The American Society of Plastic Surgeons publishes an average cost of $6,192 for an arm lift, the operation it calls a brachioplasty. It is a surgeon fee and it excludes anesthesia, operating room facilities and other related expenses. Brachioplasty is unusual among cosmetic operations in that most of the people having it are not chasing a refinement, they are dealing with the aftermath of significant weight loss, and that changes both what the operation involves and what else is likely to be on the surgical plan.
Ask providers for a written price
The operation trades skin for a scar, and the scar is the decision
Loose upper arm skin cannot be tightened without removing it, and removing it leaves a scar that usually runs along the inner arm from the armpit towards the elbow. That trade is the whole substance of the consultation, and it is why the published average is less contested here than on facial surgery: patients are rarely comparing two prices, they are deciding whether the exchange is worth making at all. How much skin is removed, and therefore how long the scar is, follows the examination rather than a price list.
It is usually one operation in a longer plan
After major weight loss, loose skin is rarely confined to the arms, so a brachioplasty often sits alongside abdominoplasty, published at $8,174, or a breast lift at $6,816. Combining procedures shares one anesthetic and one facility booking, which makes a combined quote less than the sum of the separate averages, and it also lengthens a single operation, which is a clinical judgement rather than a financial one. ASPS names the type of procedure used as one of three drivers of the surgeon's fee, beside experience and geographic office location.
The six lines, and the funding position
ASPS lists anesthesia fees, hospital or surgical facility costs, medical tests, post-surgery garments, prescriptions for medication and the surgeon's fee. Garments are a real line here because compression is part of arm lift aftercare. On funding ASPS is explicit: most health insurance plans do not cover arm lift surgery or its complications, and many plastic surgeons offer patient financing plans, so be sure to ask. That matters for post weight loss patients, whose bariatric surgery may have been funded while the skin surgery that follows it is not.
Questions people ask about brachioplasty cost
How much does a brachioplasty cost?
ASPS publishes an average surgeon fee of $6,192 for an arm lift. It excludes anesthesia, hospital or surgical facility costs, medical tests, post-surgery garments and prescriptions.
Is there always a scar?
Loose skin has to be removed to be tightened, and that leaves a scar usually running along the inner arm. The length depends on how much skin is removed, which is decided on examination.
Is it cheaper combined with other body surgery?
Usually cheaper than separate operations, because one anesthetic and facility booking are shared. Abdominoplasty is published at $8,174 and a breast lift at $6,816 as standalone averages.
Does insurance cover an arm lift after weight loss?
ASPS states most health insurance plans do not cover arm lift surgery or its complications. That catches some post weight loss patients whose original bariatric surgery was funded.