Lipo-Dissolve: Can Injections Really Melt Fat?

Lipo Dissolve involves injecting a cocktail of substances into subcutaneous fat deposits - in the hope of "dissolving" the fat tissue.

Marketed as a safer and less invasive alternative to liposuction, proponents say lipo-dissolve is useful for treating small "problem areas" such as love handles, bra fat and a softening jaw line. (via)

Despite having a number of advocates (such as fig) and anecdotal success stories - there are considerable risks.

• The treatment is not approved by the FDA (unlike Liposuction).
• No-one knows exactly how the treatment works - except that it kills off cells.
• There appear to be no double-blinded, placebo-controlled studies.
• Lipo-dissolve is based on mesotherapy - a much older treatment (still without much in the way of trials to back up anecdotes).
• You can expects costs to be in the $1000-$3000 range along with many sessions.
• The treatment could involve anywhere from 70 to 120 injections into an area.
• Results appear to be very mixed - some people appear to lose fat, others don't. Lipodissolve is a high risk endeavor.
• Brazil banned injections of phosphatidylcholine (a common mesotherapy ingredient) in 2003.

Of course diet and exercise is a better long-term approach; a cosmetic procedure doesn't prevent you from gaining back the very same fat deposit a few months later.

However - sometimes with even the best diet and exercise regime - cellulite (and stretched skin) fail to disappear.

The question is - is it such a terrible thing to have cellulite and a less than "perfect" body?