Sarah Martin asked:


What is mesotherapy? This is a question you might ask if you have no knowledge of this body sculpting technique.

Mesotherapy is a technique for helping you attain the perfect body, lose weight and look and feel great. It involves receiving injections of customized cocktails of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and medication that your body needs for optimum health not to be confused with lipovite injections (http://www.vfhcinc.com/procedures.html). The needles are inserted just below the outer surface of your skin, which is called the mesoderm, hence the name of the treatment. The therapists use specialized equipment, such as injection guns to administer the treatment. These are electronic instruments with a sterilized needle on one end and an attached tube that holds the injection solution.

In order to benefit from mesotherapy, you cannot rely on the injections alone. You have to take part in the process as well by ensuring that you get plenty of exercise, follow a healthy diet and drink 8 glasses of water every day. At your first consultation, the therapist will describe the procedure and discuss your reasons for taking this therapy. If your goals are unrealistic, the therapist will let you know this so that you won’t be disappointed and you can alter your expectations for the treatment.

You do have to prepare for each session of the mesotherapy treatment, which is usually once a month. You do not have to abstain from eating or drinking because this is not an invasive medical procedure, it is more of a medical weight loss program (http://www.vfhcinc.com/medical.html). You should not wear any perfumes or makeup to the session because these may interfere with the effectiveness of the therapy. If you have a cold or symptoms of illness, you should reschedule your session for a later date.

There is a certain amount of discomfort associated with the after effects of mesotherapy injections. For example, you may have some bruising or soreness of the skin at the site of the injection. The therapist may recommend some over the counter medications that can help with this or you can use all-natural remedies, such as placing a cooled tea bag over the area or bathing the area in a solution of vinegar and water. Including larger portions of green leafy vegetables in your diet for a few days before the session will also help to cut down on the amount of bruising that develops. Ice packs are also helpful in reducing any redness or swelling.

Depending on your physical and medical condition, you have several options to choose from in mesotherapy treatments (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCeeHT_-lFY). Injuries, such as swelling of the joints or torn ligaments, for example, do not require as many treatments as do such conditions as alopecia. You can enjoy mesotherapy treatments to reduce stretch marks after giving birth or losing weight, to help reduce the pain associated with recovering from surgery and even to reduce the problem of constipation. Each one requires a different regimen of treatment.

If you are between the ages of 18 and 80, you can have mesotherapy. The therapist will review your medical history and take note of any prescription medications you may be taking. All this is necessary to ensure your health. For example, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, mesotherapy is not an option for you.



Kelly

Alison Stevens asked:


Liposuction is considered a relatively safe procedure; however, there are many reasons why a person may seek a liposuction alternative rather than undergoing cosmetic surgery. If you’re not comfortable with the idea of surgery, if you are on medication or have a medical condition that would prevent you from having cosmetic surgery, or if you think the cost of liposuction could be too great, then there are liposuction alternatives for you to consider.

Medical and cosmetic research and technology are constantly providing new methods of non-invasive body sculpting without the need for surgery. Many of these alternatives produce favorable results without the potential side-effects of liposuction.

Firming Creams

There are a number of creams on the market claiming to improve the firmness and texture of the skin. Many are aimed at reducing cellulite and stretch marks. Creams containing aminophylline are sometimes claimed by their users to reduce fat deposits but there is no scientific evidence to back this, and the claim is not made by the marketers of the products.

Lipodissolve

This is one of the latest techniques in non-surgical liposuction. Developed in Europe for cosmetic purposes, it is now being used in some parts of Europe as a liposuction alternative. Lipodissolve involves injecting a combination of medications and enzymes directly into the fat, which causes the fat to be dissolved and expelled through the body’s urine. The European developers of the technique have concluded that lipodissolve is a safe method for eliminating localized fat deposits.

Mesotherapy

This method, also known as liposculpting, can provide excellent results for those seeking a non-invasive, non-surgical liposuction alternative. Mesotherapy involves small injections of a combination of natural plant extracts, medicines and amino acids into the problem areas to dissolve the fat. The fat is then eliminated from the body with other wastes. The procedure is relatively painless and does not require an anesthetic. There is no recovery time associated with mesotherapy.

Diet and exercise

Improving the diet and getting more excercise are still the best and safest ways to lose weight and change the body’s appearance. Remember that liposuction is not a weight loss method – it is a procedure to shape the body. As an alternative to any of the above procedures and treatment, learn to accept your body shape the way it is and learn to dress in a manner that downplays your body size.

Any of the above methods may be suitable liposuction alternatives; however, it is always advisable to seek professional advice before starting any treatment.



Neil

Danna Schneider asked:


When I initially read the article on a newer fat melting procedure, I thought “Oh boy, here we go again, another gimmick in the world of fat loss”. Whenever I hear the words “melt” and “fat” in the same sentence, call me crazy, but I tend to be a bit skeptical because we all know that you cannot melt the fat off or out of your body, no matter how badly we’d all like to at times.

However, upon reading a bit more, I realized that this newer termed procedure to get rid of smaller pockets of body fat, called Lipolysis, is much like another, fairly controversial, method of fat and celllulite removal called Mesotherapy which originated in France years ago.

The common theme to these procedures is that they both use injections that are administered subcutaneously, which release varying mixtures of substances they claim destroy fat cells and rid the treated areas of bulges and excess inches.

Practitioners of Lipolysis and Mesotherapy are careful to say that it is not a weight loss method, but rather a body sculpting method, which will help to sculpt the body, and mold it by getting rid of stubborn areas, such as belly bulges, under-chin fat which tends to be extremely stubborn, and areas of the arms and sides of the belly that have that fat that never seems to budge.

The main difference between Lipolysis and Mesotherapy as I understand it, is what is actually injected. Mesotherapy is a tad confusing, and I’m not even sure if they’ve divulged exactly what is in the solution injected with Mesotherapy, except to say that it is a natural, homeopathic mixture in a solution that destroys fat cells.

With Lipolysis, it is clear what actually goes into the solution injected into patients fatty areas, but critics say that it is not clear that there is any standard for mixing the solution, and one patient may get a higher concentration of one ingredient than another, since the solution is not yet FDA approved.

The solution is varying parts of the following ingredients : phosphatidylcholine, a soybean derivative, and sodium deoxycholate, a bile salt. The mixture is called PCDC, and it is mixed in pharmacies, however there is no standardization, which is why it is receiving a lot of criticism, mostly from the plastic surgery field.

Go figure. I’m sure some of the criticism has to do with the fact that this newer treatment may take business away from liposuction, which is only performed by board certified plastic surgeons, and that may be some of the reason for the heated debate over Lipolysis and other non-FDA approved fat reduction procedures.

But they also may have a good point in that the solution is not standardized, and the long term effects of Lipolysis have never been studied.

Results reported from Lipolysis have varied, as with many other comsetic procedures. Many women have reported excellent results, and would recommend it to anyone who’s looking for inch loss or spot fat reduction. Some say that the pain is more than minor with each injection, and there have been some reports of allergic reactions, as well as minimal results.

Almost every cosmetic procedure has some risk of allergic reaction or of simply not giving the results desired, so this is to be expected, and I do not think the amount of reports in this case warrant calling this procedure “ineffective” or “unsafe”, but the one thing that would concern me is that we are injecting an unstandardized solution into our bodies, and destroying fat cells by rupturing them.

Then where does the fat go after it is destroyed? If the fat catches in areas where it cannot be easily eliminated by the body as waste, this could also present a problem, and critics are quick to cite the fact that there are no concrete studies or evidence to show that the destroyed fat cells are processed and eliminated by the liver, as the advocates of Lipolysis claim.

So, onto another important point about Lipolysis. What is the cost? That is really on the forefront, since the cost benefit appears to be the reason that many women are choosing this over liposuction. That, and the fact that it is technically uninvasive since there is no surgery involved, and no downtime as with liposuction, which is considered to be a fairly painful surgery with a long recovery time which minimizes life activities.

The cost runs around $1,000 to $3,000 per body area. I’m not exactly sure what that covers, but it no doubt ranges depending on where you live, since geographical area dictates the costs of elective cosmetic procedures most times. This could be considerably less than liposuction to eliminate stubborn fatty areas if it works, since it is both less time consuming and would most likely end up being more economical.

This procedure may be worth looking into if you have smaller, more concentrated areas of fat that won’t go away, but perhaps a little more time should pass, and even better, the process should get FDA approval, before this becomes the next big thing. After all, what good is looking great and feeling good if you’re unintentionally doing something detrimental to your body in the end?



Harvey