Kill the Arms
When did I start hating my arms? Right about the same time that Michelle Obama started to show hers. Firm, muscular biceps with smooth, tight skin; damn her and her sleeveless dresses!
What exactly is wrong with a flabby upper arm? Try the “wave test”. Does your upper arm keep waving after you stop? Not too attractive. My real epiphany occurred as I tried on a sleeveless dress three weeks ago. It is well into warm weather in the southwest and sleeveless is a must. Of course the fabulous downlighting provided courtesy of Nordstrom’s fitting room did nothing but highlight my every undulation. Yes, you can have cellulite on your arms and I do.
Five reasons to not like my arms
- Complete absence of muscle definition
- Upper arm resembles bowl of cottage cheese
- Weird little pouchy thing by my armpit
- Crepe paper where my skin used to be
- Positive wave test (see above)
My summer project is “kill the arms”, or put more gently, trade in the old arms for new(er) ones. Here is my plan:
I started my campaign on March 25th with a nice dose of Thermage CPT. This is the latest version of the gold standard Thermage skin tightening utilizing radiofrequency energy. One treatment and I should see less crepiness and tighter looking skin developing over several months.
Three days later I had my upper arms treated with CoolSculpting. This is the latest in fat reduction utilizing cryolipolysis, cold induced fat reduction. A giant suction cup draws the saggy fat in-between two plates that slowly cool the area to just above freezing. The fat crystallizes at this temperature but the skin, muscle and nerve tissue are unharmed. After 3 months I should lose about a 20 to 25% of the fat layer. Less to love. (CoolSculpting is ideal for abdomen, love handles, muffin top etc… ).
Part of our aftercare for Thermage is a treatment with Triactive (a low level laser/suction/massage) that continues the process of collagen stimulation. Maintenance treatments can be done weekly or monthly over time, I started at 2 a week and am tapering off to one a month.
Now that I have kick started my arm rejuvenation I have embarked on a daily maintenance of Glytone LipoLift (a low tech massager with a glycolic cleanser) to stimulate circulation and massage out fluid under the skin while showering. After showering I am using a Glytone body lotion with glycolic acid to improve the crepiness.
Oh, yeah, and I started lifting weights. I figure the bigger my biceps get the better my skin will fit.
My “Kill the Arms” regimen should result in killer arms by mid-summer. I will get back to you then, I’ve got some family weddings to go to and I am counting on those killer arms.
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