A full body lift addresses the trunk, but for many patients in Chicago, IL who have lost significant weight, loose skin does not stop at the waistline. Sagging upper arms and thighs are common alongside abdominal and back laxity, which is why Dr. Amir Dorafshar, MD, FACS, often builds a staged plan that extends beyond the core body lift itself.
Why Add Arm and Thigh Contouring?
A full body lift, sometimes anchored by a lower body lift or belt lipectomy, tightens the abdomen, waist, hips, and often the buttocks. But the American Society of Plastic Surgeons describes body contouring after major weight loss as a whole-body concern, and patients who have lost 100 pounds or more frequently have loose skin on the upper arms and inner thighs that a trunk-focused body lift does not address.
Adding an arm lift and a thigh lift to a post-weight-loss surgical plan allows a patient’s contouring journey to match the full extent of their weight loss, rather than leaving visible loose skin in areas the initial body lift did not reach.
How Is a Multi-Area Plan Staged?
Because a full body lift alone is already an extensive procedure, arm and thigh contouring are usually staged as separate surgeries, spaced months apart, rather than combined into one operative session. Dr. Dorafshar sequences these stages based on which areas bother the patient most, overall operative safety, and how much healing time a patient wants between surgeries.
A typical sequence addresses the trunk first, since a lower body lift and abdominal contouring often produce the most dramatic single change, then revisits the arms and thighs in a later stage once the patient has recovered and stabilized. The Cleveland Clinic describes the lower body lift as using a wrap-around incision to tighten the lower abdomen and buttocks simultaneously, underscoring why it is often prioritized as the foundation stage.
Recovery from each stage is more involved than a single-region procedure alone; the trunk stage often requires three to four weeks before returning to normal activity, while arm and thigh stages typically involve shorter individual recovery windows. Our article on full body lift surgery after weight loss and our broader piece on body contouring after weight loss outline additional timeline detail for the trunk-focused stage.
The Mayo Clinic Health System describes body contouring after significant weight loss as removing excess skin to reveal a trimmer body shape, a description that applies equally to arm and thigh stages as it does to the trunk.
Evolve Your Life provides staged post-weight-loss body contouring plans from its Chicago office in the Gold Coast at 60 East Delaware Place, near the Magnificent Mile, along with Peoria and Oak Brook, IL locations. If loose skin remains on your arms or thighs after a full body lift, or you are planning the full sequence from the start, a consultation with Dr. Dorafshar can help map out the stages. A full body lift plan built around your full pattern of excess skin, not just the trunk, tends to produce a more complete and cohesive result over the course of your post-weight-loss journey.
