The sagging on the backs of my arms is definitely a lot tighter now! Excited for the swelling to keep going down and the shape to keep refining over the next few months :)
Scars really are all about aftercare. Right now I'm using a scar ointment and Steri-Strips to keep the incision from pulling apart. Some parts have healed into a thin line already, and some spots have gotten a little red and slightly raised.
The armpit area is the slowest to heal, probably because there's constant friction there and it's humid out — summer isn't helping.
Still, for one month out, I'm happy with where I'm at. It's healing well and recovery is going smoothly.
Aside from the first two weeks, when I had a lot of fluid drainage and it was rough, I got through the whole thing without a single infection.
The bruising peaked around the one-week mark. Maybe I got lucky, but mine was never that bad — before surgery I'd read reviews where people had these deep eggplant-purple bruises, and I barely got any.
By around day ten, it was pretty much gone except for a few small patches of yellow.
As for swelling, I'm someone who swells easily anyway, so honestly it was just "a bit more puffy than usual." No Mickey Mouse glove hands or anything dramatic.
Oh! Actually my forearms swelled up tighter than the surgical area itself.
The big swelling went down once the stitches came out, but there's still a lot of residual swelling. Can't wait for it to fully settle so I can finally see the shape.
The first two weeks were the hard part. After that I was back to normal daily life — pretty manageable, considering this is a surgery where they actually remove skin.
My energy came back quickly too. For the first two weeks, eating well, resting well, and sleeping well really is everything.
Even at one month, my range of motion has improved but I still get a pulling sensation and some stinging around the incision, so I'm avoiding big movements or reaching too far.
If it just keeps healing like this, I'll have nothing to complain about.