Contact & consultation

Arranging an assessment

Outpatient appointments are booked through the hospital on the numbers below; international patients can ask for Michael Yu. Bring a written record of your weight over the past year if you have one, because the stability of that weight is part of the assessment. Bring a list of your medicines, including anything that affects bleeding, and any treatment you have already had on the arms.

What a good assessment includes

An examination of the arm with the arm raised and with the skin lifted, a judgement about whether the laxity is skin or the fullness is fat, an assessment of how the skin has behaved after previous weight change or surgery, and a clear statement about which operation — if either — matches what was found. A discussion of the scar belongs in that first conversation, not at the end of the plan.

Asking about the plan

Ask where the scar will sit and how long it will be, how long the arm will be restricted and what that means for work and for driving, how long the garment is worn, what the plan is if the skin does not behave as hoped, and what would make this operation the wrong one for you. A clinician who answers that last question specifically is assessing you rather than presenting to you.

Before you commit

No decision needs to be made at the first appointment. Take the plan away, read it against the guides on this site, and come back with questions. A discount that expires, or pressure to book before an assessment is complete, is information about the clinic rather than about your arm.