There is a fold that sits where the upper arm meets the chest wall, at the front of the armpit, and almost nobody has a word for it. People describe it as the bit that shows in a sleeveless top, or the part that bunches when they put their arm down.
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It is worth its own page because it is routinely missed — including by people assessing themselves, who look at the arm and look at the chest and never quite look at the join.
Why it forms
The skin of the upper arm does not stop at the arm. It continues across the axilla onto the chest wall, and when weight comes off, that continuous sheet becomes lax as a whole. The fold appears at the point where the arm moves against the body, because that is where slack gathers.
In people who have lost a large amount of weight, the arm and this area are rarely independent. Laxity in one usually means laxity in the other.
Why it gets missed
Self-assessment tends to be area by area. Arms in front of a mirror with the arms raised, which hides the fold entirely. It shows with the arms down, at rest, from the front — which is exactly the position people do not check.
It also shows in photographs far more than in mirrors, which is why it is often noticed for the first time in a picture someone else took.
What it affects
Sleeveless and fitted tops, mostly. Some people get friction in the fold in warm weather, and the same rules apply as anywhere else skin meets skin: keep it dry, treat rashes early, have recurrence recorded by your GP.
The practical point
If you are thinking about the arms, look at this area at the same time, with your arms down. Whether it is involved changes what an assessment would cover, and it is better to raise it yourself than to discover afterwards that it was part of the picture.
The fat or loose skin tests apply here as elsewhere, and the readiness assessment covers timing.
What arm and chest wall skin removal involves →
For the operations themselves, Dr Kumar’s procedure guides cover each one in detail, including staging, Medicare and recovery.