Editor’s note: Now that bathing suit season is nearly here, a number of readers of HealthyWoman from Bottom Line have asked if there is any quick and easy way to get rid of some stubborn body fat before they hit the beach. The answer is yes! It is called low-level laser treatment (LLLT), and the device that doctors use to provide the treatment recently received FDA approval.
Another Bottom Line publication, Bottom Line Natural Healing, recently ran an article on LLLT that generated huge interest among its subscribers. Its author, Mark Stengler, NMD, graciously agreed to share this information with HealthyWoman readers.
In his own words, here’s what Dr. Stengler has to say about LLLT...
"How can I get rid of this belly fat?" That is the question countless patients ask when they come to my clinic. My answer (as you might expect) includes a healthful diet and an exercise program. But losing weight in these ways is not easy. So before you schedule that tummy tuck or sign up with some gimmicky program that promises to take inches off your waist, find out about a new alternative.
It is a low-level laser treatment called Zerona. The laser device used for the treatment was approved by the FDA for body contouring in September 2010, although it has been tested and used by physicians since 2008. (While there are other LLLT devices made by other companies, Zerona is the one I am most familiar with.) The procedure is performed by holistic physicians, plastic surgeons and some dermatologists.
Why do I suggest laser therapy for fat reduction? Because aside from diet and exercise, it is one of the most noninvasive therapies for eliminating fat cells—and I believe that there’s nothing wrong with using technology to help make things easier. Zerona does not involve surgery or anesthesia... and there are no incisions and no pain. I recommend it for people who are five pounds to 25 pounds overweight, who really want to lose an inch or two of fat and haven’t been able to do so. (It is not for obese patients, who usually need to lose several inches or more of waist circumference.)
What Is Low-Level Laser?
One reason I like LLLT is that the energy output of the laser is extremely low—only about one one-thousandth as intense as the lasers used to perform other procedures, such as eliminating age spots and skin blemishes. Known as cold laser technology because it isn’t hot and doesn’t burn the skin, Zerona involves a focused light that penetrates below the skin, stimulating receptors inside individual cells. In the case of fat cells, the laser emulsifies some of the fat that they contain, allowing the fat to move into the fluid surrounding the cells. From there, the liquefied fat is absorbed into the lymph nodes and eventually released as fatty acids into the bloodstream, where it is eliminated as waste.
Unlike liposuction (the cosmetic surgical procedure that removes excess fat from the body), LLLT doesn’t eliminate fat cells. LLLT patients retain all the fat cells that they started with—the cells simply contain less fat. And the body uses its own detoxification process to rid itself of the contents of the fat cells.
In a study conducted by Erchonia Medical, manufacturer of the Zerona laser, and published in the peer-reviewed journal Lasers in Surgery and Medicine, researchers found that volunteers treated for two weeks with the laser lost, on average, about 0.7 inches from each thigh... 0.98 inches from the waist... and 1.05 inches from the hips. Lost inches can stay off permanently if patients maintain a healthful diet and exercise program.
To get more details on LLLT, I spoke to Thomas Barnes, MD, a cosmetic surgeon in Newport Beach, California, who uses the Zerona technique and serves as a consultant to laser distributor Santa Barbara Medical Innovations.
Losing Inches of Fat in Weeks
The Zerona device consists of five individual lasers, each mounted on a slowly revolving platform that allows the laser light to reach a relatively large surface area. During each treatment, the lasers are beamed from the waistline down to the middle of the thighs, first on the front of the body for 20 minutes and then on the back of the body for 20 minutes. Because the energy level is low, patients don’t feel anything.
Although this approach is designed to reduce the fat content of areas directly exposed to the laser light, Dr. Barnes has found that the laser produces a systemic effect, draining fat from adjacent cells that aren’t directly under the laser beams. Example: A laser pointed at the torso also can remove fat around the arms. For this reason, Dr. Barnes takes before-and-after measurements of his patients’ upper arms, neck and upper abdomen as well as the targeted treatment areas. While results vary, he reports an average circumference reduction of one inch per measurement area. One of Dr. Barnes’s patients, a 50-year-old woman who had been unable to lose fat in her midsection despite dieting, lost an average of almost two inches from her waist, hips, thighs and knees.
Patients undergo a 40-minute session every other day, typically for a total of six sessions. This sequence is necessary because pores in fat cells, which are opened by the laser, begin to close after 72 hours. The treatment works best for people who want to lose areas of fat and for those who need motivation to spur on their weight-loss efforts. Dr. Barnes advises patients to drink eight glasses of water and walk for 30 to 60 minutes every day from the start to the end of treatment to help metabolize the released fat.
Unlike liposuction, which carries a risk for bruising, swelling and tissue damage, LLLT has no adverse effects, and I have heard no complaints about being left with sagging skin. There appear to be benefits associated with emptying fatty acids from fat cells. The study in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine found that LLLT patients had significant reductions in total cholesterol and triglycerides.
LLLT is available around the country. The cost for a full treatment regimen of six sessions is about $2,500 (not covered by insurance). To find a health-care provider in your area who offers Zerona treatments, call 866-207-8907 or visit www.FindZerona.com.
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