ShareThisWouldn't it be great if someone could wave a wand and make pounds of fat disappear?
You know that's a dream. For most of us, weight loss is going to come down to the basics: Eat less and move more. There's no magic way to get out of a fat suit.
But for those areas that just don't respond -- how do you exercise away that strip of flab on your back above your bra? Who's got the moves to make love handles or a poochy tummy disappear? -- we've looked into a couple of medical treatments that offer hope without general anesthesia or the long downtime of more extensive plastic surgery.
These procedures -- one new, one more established -- don't remove a lot of weight. They are not cheap, insurance doesn't cover them and they don't offer instant results. But they can be a finishing touch at the end of a weight-loss regimen, or an inspiration to keep you on track.
A new machine called the Zeltiq cryolipolysis device (www.zeltiq.com) cools fat cells in small areas so they shrink and can be eliminated naturally from the body. Zeltiq Aesthetics introduced the device last year and has an application for approval pending before the Food and Drug Administration. Meanwhile, it's legal for doctors to use the device for fat reduction, because it has been approved for skin cooling during dermatological treatments.
"This is not for the obese," says Dr. Elizabeth F. Callahan of SkinSmart Dermatology in Sarasota, Fla. "It's for someone who's got a little patch or bulge of fat they can't get rid of."
A cold gel pad is applied over the area in question. A vacuum-like device, placed over the pad, pulls the skin taut. The vacuum's cooling plates chill the fat for about an hour, during which the patient lies in a comfortable chair and can read or watch television.
Harvard researchers discovered that "fat cells are uniquely sensitive to cold," Callahan said. The chilling permanently destroys the fat cells, which the body disposes of through the liver just as it processes the fat you eat. The company claims the procedure can reduce the fat layer by 22.4 percent after one treatment. Once the fat cells are gone, they're gone. But keep overeating and new fat will deposit itself somewhere else.
Patients will feel the chill, but it's tolerable.
"It grabs hold real tight of your fat and pulls on it," said Laurie Solliday, 56, who underwent the procedure to eliminate a roll of flesh above her navel. "It's not uncomfortable. It was maybe a 2 on a scale of 10, and that's pushing it."
When the device is removed, it leaves what looks like "a cold, red hunk of butter," as Solliday put it, under the skin. The lump disappears quickly, and the mild redness and puffiness dissipate quickly, typically with no discomfort. But it's not a quick fix; results show within two to six months.
Solliday's tape measure showed she'd taken off about an inch and a half less than two months after the procedure. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat," she said.
Callahan estimated the cost at $500 to $900 per treatment. It works well on love handles, back fat, inner thighs and the tummy, she said.
Another way to sculpt and reshape problem areas without major surgery is through SmartLipo, a procedure that's been around for several years now. This form of liposuction is done under local anesthesia -- the patient is awake and alert throughout -- and the fat is suctioned out through narrow tubes, perhaps as thin as a strand of angel-hair pasta. Under standard liposuction, the patient is fully anesthetized and the physician uses larger tubes.
SmartLipo incisions are tiny and, its advocates say, there is less pain, less expense and virtually no downtime. Conventional liposuction may require days or weeks for recovery.
"Almost every area of the body is possible to do," says Dr. Thomas Su of Artistic Lipo Sculpting Center in New Port Richey, Fla. "The arms are pretty common, thighs, legs, waist, love handles, the fat pad on the back."
Su often has a patient stand during the procedure so he can be sure his suctioning, sculpting and shaping create the desired effect. "The goal is to get it smooth and even so it looks nice and there are no irregularities."
Su infuses the designated area with a mixture of saline solution and lidocaine, an anesthetic. When it's numb, he uses those narrow tubes, or cannulas, to break up and suction out fat. The trademarked SmartLipo system uses a tiny laser to melt the fat, but Su doesn't. "I don't think it adds any benefit to the overall removal of fat," he said.
After the procedure, patients wear an elastic compression garment for several weeks to help additional saline solution drain, to hold the skin firmly while it reattaches to underlying muscle, and to reduce swelling. A procedure may last from two to six hours, depending on the area being treated.
(Judy Stark is a freelance writer in St. Petersburg. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com.)
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