Gastric-bypass surgery is only the first step many morbidly obese patients take in their total body make overs. One residue of massive weight loss is the dreaded bat-wings. You know what Im talking about - that upper arm skin which hangs like bat wings if you spread your arms wide ready for flight. Wave your hand and the bat-wing waves too. For some after massive weight loss there is so much skin its difficult to find shirts with sleeves that fit, and worse, its embarrassing to wear sleeveless shirts.

What to do?

Exercise:

The first line of defense is to do weight or strength training during the phase of rapid weight loss. Many patients report satisfactory skin shrinkage of the upper arms when theyve incorporated light exercise during weight loss. Bicep curls and tricep pulldowns are the best exercises for firming upper arms. Arm training takes minimal equipment (2 light dumbbells 3-5 lbs each) and limited space. It should be noted, the younger the patient and the fewer times theyve seen significant weight change, the better chance they have of toning and shaping their arms with exercise. Now, that doesnt let older patients off the hook for doing exercise - it just gives a bit more encouragement for younger people who undergo weight loss surgery.

Liposuction:

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

Brachioplasty:

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

Incisions and Scars in Arm Lift

Scars are the greatest drawback of this operation. They will extend from the armpit to the elbow, along the inside of the arm. This operation exchanges one cosmetic problem (loose skin) for another (scars). In general, those with very loose saggy skin are most likely to find this exchange worthwhile. Those with a small amount of looseness will probably not want the scars.

Kaye Bailey 2005 - All Rights Reserved

Kaye Bailey

An award winning journalist and former newspaper editor Kaye Bailey brings expertise in writing and personal experience with gastric bypass surgery to EzineArticles.com. Ms. Bailey developed a passion for writing at an early age. As a teenager she found writing her feelings about obesity helped her cope in a world that is often cruel to overweight children and adults alike.

Ms. Bailey says she found out she was fat in kindergarten when another child told her she was fat. ?I didn?t even know what fat was but I could tell it was bad and I didn?t want to be fat. Until that day I had been unaware I was different. But there I was, a five-year-old girl sitting cross-legged on the floor learning a new word that would define me.?

At age 33 she underwent laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery. For the first time in her life after multiple failed diet attempts she lost weight. She said the decision to have surgery took courage, nerve, and a little bit of plain old faith. But she learned surgery was the easy part. Dealing with newfound emotions, struggling with food choices and fighting to keep from regaining weight were unexpected bumps in the road following massive weight loss with surgery.

Having spent most of her life overweight Ms. Bailey is strongly empathetic toward the obese, particularly overweight children. This compassion compelled her to found the website LivingAfterWLS.com, a fast-growing resource of information, understanding and support for the weight loss surgery community. While weight loss surgery is publicly perceived as an easy fix to obesity Ms. Bailey maintains the struggles after surgery challenge the vigor of even the most dedicated individual. As WLS becomes more readily available patients are finding there is a lack of long-term aftercare and support from bariatric centers.

The LivingAfterWLS.com site is complimented with daily blog. The blog, livingafterwls.blogspot.com offers readers the chance to comment or leave feedback about fresh content added daily. This site contains success stories and recipes as well as general information and WLS inspired topics. Complementing the site is a monthly newsletter titled ?You Have Arrived? available exclusively to people who subscribe through the website or the blog. The path forward includes community forums, nutrition and fitness tracking tools.

Ms. Bailey makes her home on a ranch in the Rocky Mountains with her husband of eight years who has been her consort in life after WLS.

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