Archive for the ‘SmartLipo’ Category

Zerona versus SmartLipo versus Liposuction Do They Work?

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

I have had many question about the Zerona body contouring system and if it works.  The premise of this device is to use low level light therapy to get your body to dissolve fat.  This means using power level equivalent to a laser pointer on the skin and expecting that this will remove fat.  I have to agree that a no downtime, completely non invasive liposuction procedure does sounds great, but unfortunately it just does not work. 

I recent returned from a Laser Therapy meeting a Harvard and had a discussion with several of my colleagues about the subject.  These are guys from Harvard, MIT and UC Davis who are much smarter than myself when it comes to understand the engineering behind these devices.  The simple fact is that this device will not penetrate much deeper than 1cm into the tissue.  It defies the laws of light based physics with the energy and type of power source they are using. 

After reviewing the data on their site there are a few things to keep in mind.  First is that circumferential body measurements (literally taking a measuring tape around the body part in question) are notoriously inaccurate.  Simply adding a little more force on the measuring tape can decrease the measurement several inches.   If Zerona really wanted to measure fat loss in an area they needed to do an MRI.  The second is that their own data show the device does not penetrate more that about 1 cm.  The total girth loss in their study was a little over an inch (or about 1cm from both sides).  The slides they show with the fat breaking up are realistic but remember that this is very superficial.  Most fat pads in the body are from 6 to 10 cm thick for people who are not overweight.  For those that are overweight or obese the Zerona device is truly useless.   

So then how does this compare to SmartLipo and traditional Liposuction?  It truth is that it does not compare.  The pictures I have seen on Zerona’s e websites are less than impressive.  They have large lighting and positioning changes.  Even with those camera tricks, they do not show much improvement at all.  My patient would be asking for their money back if I provided them with those type of results.  I have seen other Zerona before and after pictures floating around the web that show amazing results. Those are either altered with Photoshop or they are the results of a different procedure. 

SmartLipo and traditional liposuction are still the standard of care.  We have now performed well over 100 SmartLipo cases and the SmartLipo procedure really does have much shorter downtime than traditional liposuction.  There is much less bleeding which leads to less bruising and swelling.  The lower cost and safety of the SmartLipo procedure also make it very attractive.  A study presented at the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery last year showed that SmartLipo produced about twice as much tightening when compared to traditional liposuction. The SmartLipo procedure will take slightly longer to do and is best for those with body masses indexes below about 30.   Overall, given two good surgeons that perform the procedures well, the final results of SmartLipo and traditional lipo are about equal but the SmartLipo will cost a bit less and achieve faster results.

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Treatment for Bruising and Swelling

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

We often get questions about what patients can do to decrease the amount of bruising or swelling after a procedure.  Patients want to know what are the most effective ways to make bruising and swelling go away.  The good news is that there are effective steps that can both decrease the likelihood of bruising or swelling and decrease healing time.

Avoid:

Before any invasive procedure or other treatments that may alter the integrity of the skin such as Botox or Fillers make sure you should avoid certain vitamins and supplements.  Stop taking all of the following for at least one week:

NSAIDS (Advil, Motrin, Aleve)
Omega 3 fatty acids (Fish Oil)
Flax Seed Oil
Vitamin E
St. John’s Wart
Garlic
Ginko
Ginseng

A special note about aspirin:  It would need to be stopped for 10-14 days before a procedure but check with you prescribing physician first to see if it is ok to stop this medication.

Most minor bruising lasts a couple days to a couple weeks so be patients.  Keep firm pressure on any area that is obviously swelling for at least 5 minutes.  Place cool packs over the area immediately after treatment and for the first 24 hours (no hot packs).  Keep the area elevated for the first few days, especially at night.

Supplements:

There are two main supplements that have been proven to reduce the healing time of bruising and swelling.  In some studies healing times have been decreased by as much as 40%.

  • Arnica Montana can be very effective, the oral forms like SinEcch are much more effective that topical gels. It is even more effective when both forms are used together. Take the tablets as directed and apply gel 4-6 times a day.
  • Bromelain (an enzyme found in pineapple) also helps to minimize the bruising by helping to digest the proteins that trigger bruising and swelling. Take 250-500mg four times a day until the bruise heals.

 

Make-up Tips

Remember that green tinted make-ups will help decrease redness and yellow make-up will help absorb bluish discoloration.

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Posted in Active FX, Active FX, Articles/Q&A, Botox, Deep FX, Deep FX, Juvederm, Skin Care, SmartLipo | No Comments »

SmartLipo: How long does it take to see results?

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

With SmartLipo you must be a little patient.  Swelling will starts to go down after about two weeks. If you start doing massage about twice a week 10-14 days after the procedure, you will likely see the majority of your swelling gone by about 4-6 weeks.  Bruising with the SmartLipo is normally minimal and any bruising that is present will normally resolve within 2-4 weeks.

To help reduce swelling and bruising even faster, try oral arnica (500mg three times a day).  Note that numbness over the treated area also last several months.  Remember, it really takes about 3-4 months to really see something close to final results, and your skin and soft tissue will continue to remodel for over a year. If you are still not happy with the results at 3-4 months, it is time to take to your provider about a possible touch-up.

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SmartLipo: better results from wearing compression garment longer?

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

There is very little evidence that compression garments improve final outcome after any type of lipo.  That being said they definitely reduce swelling  if worn for the first couple weeks of surgery (if the surgeon uses open drainage).  They also tend to make patients more comfortable and decrease the likelihood of dizziness during the first few days after the procedure.
After about two weeks you have probably gotten the most use out of your garment that you are going to get.  In fact garments that are too tight can actually prolong healing times because they crush the tiny lymphatic vessels trying to take fluid and damaged tissue out of the wound site.  To get the best results make sure that you have close follow-up and start getting post surgical massage therapy about twice a week starting 10-14 days after your procedure.

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Slim lipo vs. Smartlipo: which is best?

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

The new SmartLipo MPX has two wavelengths (1064nm and 1320nm) vs. the Slim Lipo (920nm).  Although Palomars 920nm Slim Lipo may look like a good wavelength for fat on paper it actually may not work as well.  The reason is that the target is actually the membrane around the fat (a mixture of both water and lipid) and not the fat itself.  When we hit the membrane with the right wavelength the fat cell breaks apart.  The contents of the broken fat cell are either aspirated during the last part of the procedure or are broken down and removed by the immune system.  Barry DiBernardo in New York did some nice work showing these broken down contents did not increase the level of fats in the blood stream and therefore it is very unlikely that any remnants missed by aspiration are remanufactured into functional fat cells.

Due to power and the size of the laser fiber, the SmartLipo MPX is able to cut through more fat in less time than the SlimLipo.  A head to head clinical study would be extremely beneficial to sort out the actual differences between the two devices.  All in all both machines can be used effectively for fat reduction but the SmartLipo has had much more peer reviewed research and thus is understood better.

LAL (laser assisted lipo) has some significant advantages over other types of lipo. When comparing to traditional lipo with a 4-6mm cannula, there tends to be less damage to the connective tissue with LAL.  This is probably due to the smaller cannula size with LAL.  Although it is somewhat provider dependent, the LAL devices tend to cause less swelling, less bruising and thus less downtime likely due to the fact that they coagulate blood vessels during the procedure.  Also, to date there have been no reported cases of superficial vascular changes (unlike with traditional superficial liposuction and ultrasound assisted lipo).

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