Body contouring: Get the body you always wanted

By Dr. Jean Casello

Let’s face it, every body changes its appearance over time, and the aging process isn’t always to blame. Some of us fall in and out of intervals of exercising, indulge in occasional unhealthy eating, experience a slowing down of our metabolism, or have too much sun exposure.

All of these factors take a toll and impact how our bodies look. Luckily, there are now many body contouring treatments available that can actually reverse these processes and sculpt the body you’ve always wanted.

We are seeing amazing body transformations in our patients. Our ideal candidate for many of these procedures is someone who has a relatively healthy lifestyle and overall good eating and exercising habits. The treatments work best for patients who are looking to rid those extra fat bulges and pounds.

The term body contouring is very broad. There are various procedures that fall under the body-contouring umbrella including specific treatments for cellulite reduction, skin tightening and fat reduction. The newer treatments tend to be less or non-invasive, minimally pain-free and very effective. The added benefit is little or no downtime. The physician determines the type of treatment conducted on each patient during a body analysis.

Cellulite

An estimated 45 million American women between the ages of 20 and 50 have cellulite, the dimpled skin that occurs primarily on the hips, thighs and buttocks. Cellulite is a condition of bulging fat cells and other coexisting factors. Sometimes the fat cells expand so much that they cause the collagen fibers around them to bend causing puckering of the skin on the surface.

There are treatments that involve laser, suction and massage techniques that can visibly reduce the appearance of cellulite on any body area. The treatments work by breaking up the fatty pockets under the surface of the skin. Through lymphatic drainage, the extra fluid is excreted through urination. In addition to the massage techniques, a low energy laser can be used to increase circulation, as well as localized cooling to reduce inflammation. Several treatments are required to obtain maximum results and maintenance plans are critical to keep long-lasting results.

Skin tightening

The aging process and the cumulative effects of sun, gravity, genetics, and other factors cause a loss of skin elasticity, which can lead to sagging, lipoatrophy and other loosening of the skin and facial structure.  We tend to refer to age-related sagging skin with unflattering terms like loose jowls, turkey neck and falling face. Another cause of loose skin, specifically on the body, is a significant loss in body weight.

In cases where you have a significant amount of loose skin, you may find no other solution than plastic surgery (e.g. facelift, body lift, arm lift, etc.) because the underlying muscles need to be addressed and repositioned. There are now skin tightening procedures that use infrared light, radio frequency and technologies to rebuild collagen fibers and actually firm the skin in a series of treatments.

Fat reduction

Fat reduction is a term applied to treatments that remove unwanted fat from our bodies. The most common form of fat reduction until now has been liposuction, which is generally effective but also comes with significant potential risks, as does any invasive procedure.

Scientists and researchers have been making new breakthroughs in the science of minimally and even non-invasive fat reduction. New treatment options range widely from laser liposuction and tumescent liposuction, which is done in an office with local anesthesia —  to completely non-invasive methods that use a cooling technique to destroy the fat cells by freezing them. These treatments are great for those patients who want to reduce extra body weight but don’t necessarily want to go under the knife.