A thick pinchable pad
Fat over the triceps
Where there is genuine fat to reduce. EmSculpt Neo reduces it and builds the muscle underneath. Loose skin has its own treatment, which is why we pinch first.
Upper Arm Laxity
You notice it reaching for a high shelf, or in a sleeveless dress in a holiday photo. Three different things soften an upper arm, and a quick pinch at Wimpole Street tells you which is yours, so the treatment you choose is matched to you.
At a glance
- Causes Fat, skin laxity, lost muscle, or a combination
- Treated at Wimpole Street, London
- Course 3 to 4 sessions typically
- Downtime None to 48 hours
- First step Pinch assessment
What it is and why it happens
The upper arm softens for three separate reasons and they need three different answers, which is why matching the treatment to the cause gives such good results.
Fat sitting over the triceps is one. Skin that has lost elasticity, common after weight loss and from the fifties onward, is another. And loss of triceps muscle volume, which happens with age and inactivity, is the third and the most overlooked.
Pinch the back of your arm. A thick pad between your fingers is fat. Thin skin that comes away easily with little substance is laxity. An arm that feels soft and empty rather than either is usually muscle.
Most people over fifty have some of all three.
It is a normal anatomical change and extremely common, and we always talk about it in plain clinical terms rather than the nickname it often goes by.
Regents Park Aesthetics treats arms at the Wimpole Street clinic, near Oxford Circus, with EmSculpt Neo, the muscle-building device.
Know your type
Which type is yours?
Thin, loose, little to pinch
Skin laxity
Common after weight loss and with age. Radiofrequency tightens and thickens the skin. It is the right match where there is little fat to reduce.
Arm feels soft and empty
Lost muscle volume
Triceps volume declines with age and inactivity, and an arm without it looks soft regardless of fat or skin. EmSculpt Neo builds it, and resistance training does too.
Genuine hanging skin
Post-weight-loss excess
Where a significant amount of skin remains after major weight loss. Non-surgical treatment improves the contour, and where excess skin needs removing an arm lift is the answer, with your clinician referring you on.
How we assess and treat
The pinch test does most of the work and takes seconds. A thick pad is fat. Thin loose skin with little substance is laxity. An arm that is soft without being either is usually lost muscle.
We ask about weight trajectory, because someone actively losing weight will change both the fat and the skin, and treating mid-journey means treating a moving target.
We ask what training you do. Where the answer is none, resistance work will do more for the arm than any device, and your clinician will happily start you there.
And we identify genuine excess skin after major weight loss, where surgery is worth discussing, and refer you to the right surgeon.
Your options
Which treatment for your type of upper-arm concern?
As a guide, this is how we typically match each type to a treatment. Your own plan is always confirmed at consultation, and where a specialist doctor would serve you best, your clinician points you to the right one.
Type
Recommended treatment
Why
Post-weight-loss excess
Helps the contour, with surgery discussed where excess skin needs removing
Decision aid
Compared side by side
EmSculpt Neo
Resistance training
Builds muscle
Yes
Yes
Reduces fat
Yes
Somewhat
Tightens skin
Somewhat
No
Sessions
4
Ongoing
Price from
£450
Free
Before and after
Upper arms
After a course of EmSculpt Neo
Muscle built under the skin of the upper arm. Clinical image supplied by BTL. Individual results may vary.
Can you treat it at home?
Resistance training is the single most effective thing available, and it is free. Triceps work two or three times a week builds the muscle that fills the arm, and it does more for how an arm looks than any treatment on this page.
It reshapes the arm from underneath, which changes the shape overall, while fat loss happens across the whole body.
Overall weight loss reduces arm fat along with everything else, in a proportion your genetics decide rather than you.
Skincare on the arm helps texture, while contour comes from muscle and treatment. Retinoids and SPF slow the collagen loss contributing to laxity, over years.
Genuinely loose skin is a job for the clinic, since creams cannot restore lost elasticity, and products sold specifically for arms are usually the same ingredients at a higher price.
Questions, answered
Frequently Asked Questions
Three things, usually together: fat over the triceps, skin that has lost elasticity, and loss of triceps muscle volume. Which dominates decides the treatment.
Pinch the back of your arm. A thick pad is fat. Thin loose skin is laxity. An arm that feels soft and empty without either is usually muscle.
Resistance training genuinely does, and it is the most effective thing available. It builds the muscle that fills the arm. Fat loss itself happens across the whole body.
Fat freezing reduces fat rather than tightening skin, so where laxity is the main concern, skin tightening is the better match, which is why we pinch first.
A device that builds muscle and reduces fat in the same session, and the treatment here designed for lost triceps volume. It is at our Wimpole Street clinic.
EmSculpt Neo £450 per session over four sessions.
Four for EmSculpt Neo.
Where there is genuine hanging skin after major weight loss, an arm lift is the route to discuss with a surgeon. Energy-based treatment improves moderate laxity beautifully, and your clinician advises which suits you.
Four to twelve weeks for all of these, because they work through fat clearance or collagen and muscle building rather than removal.
If you are actively losing, yes. Further loss changes both the fat and the skin over it.
Regents Park Aesthetics
Feel like yourself, on a good day.
A medically led clinic where every plan starts with an assessment and every injectable is placed by a medical professional, so the result looks like you on your best day.
Address19 Wimpole Street, London W1G 8GE
Telephone020 7580 4813