Posted on August 30, 2011
Noninvasive body contouring. These are the claims of machines which
- do not involve surgery and
- can melt your fat away.
- Some claim to be pain free.
- many claim to have no downtime
What are they? Do they work? At my recent favorite plastic surgery meeting ever, the TIPS meeting in San Fran, there was a talk about some of these. First lets get to how do they work. They all use different methods:
- mechanical (it breaks fat down)
- thermal (heat)
- ultrasound
- cooling
- external massage (also mechanical)
- injections (chemical)
- water (mechanical)
- RF (heat the tissue)
Wow. Lots of ways to get rid of fat. Seems surprising with all of these ways to get rid of fat that we manage to keep it on our bodies. So, in the interest of not irritating a lot of companies directly by using the names of machines, let me just say some overriding things to think about.
- Many of these machines were brought out under the 510K method of approval. This does not require as much analysis. Many studies were done on few patients (less than 10), studied for short periods of time, etc. Some argue the FDA and governing agencies care much more about safety than the efficacy and reality of their claims. So if a machine says it “melts fat” and they show a EM (electron microscope) image of a fat cell bursting and leaking its contents, that may be enough proof it works.
- These machines and inventions are expensive. They are hard to bring to market, the cost to develop and research them is a lot, and they usually have about a 24 month window on the market before the newest greatest thing is out. The cost for many of the machines for doctors is 90K and above. That is a lot of patients you have to see to recoup the cost.
- I still believe in the general rule: no downtime = no results. Those procedures which give results tend to have more pain, recovery, bruise, etc than those which give no results.
- I do think noninvasive body contouring may be good for SMALL things. The fat under the chin. A small irregularity or fat pocket. For doctors out there, think less than 100cc of fat.
- Beware of marketing. I am a broken record on this, but I think the hype of products now is more than the reality of the product. Many of these companies appeal directly to consumers and media. Splashy catchy headlines precede the scientific proof. One of the speakers was talking about how doctors may be implementing procedures which they might not believe in due to the demand of their patients.
Be thoughtful and critical of new machines, products, and claims.