Arm lifts are the latest plastic surgery craze

Worried your arms are looking a little floppy? Still trying to figure out exactly how you are suppose to tone the ever elusive tricep muscle?

Introducing the arm lift.

Not that we in anyway endorse the use of plastic surgery, but you might be interested to know that women are going crazy for an arm lift procedure, which is essentially liposuction on your arms or the removal of excess skin -- and sometimes both.

We all know it's ludicrous to attempt to measure up to an impossibly high standard of beauty. Yet new statistics released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) show that arm lifts in American women have skyrocketed more than 4,000 per cent in the last 13 years.

Arm lifts are most popular among American women over 40 with approximately 73 per cent of patients over 40.

And while Canadian stats regarding arm lifts are not available, there is some anecdotal evidence that suggests this trend is not limited to our neighbours south of the border.

Marc DuPéré, a plastic surgeon at Toronto’s Visage Clinic, tells the Toronto Star that 12 years ago he would perform about five arm lifts per year. But now he guesses it's around 25 to 50.

“It’s becoming increasingly popular,” he says. “Especially in the ladies, when they wear little strap, shoulder dresses, they don’t like that floppy underarm skin."

The cost for a full arm lift can run as much a $8,500, says DuPéré. Whereas, a procedure known as the "mini" arm lift is between $3,000 and $5,000.

The ASPS believes the popularity of arm lifts is fueled by sleeveless fashions for women and a greater focus on strong-armed celebrities.

"I looked at Michelle Obama and said 'Oh my gosh, I want her arms,'" says 24 year-old Natalie Robinson of Knoxville, Tenn.who recently received an arm lift with positive results.

"When I first started losing weight and started to tone up, I had her image in my head."

Robinson says she never expected surgery to make her arms perfect, just more normal.

"Well-proportioned is what I was going for, and I'm very happy. It was well worth the investment."

Robinson lost more than 170 pounds three years before the procedure, yet despite her remarkable transformation through diet and exercise, she still wasn't entirely happy.

"I had a lot of excessive skin around my upper arms," she says. "Every time I looked in the mirror there was a reminder of a heavier person and I just couldn't get rid of it."

Robinson decided on a full brachioplasty, which requires an incision from the elbow to the armpit to remove excess skin. This differs from an arm lift that may only use liposuction to remove fat.

According to Toronto-based plastic surgeon Martin Jugenburg from the Toronto Cosmetic Surgery Institute, Robinson's reasons for surgery are common.

He suggests that an increase in weight loss surgeries over the past decade has resulted in women seeking to tuck back sagging arm skin through brachioplasty, he tells the Star.

What are your thoughts on arm lifts? What about plastic surgery in general? Do they help us feel good about ourselves or are they creating unhealthy narcissism?