You can remove unwanted fat using cooling temperature or thermal heat without any downtime. How?
You have been eating a healthy diet and leading an active lifestyle, but the bulge on your tummy and love handles are still there.
The efforts you make to cut down on fatty foods and up your exercise routine will help you lose weight, but the stubborn fat will not go away. Losing weight and losing fat are two different things. With weight loss, you might have lost weight but the number of fat cells in your body remains the same. Losing weight only makes the fat cells smaller, but it does not get rid of the fat cells.
What to do if liposuction is not for you?
Liposuction was the most common surgical procedure for fat removal in the past. But one man’s meat is another’s man poison. While some may be ok with going under the knife, others are uncomfortable with the downtime and discomfort associated with this fat removal surgery.
This article highlights the non-invasive alternatives to liposuction. Medical technology has advanced so much that you don’t have to go under the knife to have stubborn fat on your body removed.
The use of temperature has been medically-proven to be effective in removing unwanted stubborn fat on troublesome areas, and they are now available in Halley Body Slimming Clinic (Halley Body) for those who are looking for non-invasive, no downtime methods of spot removal of body fat.
There are four options to choose from to get rid of excess fat. They include CoolSculpting®, which uses cooling temperature for fat removal, whereas Vanquish, Exilis Ultra 360 (Exilis), and high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), uses thermal heat.
Patients can also opt to pair the treatments with a machine-aided massage of the Vanquish X-Wave device to speed up the breakdown and removal of the dead fat cells. It uses targeted vibration on our skin to break up and loosen cellulite, smoothening the uneven appearance of the skin.
What is CoolSculpting
CoolSculpting is a non-surgical, no downtime fat reduction treatment approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA). It uses the concept of cryolipolysis to freeze and destroy unwanted fat cells, which will be disposed from the body naturally.
This treatment removes 20-27% of fat cells in the treated area each time. Since our body is unable to produce any new fat cells after the age of five, the fat cells that die after fat freezing will be gone forever. That is why CoolSculpting is used to remove unwanted fat in hard to lose areas.
Where can it treat?
Remember doing crunches just so you can get rid of your ‘jelly belly’? Spot toning exercises may tone up your muscles, but it cannot remove unwanted fat in that specific area.
CoolSculpting has different types of “applicators” which can be placed on areas with stubborn, hard to lose fat. These include:
Abdomen
Flank (love handles)
Banana rolls
Bra fat
Cheeks
Inner and outer thighs
Underarm
Knee fat
Double chin
How long does it take?
CoolSculpting can be done in 35 mins for one area by using the CoolAdvantage applicator. The CoolAdvantage applicator also features an enhanced cup design for improved patient comfort as well as a larger cooling area to treat a bigger area. For larger areas like the outer thigh, the treatment time will be longer at slightly over 1 hour.
If the clinic that you go to has more than one CoolSculpting machine, you can shorten treatment time by having more areas treated at the same time. For instance, you can treat four areas at the same time. This “QuadSculpting” method, available at Halley Body which has six CoolSculpting machines, can reduce treatment time by up to 85% when the CoolAdvantage applicators are used.
What happens during treatment?
The doctor or CoolSculpting consultant will first mark the areas that require treatment using different templates. This ensures the accurate placement of the CoolSculpting applicators. Gel pads are then applied to protect the skin during treatment. Once the treatment cycle is complete, a massage will be done to the treated area. This is to help break down the crystallised dead fat cells, which would be passed out by the body naturally.
Instead of a hand massage, you can speed up the breakdown and removal of the dead fat cells with “Vanquish Fat Crusher” add-on treatment. The targeted vibration of the Vanquish X-Wave device on your skin also breaks up and loosens cellulite, smoothening the uneven appearance of the skin.
Post-recovery experience
There might be some tenderness in the areas treated, but that will resolve on its own. Results are expected in three months’ time.
What is Vanquish
Vanquish is a no downtime, non-invasive treatment approved by the US FDA that uses the thermal energy of radiofrequency (RF) waves to destroy fat cells. It uses contactless, deep-tissue heating to remove fat in problematic areas that need contouring. And because it doesn’t require a large amount of pinchable fat during treatment, it can be used as a standalone or complementary treatment with other fat removal treatments like CoolSculpting depending on your desired result.
Studies have shown that the Vanquish fat removal treatment is able to achieve an average of 29% reduction of fat thickness and 4-5cm reduction of waist circumference after four treatments
How does it work?
The Vanquish fat removal device heats your skin, carefully bringing the subcutaneous adipose tissue to 40-42°c. This is the optimum temperature needed for fat reduction by apoptosis or death of fat cells. The dead fat cells are then passed out of your body naturally.
Where can it treat?
Abdomen
Flank (love handles)
Thighs
Arms
What happens during treatment?
The therapist will place you in a comfortable position on the treatment bed or seated in a comfortable position depending on your treatment area. She will then place the applicator about 1 cm away from your treatment area.
During treatment, the therapist will tune the power to achieve the desired temperature of 40-42°c. Each treatment takes 30-45 mins depending on the area requiring fat removal. During the process, you should feel a homogenous or even heating on your skin, not hot spots.
Post-recovery experience
Your skin will look blushed immediate after treatment, but that will go away really quickly once the skin cools down. There might be some tenderness to the treated area, but it is not uncomfortable and will go away with time.
What is Exilis?
Exilis combines two popular and medically-proven technologies–radiofrequency (RF) and ultrasound energy–to eliminate the fat in your body by penetrating the skin and heating up the deeper tissue underneath the skin surface. This no downtime, non-invasive treatment can also be used to firm skin by stimulating collagen and tightening elastin fibres, which in turn tightens saggy skin and smoothens wrinkles.
How does it work?
The combined energy of the RF and ultrasound waves bring the treated area safely and in a controlled manner to 40-42°c, which is the optimum temperature for fat removal. This process is managed by the Exilis’ inbuilt energy flow control system, which ensures that the exact amount of energy is delivered to the treated area. It also has an integrated cooling feature that delivers the energy to proper skin depth to achieve the desired result, while maintaining patient comfort.
Where can it treat?
Abdomen
Flank (love handles)
Thighs
Arms
What happens during treatment?
The therapist will place you in a comfortable position on the treatment bed and apply a layer of massage oil over the treatment area. She will then gently yet firmly glide the Exilis applicator over the treatment area, bringing the temperature to 40-42°c.
During treatment, the therapist will monitor the temperature level. You should feel a warm yet comfortable feeling, similar to having a warm blanket placed on your skin. No numbing cream is needed as this is a no downtime treatment. Treatment for each body part should take about 30 mins. Multiple sessions of four to six sessions done bi-weekly is recommended, but it is best to consult the doctor who will recommend a treatment regime most suitable for you
Post-recovery experience
Similar to the Vanquish treatment, your skin will look blushed immediately after treatment, but that will go away really quickly once the skin cools down. There might be some tenderness to the treated area, but it is not uncomfortable and will go away with time.
4. What is high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU)
HIFU uses thermal heat generated from high intensity focused ultrasound energy to eliminate fat cells permanently and with precision. The thermal effect penetrates deep down into the subcutaneous fat tissue to specifically target problem areas effectively.
By focusing the ultrasound energy 7mm and 13mm below the surface of the skin, burns or trauma to the skin are avoided. This is because the ultrasound energy works only on your fat cells without disrupting or affecting the surface of your skin.
Your body’s inflammatory and healing responses then kick in. Special cells called macrophages engulf the damaged fat cells. The macrophages then transport the fat to the liver, and your body naturally disposes of it so they are gone forever.
Similar to the rest of the fat removal treatments, only your fat cells are affected, leaving your skin tissues safe and intact. This means you can do what you like or need to do straight after treatment.
Areas that can be treated
Abdomen
Inner and outer thighs
Hips
Arms
How long does it take?
It depends on the area. It can take up to 1 hr to manually pass the probe over the problematic area.
What happens during treatment?
During treatment, ultrasound gel is applied to the treatment area. This ensures good contact between the skin and the HIFU probe. Multiple passes may be needed per area to ensure an effective treatment.
Treatment experience
You will feel a hot, tingling or prickly sensation with no disruption to the skin layer.
Post-recovery experience
There might be some tenderness in the area treated, but this will resolve on its own. This treatment needs to be repeated about three times.
Which fat removal is suitable?
Always consult a doctor and tell them your concerns. If necessary, they may also pair a fat removal treatment with a doctor-monitored weight management programme or a skin firming treatment for effective, optimal weight loss and body contouring.
The use of these treatments/products is dependent on the clinical assessment and judgement of a medical professional. Please consult a medical doctor for an informed discussion on the use of this treatment/product.
