A mother-of-four who lost her pregnancy weight but was left with excess skin under her armpits has revealed how she spent £4,000 to have her bingo wings cut off.
Alison Park, 48, from Erith, Kent, spent years hiding loose skin from the world and endured shopping trips where she bought clothes two sizes too big to fit her arms.
However, last June, she underwent radical brachioplasty and had almost 250 grams of fat removed.
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Alison Park, 48, from Erith, Kent, was deeply unhappy with her arms after losing weight left her with loose skin. After years of being forced to wear clothes that were too big, she finally underwent surgery last year and had the excess skin removed
Parks said there was so much skin under her biceps that it looked disproportionate to the rest of her body
Cut to: Excess skin after being removed from Alison’s arms during brachioplasty surgery
She explained: “It’s been like this for decades. I’ve always been a small build. I didn’t eat more than usual, but I did put on a lot of weight when I was pregnant.
“I was a size 10 before I gave birth and went up to a size 16. The weight came off afterwards but my arms stayed the same size and I was so out of proportion.”
After getting into a healthy new regime, which included lifting weights at the gym, Alison’s body got smaller – but her flabby arms remained.
She continued: ‘I was so blown out of proportion and it made me really uncomfortable. I had to get clothes two sizes bigger just to fit my arms, but then they would be so baggy all over. I was so self conscious about them.
“I had tried everything – hundreds of diets, working out at the gym and was too embarrassed to do anything like swimming. I lost weight everywhere else, but this made my arms look bigger.’
Alison even refused to go shopping with friends to avoid the moment she would have to order a size up to cover her bingo wings.
Alison says that while she hid her unhappiness about her arms from most people, her family knew it was destroying her confidence
The healing wounds from the brachioplasty were painful but the pain was worth it
The mother of four, who says she’s tried hundreds of diets, now feels confident enough to buy tank tops
She admitted that she bought clothes out of necessity and not for fashion.
But after years in hiding, she came across the Bella Vou Clinic, who said she could help with the problem.
“It was really painful and uncomfortable when I woke up from surgery. But even though I was hooked, I could already tell the difference…
Although the surgery, called a brachioplasty, cost more than £4,000 and would leave some scarring, Alison decided it was worth it to help with her confidence.
“Most people didn’t notice my hands because I always covered them, but my family knew I thought it was a problem,” she said.
“I just wanted to stop being embarrassed by them. My husband was very supportive and I just did it.”
In June last year, Alison underwent a two-hour procedure at the Bella Vou Clinic in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, where surgeon Amir Nakhdjevani cut 245g – the equivalent of a block of butter – from her hands before stitching them up.
“It was really painful and uncomfortable when I woke up,” Alison recalls. “But even though I was stuck, I could already tell the difference.
No regrets: Alison says she now enjoys shopping after cutting the fat – the equivalent of a stick of butter
“I couldn’t risk stretching them too much, so it was hard to do normal things like shower. They advised me to wait about two weeks before doing much with my hands, but I had to wait about three weeks before I felt like I could do things.”
However, now Alison is left with leaner arms to match the rest of her size 10-12 frame.
She said: “Now I enjoy going out shopping and I have a lot more confidence. My husband was shocked when I picked up a sleeveless top to wear this summer.
“When I knew I was having the operation, people asked why and said I didn’t need to have it. Some people said it was dangerous, but when I showed them my hands and explained how uncomfortable they were, they were much more understanding.
“I’m glad I did. I don’t regret it. I would recommend it to anyone I felt like doing it.”
