While the first lady can be credited for bringing in designers like Thom Browne and Jason Wu, and even the recent popularity of bangs, the rise of arm liposuction may not have much to do with her.
On Monday, American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) reported a 4,473 percent increase in brachioplasty, or upper arm lifts, since 2000. And as a result of its recent online poll, ASPS also reported that the most desired upper arms by women belong to Michelle Obama.
The reference made it sound like he had the first lady’s chiseled biceps — just like her $3 billion effect in the fashion industry – inspired people to have upper arm surgery. “Women Opting for Surgery to Get Michelle Obama’s Hands”, n Los Angeles Times mentionted. Vanity fair He said it: “Michelle Obama’s arms are more in demand than Jennifer Aniston’s.” And Glamor asked his readers: “Are you going to get plastic surgery to get arms like Michelle Obama’s?”
However, while the ASPS reported that arm lifts increased more than 4,000 percent between 2000 and 2006 among women, points out Business Insider that, according to previous ASPS annual reports, since 2007, “there have been only single-digit increases or decreases year-over-year for cosmetic surgery.” Since the Obamas didn’t take Washington by storm until 2008, it’s unlikely that Michelle Obama can be thanked (or blamed) for the upper arm sensation.
“The rise of brachioplasty has actually happened in the last decade. It’s a process that’s been quite popular for a long time,” he says Dr. Matthew Shulman, who practices plastic surgery in New York. He adds that the process has not become more popular since the Obamas have been in the White House. Still, “she has a very visible role, she’s out there on more mainstream TV, and she wears sleeveless dresses all the time,” says Schulman.
Perhaps because of the rise of social media, instant awareness of body type has created a more conscious audience, she says Dr. Darrick E. Antell, assistant clinical professor of surgery at Columbia University. “People take pictures, look at them immediately and see the hands they want to hide,” he says. “Michelle is kind of an icon, she’s elegant and usually photographed from the waist up.” Since mobile devices now have video and camera capabilities, the readiness with which images can be uploaded and viewed leaves little time to prepare to address one’s flaws.
Doctors point to widespread weight loss across the country and advanced surgical technologies as the dominant factors contributing to the rise of brachioplasty – not Michelle Obama. As Antell explains, “People today are losing a lot more weight than in the past, which leads to excess loose skin.” The development of microliposuction has also made the upper arm procedure less serious, scar management less difficult, and recovery time much quicker. (Patients can return to work as quickly as a long weekend.)
Whether it’s Megan Fox’s breasts, Jennifer Lopez’s behind, or yes, even those famous and talked-about arms, plastic surgeons say it’s less about wanting Michelle Obama’s body and more about wanting a body that facilitates dress as they have the elegance of Michelle Obama. Now that’s a real Obama effect.
