Arm Lift Turkey

Every arm lift starts with one question: where does the loose skin end? For some people it hangs only in the top third of the arm, close to the armpit. For others it runs all the way to the elbow. After a very large weight loss it often carries on past the armpit and down the side of the chest.

That endpoint decides the length of your scar, the kind of arm lift in Turkey you'll have and much of what recovery looks like. So this page is built around it.

Do you need an arm lift or liposuction?

An arm lift removes skin. Plenty of heavy-looking arms are mainly fat, with skin that still snaps back. Those don't need cutting. Arm liposuction costs €3,100 and leaves two marks you'd struggle to find.

Skin that swings when you wave is another matter. Suction it and the arm just looks emptier. Here brachioplasty, as surgeons call an arm lift, is the operation that works. We tell people which side of that line they're on before anything is booked, and the photos you send are enough for a first opinion.

The mini arm lift: loose skin near the armpit

In a fair number of women in their forties and fifties, the slack sits high, just below the armpit. The cut can then be tucked into the armpit crease. A crescent of skin comes out there, and the arm is tightened from the top.

This leaves the least visible scar of all four options, and it's the one worth asking about first. The catch is reach. A mini lift tightens the top of the arm and nothing lower, so looseness further down stays where it is.

Full arm lift

After a big weight loss, this is what most people end up having. A long, narrow wedge of skin comes off the inner upper arm, from armpit to elbow. The wound is stitched in layers, deep ones first.

Rest your arms at your sides and hardly anyone will see the scar. Lift them to hang washing or wave to someone and they will. Most of the people we operate on for this find that a fair exchange for an arm that no longer swings.

Extended arm lift

Most extended lifts follow very large weight loss, frequently after a gastric sleeve or bypass. In those patients the excess skin runs on past the armpit and down the ribcage. Lifting the arm alone would leave a roll sitting just under the bra strap or shirt seam.

An extended lift follows that skin down the chest wall and removes it as well. The scar is longer. The fold goes. Some women pair it with a breast lift; the breasts usually changed along with everything else.

Men ask about arm lifts too, almost always after a big weight loss. The operation is the same and so is the €3,200 price. Two things differ. Men's arm skin is often thicker, which tends to help the scar settle well. And on hairier arms, the line can be partly hidden by hair once it has faded. Men who have also lost a lot of weight from the chest often combine the arm lift with surgery for loose chest skin, planned as a single trip to Istanbul.

Adding liposuction

Some arms carry leftover fat as well as loose skin. In those, we suction the fat before trimming the skin. It gives a slimmer, more even shape than taking skin alone. On our list it's part of the same operation and doesn't add to the price. Whether you need it is decided when we examine your arm in Istanbul.

Arm lift cost in Turkey

With us, an arm lift in Turkey is €3,200. The figure is identical whichever version you need, liposuction included or not. That buys the surgeon and anaesthetist, your hospital night and your compression sleeves. Airport pick-up, a translator and twelve months of check-ins come with it too. The hotel we arrange is listed on its own line in your plan.

A longer scar earns us nothing extra. Even so, ask why your incision has to be the length it is. A good surgeon will show you on your own arm.

Booking more than one operation brings a combination discount, shown in your written quote.

How the arm lift price compares abroad

Look at the comparison table and the gap is wide. British clinics ask €5,600 to €9,500 for brachioplasty, American ones €6,900 to €12,100, and German ones €4,500 to €5,800. Abroad, the price often climbs with the incision. A quote for a mini lift at home can turn into a full lift, and a bigger bill, once someone has actually examined you. When comparing, ask which incision the price covers.

Ask first whether your arm is a skin problem or a fat problem, and whether liposuction would be enough. Then: which incision, ending where? Will they show you twelve-month scars with the arms lifted? Which costs are included, and which come later? Answers about your own arm, not the usual case, are the ones that count.

Arm lift before and after photos: reading them properly

This is where many arm lift galleries mislead without meaning to. Photos taken with the arms hanging down hide the scar and show off the slimmer outline. The pictures that matter are taken with the arms raised out to the side, at twelve months, when the scar has settled to what it's going to be.

In a good result the arm is smooth from armpit to elbow, with no leftover bulge at either end. The scar should run low along the inner arm, not drift round to the back where it shows. And compare the same arm, in the same pose and light, before and after. Ask any clinic you're considering, including us, for arm lift before and after photos taken that way.

Reviews from patients at least a year on are the most useful. By then they can tell you honestly how they feel about the scar.

The scar over the first year

The scar is at its least attractive around the two-month mark, red, a little raised and firm to touch. It improves slowly after that. Somewhere between twelve and eighteen months it ends up as a pale line. It won't disappear, and we'd be misleading you if we suggested otherwise.

Keeping it out of strong sun for the first year makes a real difference, since sun can leave a scar darker for good. Once the wound has fully closed, we suggest silicone gel or sheets; many people find they help. Thick, raised scars are more common on darker skin. If that's you, we'll plan around it from the start.

Numbness and swelling

The surgeon works close to small skin nerves on the inner arm. Plenty of patients notice a numb strip on the inner arm, now and then extending into the forearm. It usually improves over several months, though occasionally a small patch stays numb.

The armpit is also where the arm's lymph drainage passes. Lasting arm swelling after a cosmetic lift is rare. Rare isn't never, though, and the surgeon works carefully around the armpit for that reason.

Your weight needs to be steady

We'd like at least six months at a steady weight before an arm lift. After bariatric surgery, that means a real plateau, not a slowing down. Removed skin doesn't grow back, but if you lose more weight afterwards, the skin that's left can loosen again. A second operation starts with less spare skin and usually leaves a poorer scar.

Smoking slows wound healing badly in this area, so we ask you to stop well before surgery and stay off it until the wounds have closed.

Arm lift recovery

Expect tightness and soreness more than real pain. The tablets we prescribe cover the first week. Your stay is six nights in Istanbul, starting with a night in hospital, and around day seven a final check clears you to fly.

Small things become awkward for a while. Washing your hair needs a plan, and so do pulling on a jumper, reaching a high cupboard and lifting a full kettle. Button-up tops make mornings easier. The compression sleeves stay with you for four to six weeks. A desk job is usually possible again after about two weeks; light activity starts between days ten and fourteen. Anything heavy or overhead waits around six weeks. By about three months, the arm has settled into its shape.

Arm lift results and how long they last

The results are long-lasting. Skin that's been removed doesn't return, and at a stable weight the shape you see at around three months is close to the one you keep. Ageing continues, of course, but it starts from a much firmer point.

Most people who understood the scar before surgery tell us the trade was worth it, and that's the kind of arm lift in Turkey we want to offer: one where nothing about the outcome comes as a surprise.

Arm lift with a thigh lift, tummy tuck or body lift

An arm lift is often one part of a larger plan after weight loss. The most common partners are a thigh lift, a tummy tuck and, for the most extensive cases, a body lift. The limit is time under anaesthetic. Our anaesthetist reviews the total for your plan independently, and if it's too long for one session, it's split across two trips.

Sleeveless tops after an arm lift

You can wear one once the wounds have closed and the sleeves are off. Wanting to is different. For the first months the line is pink and noticeable, and that first summer tends to be the hardest. Many choose light sleeves until it fades, which also keeps the sun off a scar that's still settling. By the second summer, most have stopped thinking about it. And when you do reach for a vest top again, the arm underneath will be firmer than it has been in years.