Lipo-Dissolve: Can Injections Really Melt Fat?

this makes me feel so uneasy. yet another waste of money on a risky product that doesn't actually need to exist. exercise and a healthy diet can reduce the size of fat cells - no injections needed. yet people will always find a way to find a way out of this. i'm sure there will be hoards of people willing to try this because they've "tried everything and nothing works".

sorry that should be: *...find a way to get out of this

I had lipodissolve on my stomach but I did my homework first. I researched the procedure and found that no deaths have been reported and that this was much safer and more precise in the removal of small areas of fat than liposuction. I even read that the ingredients in the formula, by themselves, are fda approved. They're actually used to treat other medical conditions. I started off as a size 8. I'm now a 4. I had a pretty good body and I am very active and work out daily, even on the weekends. I work out with a physical trainer and eat right, but could never get rid of that little bit of fat on my stomach after having kids. This was a great solution for me. I haven't lost any weight but I have lost 3.5 inches around my waist.

tabloids say that Brittney Spears used LipoDissolve... the thing about it its that its supposed to not only disolve fat but also help tighten the surrounding skin.

Monica, care to offer a little more detail? How many injections did you have? Any side effects?
I'm horribly scared of needles and surgery and things like that, so I don't think I'll be going this route anytime in the foreseeable future, but it's interesting to hear about.

"Lipodissolve is a high risk endeavor" .... I'd rather work through the emotional issues that motivate my overeating and solve those for long-term success in weight maintenance. Lipodissolve sounds scary, but that's my opinion. ;)

Thanks for the info!

Sounds scary to me too. I guess if someone has a very unusual distribution of fat (as some do) where they look totally misshapen in a way that dieting/exercise can't address--then it might make sense if it were safer than liposuction. But is it? And for ordinary weight loss that can be addressed by diet & exercise, I think the risks of either procedure outweigh the benefits.

Could be risky. Most people don't realize one of the best ways to begin losing weight and to keep it off is by simply increasing your activity level. Doing something active most days of the week will increase the metabolism and help melt away excess pounds - especially those that may have been creeping up over the years. And this could be done, in most cases, without even cutting back on food intake.

Mia...and any others quick to judge...I am 5'2" with long legs and a short waist, and I've had 5 children. My belly got HUGE with those babies, as I gained very little around my hips. SO, even at 115, being very fit and a runner, I have this saggy, soggy, stretched out middle that I would FOR SURE like to "dissolve" or have liposuctioned out.
If money only grew on trees...

I heard about this on NPR the other day. They talked to a woman who claimed good results, but also said she'd begun a diet and exercise program. I almost choked when the doc said she'd had several treatments, then said she has about 60 injections each side!! This was for "love handles".

I can see people wanting it, and it's supposed to be natural ingredients, but that doesn't mean much to me as hemlock is also natural. The thing that bothered me is that the injections contain and emulsifier and the ingredients are excreted in the urine. No one seems to know the long term effects if it's abused and repeatedly used as a means of weight loss, but apparently it's safe for people getting problem areas treated. The fact that lipo requires anesthesia and this doesn't is a big draw too, I'm sure.

Has anyone seen the pix of Melanie Griffith in shorts that came out a few months ago? She has very odd-looking loose skin with horizontal sagging on her knees and thighs, as though she's wearing very baggy stockings.

According to the gossip magazines, she had lipodissolve, but too much fat was taken out and hence the loose skin. Not that Melanie Griffiths had fat knees or thighs in the first place. Seeing those pix has put me off lipodissolve for sure!

Yes, Erica, it is reported that Britney has been undergoing lipodissolve treatments. But, have you seen her thighs?? They have the very tell-tale look of loose skin.

Just like the other commenter said, Melanie Griffith has the same - allbeit much worse - look. So does Kate Moss (but hers may be due to other *ahem* substances for weight loss).

Mar said:
Mia...and any others quick to judge...I am 5'2" with long legs and a short waist, and I've had 5 children. My belly got HUGE with those babies, as I gained very little around my hips. SO, even at 115, being very fit and a runner, I have this saggy, soggy, stretched out middle that I would FOR SURE like to "dissolve" or have liposuctioned out. [...]

i dont think that i'm "quick" to judge - i have an opinion on this and i expressed it. i'm 125, very physically active and have parts of my body that will never change with good diet & exercise. now i dont expect people to learn to live with the flaws that they hate if it makes them unhappy. if they want to change to "better" themselves and improve their self-confidence then more power to them. however, is a high-risk procedure worth it for the sake of vanity? imo, it is not.

additionally, i'd like to point out that my original comment was in regards to those that weren't looking to lose those "annoying" areas of fat but was rather a comment on people with fat that could be significantly reduced through dieting and exercise. there are people getting liposuction, trying pills etc instead of going down the old-fashioned route simply because they do not want to. in our society, there is pressure to look as close to perfect as possible in the shortest time so people are trying to change quicker than their body can handle using unhealthy methods. imo, unnecessery & dangerous invasive surgery is not right.

No one should try this treatment as long as it is considered unsafe and is not approved by the FDA. You can find better ways to spend the $3000. As JoLynn said, solving your overeating problems and starting a fitness program is the better way to long-term weight-loss success.

I'm very oddly proportioned. I'm 5'7" and 118 lbs. I'm really athletic, so a lot of my weight is muscle, but my torso is extremely short. My stomach seems to stick out, and my abs don't show, despite the fact that my body fat percentage is only 16.5%. While I wouldn't consider these injections or liposuction, I could understand how someone in my position might. There would be little to no risk of gaining the fat back. There is just no amount of diet/ exercise that will give me the "perfect" body. Instead I focus on being the very best expression of my genome that I can. If there was less emphasis on attaining some ideal of a perfect body, and more emphasis on attaining YOUR perfect body I think these products wouldn't be such a hot topic. It IS what a body in good shape is capable of that holds the appeal. Most notions of beauty (balance, not being over or under weight, musculature, etc) are based on the simple fact that people with these traits are/were more likely to be fertile and healthy.