Wouldn’t it be marvellous if there was a way to shed fat, reduce cellulite and even tighten the skin without the need for invasive liposuction? Well, the good news is that soon, there may well be.
A new fat-busting treatment called SmartLipo has arrived in the UK from Italy. Billed as a lunch-hour procedure and a safer, less invasive alternative to liposuction (the most common fat-removal technique), it is said to be the answer to bingo wings, double chins, saddle-bag thighs, stodgy bottoms and even gynecomastia (male breasts).
“The SmartLipo is a fine laser probe, like a fibre optic, which, when inserted into the skin, increases the temperature of the fat cells to 45C,” explains Dr Aamer Khan, whose Harley Street clinic will be offering the treatment. “This causes the membranes of the fat cells to break down, releasing liquid fat that the body gets rid of through the natural metabolic process over 12 to 16 weeks.”
It is less extreme than liposuction, which involves a general anaesthetic and an overnight stay in hospital. “During liposuction a larger probe is inserted into the skin and then raked back and forth to suck out the fat,” says Khan. “There are serious potential side effects such as bleeding, scarring and damage to blood vessels.” SmartLipo is not only safer than liposuction, but also more wallet-friendly, costing from £2,000 per area, as opposed to £5,000-£8,000.
Already available in Italy, the Far East and Australia, it is now garnering support here. Dr Nick Lowe, a consultant dermatologist at London’s Cranley Clinic, is excited about the prospect of this fat-melting laser. “The holy grail is to remove fat without damaging or burning the under-layers of skin,” he says. “The Nd:YAG laser, which SmartLipo is based on, emits a wavelength that won’t do any harm to the skin and has been used frequently for hair removal and other treatments in the past.”
However, that’s not to say that we should take the distributor’s claims at face value. Although it is in the final stages of testing and has hit no bumps in the road so far, SmartLipo does not yet have approval from the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
There are further claims that it also tightens the skin (something that liposuction fails to do, resulting in the need for tummy tucks or other surgical procedures afterwards) and these need backing up, too. “I’d be interested to see if there is any skin-tightening involved, as the laser mechanism may induce new collagen-formation, which would tighten the skin,” says Lowe. “But you should always be wary of what laser companies say without providing the data.”
For more details about SmartLipo, call 0800 614853
