by: Barry Lycka, M.D.
In the battle to look good, there’s a cosmetic treatment that is going a few rounds with cellulite and small fatty deposits. Mesotherapy is knocking out fat and rejuvenating skin in people who give it a try. Chances are you’re doing everything that you can to cut away cellulite and small fatty deposits. You’re watching what you eat. You’re using creams and lotions. But, nothing is working, right? Well, that’s because cellulite is the heavy-hitting problem facing men and women alike. It is one of the hardest cosmetic problems to get rid of!
Gweneth Lowe is the mother of two children. She has been in the ring with fat for about five years. She works out in a gym three times a week for an hour. Still, she could not get rid of the fat in her problem area. Her thighs. 10 sessions with mesotherapy has given her the relief she’s been working out for. Lowe says, “I’ve lost about three inches from my hips. My thighs have shrunk. I’m down to a dress size 6 and loving it!”
Lowe gained her weight and cellulite after having babies. However, doctors believe cellulite and small fatty deposits affects more than 90% of post-puberty women. Wow, I bet you can’t believe it affects so many people! We don’t have any accurate data on the number of men who suffer from it. Men just don’t complain about it as much as women. Cellulite and small fatty deposits are seen as a “ladies problem.” You can find the extra fat most commonly on the butt, hips, and legs. Overweight people are not the only ones affected by it. Skinny people can have cellulite and small fatty deposits as well.
You’ll definitely know cellulite when you see it. It gives the surface of the skin a lumpy often-dimpled affect. Cellulite forms due to water retention in fat cells. The fat cells are surrounded by tissue. The tissue hardens forming a sclerosis. The result is the cottage cheese appearance on the outward layer of the skin. And fatty deposits form because of genetics. It’s not your fault you have them. Mesotherapy helps to get rid of the fat to sculpt your body where it’s needed.
More and more physicians are putting their money on mesotherapy as a viable means to fight cellulite and excess fat. Mesotherapy has been used in France for years. Dr. Michel Pistor invented it in 1952. However, the treatments popularity is just now coming to the forefront as a safe and effective cosmetic treatment. And it is used in dozens of countries by thousands of trained practitioners.
You may be wondering exactly how does mesotherapy work? It’s quite easy. Let’s look at the procedure.
The treatment sessions take only a few minutes. However, you may need several injections over the course of several weeks. Fortunately, the needle that is used is tiny. Doctors’ estimate that four to ten sessions is enough to block your ability to store fat and stimulates your ability to burn it up. The drugs are injected into the middle layer of the skin called the mesoderm. That’s where mesotherapy gets its name.
The drugs work together to break down fat faster than any other method. A licensed practitioner puts medication and vitamins into the middle layer of the skin using microinjections. The medicine helps to reshape the body. A single mesotherapy session can cost as much as $500 because of the amount of drugs that are used. The treatment uses drugs that are commonly used for asthma and high blood pressure.
Vitamins and supplements are also used to knock out the fat. Two drugs in particular are already approved by the FDA for use in other procedures. One of the medications is an asthma drug called aminophylline. A cardiac drug called Isopreteranol is also used on a widespread basis. Here’s two other commonly used medications that are injected into your system. They’re called phosphatidylcholine and sodium deoxycholate..
As I mentioned, you may have to go through at least three to five sessions before you see any results. The number of treatments depends on several factors including, the severity of the condition and the cause of the problem. Mesotherapy helps to improve the body in many ways. It improves blood flow to the area that’s being treated. It dissolves excess fat deposits, removes hardened tissue and improves lymphatic drainage.
Now that you know how mesotherapy works, you’re probably wondering how safe is it? It’s safe according to the doctors and researchers who have trained in it. However some doctors are concerned about the concoction of drugs that are used together to eat away at the cellulite and small fatty deposits. Some say that the Food and Drug Administration should approve all the drugs that are used for use together. So far, they are approved for use apart. And a medical doctor is licensed to use medications as he/she sees fit.
A second concern is what happens to the fatty acids if they are not burned off? Where are they going? The ideal situation is for the fatty acids to burn off. However, a problem could arise if the fatty acids go directly into other tissue. This could lead to damage in the other tissue increasing the risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Fortunately, none of these concerns have materialized despite hundreds of millions of treatments done around the globe. No wonder- for people like Gweneth Lowe the benefits far outweigh the concerns. She says, “I’m just happy to get rid of the excess fat. I eat right. I see my doctor on a regular basis for checkups. I’m happy with the results.” You could be too! Mesotherapy gives you a viable option if you want to get rid of cellulite and small fatty deposits.