has the ability to stretch and shrink over time as your body shape changes due to natural growth, weight gain/lost, disease and pregnancy. This elasticity will reduce with age (which is why older people tend to get wrinkles) and this causes a decreased ability for your skin to tighten if your arm size reduces (for example due to weight loss). The reduction in the suppleness of your skin will be made worse by over exposure to the sun and poor nutrition.

The amount of sagging skin that you develop over time will therefore depend on the natural elasticity of your skin which allows it to “spring back” into a tighter shape after a period of being stretch. Because the elasticity of your skin will reduce as you age, if you lose lots of weight at an older age you are more likely to developing sagging skin around your arms. The ability of your skin to bounce back into a tight shape will also be reduced if you were overweight by a larger amount because obesity causes excessive stretching of the skin or if you were overweight for a longer period of time because this will have caused your skin to lose its suppleness. In addition fast weight loss does not give the skin enough time to spring back to its original tightness and will make any sagging even worse.

So, sagging arm skin is caused when your skin is stretched past the point that it can return back to its original shape so that when your arm size decreases it is unable to tighten back up again. This is what happens when you pull a spring too far and too quickly it no longer springs back tight when you let go of the ends and remains “saggy”.

Problems caused by excess skin around your arms

If you have large amounts of drooping skin around your arms then they may cause folds of skin. These folds can make it difficult to maintain your usual levels of hygiene and they could produce sweaty areas that can rub and become sore and infected. These sore areas could leave you with unnecessary pain and require you to see a GP to treat rashes and infections within the folds of excess skin.

If you have sagging skin around your arms then you may find that you have reduced body confidence. You might be too embarrassed to wear tight or sleeveless tops or swimming costumes (or swimming trunks) or find it difficult to get changed in public changing rooms. In addition your droopy skin could make it difficult for you to find long sleeved tops that fit you properly which might severely limit your wardrobe. This could have a knock on effect on your social life if you are unable to conform to certain dress codes or your sagging skin may even have reduced your confidence so much that you have lost your enjoyment of social engagements.

If you have a large amount of sagging skin around your arms then you might find that the excess skin is actually limiting the amount of movements that you are able to make with your arms. This could impact on your ability to carry out your usually sports or hobbies and could limit your ability to continue to lose weight through upper body exercise.

Getting Rid of Sagging Skin around your Arms

If your excess arm skin has developed after a period of weight loss then you should give it some time to tighten up on its own before heading straight to the operating theatre. In fact, a lot of surgeons will suggest this themselves! There are many different ways of assisting your arm skin to tighten by itself so that it regains its natural suppleness without the use of surgery. Undoubtedly the best way of toning your upper arms is by carrying out upper arm exercises in the gym. Most gyms will have instructors of coaches who are normally more than happy to discuss particular exercises with you in order to help you to achieve your ultimate arm tone. Gym classes are another way of exercises your upper body to tone your arms and these have the added benefit of working with other people who are all trying to improve their body image. You may even find that you develop a whole new social circle of gym class friends! In addition to working out, you might want to try some other methods to help your skin to regain its suppleness. Daily exfoliation and bathing in salt water are thought to encourage tightness of the skin surface. Skin tightness is created through the proteins collagen and elastin that exist within your skin. Eating a diet rich in soy protein, aloe vera and yeast extract is thought to increase the amount of these proteins in your body and could therefore assist in increasing the suppleness of your arm skin.

However, if you have been suffering from loose arm skin for a number of years or have already tried numerous methods to reduce it then you might want to start considering arm lift surgery as an alternative method to get rid of the sagging skin around your arms. Because most arm lift surgery is carried out under general anaesthetic it carries a number of risks which you will need to consider as part of your decision to have arm lift surgery to get rid of the sagging skin around your arms. It can also be an expensive option and may leave you with scars along your arm. You need to be aware that there are a number of other options (other than those mentioned above) that might be more appropriate for you if you are not ready to commit to an operation to remove your excess skin.

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