Handheld retractors play the critical role of exposing the surgical site during procedures, allowing surgeons to access deep tissue, muscles, and organs. During open ENT and plastic surgeries in particular, retractors must be held for hours on end by surgeons and assistants. Retractor arms that hold handheld retractors in place were developed to address this issue, yet existing designs are unintuitive, time consuming, and require two people to use. There is therefore a need for a flexible, quick-adjust, and one-handed surgical retractor arm for surgeons, nurses, and OR technicians in the ENT and plastic surgery space to reduce time lost, improve operational efficiency, and ensure ease of use.