SubscribeLipo-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?
More like this in Surgery · Jun 29, 2007
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".
Replysorry that should be: *...find a way to get out of this
ReplyI 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.
Replytabloids 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.
ReplyMonica, care to offer a little more detail? How many injections did you have? Any side effects?
ReplyI'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!
ReplySounds 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.
ReplyCould 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.
ReplyMia...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.
ReplyIf 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.
ReplyHas 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!
ReplyYes, 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).
Replyi 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.
ReplyNo 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.
ReplyI'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.
ReplyHow can anyone take such risks on the body! These things do more bad than good and no one out there is responsible for any side effects. The best bet on loosing fat is proper diet and exercise , there are no short cuts.
ReplyIts the one and only thing you need to give most respect to , your body.
ReplyI don't think liposuction (or this thing) are meant as weight loss alternatives, they are really to change the shape of someone who is already at a good weight.
I'd give this a go over liposuction, if it were legal here, I think. The older I get the more it seems my body fat all shifts to my arms. I get leaner elsewhere, and my arms keep getting fatter (and no, it is *not* muscle from weight lifting - I wish). It is extremely vain and shallow, I know, but if it improves self-esteem... low self-esteem has been proven to shorten your life expectancy.
ReplyI saw this demonstrated on TV. It appeared to work just fine there. But I always have felt that if it appears to be too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.
Replyi have celluite in my hips and i been looking for somthing but dont be belive in lipo and i found out that body wrap i think that would be much better than lipo im gonne give it a try one day and i will tell u guys how it work
ReplyI don't think it's worth the risks. Nobody has a perfect body.
ReplyEven if I need it, I'm not about the try something without the approval of the FDA.
ReplyConsidering those risks, I don't think it would be wise to prioritize weight loss over health. Weight loss may be the path to a healthier life but the process is questionable.
ReplyI have been doing lipodissolve for 6 months and no side effects nor am i using it to lose weight. I have been on a diet and excersie program that is "realistic" and have lost 28lbs in these 6 months. I am 5'7 and weigh 168 and since i started this proceedure on my upper abs i have lost 5 inches. I was never able to work that upper ab part but since this treatment, the difference is VERY noticable.
I cant say enough good things about what i have been through. My man sees the results and is constantly telling me that i look real good. He met me when i weighed less than 140lbs and says my tummy is a lot firmer than then so its a great thing this does for ones self esteam.
ReplyWhere are you getting your procedure? Thank you.
Replyalso people, liposuction has been attributed to several deaths, whether the doctor is certified or not. Although lipodissolve is not approved by the FDA, its not for losing weight, its to help the problem areas that healthy eating and excersie do not get.
Just because you may think its a risky procedure, its NOT suregery. Take this from someone that has been doing it for 6 months and i am very happy with the results. They do not lie to you and tell you its to help you lose weight. This is to help with the problem areas that you have tried to get rid of in the past with no results. They show you and teach you that losing the fat is about healthy ways and that this is not about losing the weight in an unhealthy way. They dont sugar coat it for you either.
ReplyIt occurs to me as a short term weight loss methods. But using this method didn't solve the root problem.
It's like no pulling out the root of a wild grass. (After a while it'll come back again)
There is a root when people are overweight. Might be the habit, might be the environment, might be the health condition of the body and many other possibilities.
Taking out the fats just like this might let you feel good a while. But it will come back again. So, what will you do if you go for that? Paying thousands and thousands again?
If anyone going for short term results, I don't recommend it too. It is too dangerous(for me).
Thanks for contributing new knowledge to us again.
ReplyHere is some further info I found about lipo-dissolve. It all seems to be raising a lot of unanswered questions. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=70876
Replyhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB118160554567831887-search.html?KEYWORDS=rundle
Oh and this website I found seems pretty informative as well: www.lipotreatmentfacts.org. I mean losing some inches seems pretty appealing but not so much when it involves INJECTING stuff into your body that is essentially unregulated in the U.S.
I've scheduled my 1st session this Thurs. I've had a facelift and other things done. This is the solution for my clothing to feel and fit. I'm 61 going on 50.
ReplyI have a lot of money invested in my wardrobe and the only issue I have is my size 6 won't zip or button in the waist. I don't see any reason not to try it. I'm spending 1300.00 which is nothing compared to what's in my closet.
bebo,
ReplyI am a provider for fig. and I have been performing injections for a year and a half. I am not sure if anyone has answered your question. Lipodissolve is not a treatment for cellulite. It is best used for unwanted pockets of fat. Injections are placed into the reserved fat layers. I have seen some people get improvement in their cellulite when treating their legs, but that is just an added benefit for people. Mesotherapy is marketed as treatment for cellulite. The needles are a lot shorter and it targets the intradermal layer of the skin. This is more superficial then the reserved layer of fat. The main components of lipodissolve are phosphatidylcholine and deoxycholate. Mesotherapy is composed of a mixed cocktail of different formulas. I hope this information helps. Let me know if you have any more questions.
Can it help Lipedema? Thank you.
ReplyHi,
I have a question about lipo injection i am a 42 year old male and have bitch tits from taking steriods in the earliy 90s I ahev the procedure works well for men no matter how lean i get it doesnt go away I no there is surgery for this also but is very expensive and no insurance covers it thanks for you input Matt
ReplyOk. The reason lipodissolve and liposuction work is because and exercise often has limited results is because these two treatments kill fat cells. Exercise and good diet simply shrink the cells. So if you exercise really hard you just become a smaller version of what you looked like before.
We do not make new fat cells after puberty, and our fat cells tend to secrete hormones that keep us at the same weight, regardless of how much we exercise. Hence we tend to hover around our set weight, Our body really does not like it when our fat cells shrink below a certain level this is why dieters find it so difficult to keep lost weight off. If you kill the fat cells they produce less hormones, so we can be smaller without having to shrink the cells to nothing. We just have less of them
PPC the active ingredient is medically approved but for other medical uses. Using it for fat dissolving is an off label use of the drug, like using aspirin to protect the heart. PPC is actually a naturally made substance in our bodies.
I have had several treatments. I have taken measurements before and after. I loose on average 1 inch per treatment in circumferance.
I eat less than 30 gms of fat a day (but have done so for years before lipodissolve) and treat two liters of water a day. Before undergoing lipodissolve my weight did not vary much.
ReplyIt works for me!
i like to know the best things to take/ eat while do lipo injections
Replyhi every one i am thinking about lipodisolve myself, i do alot of exercise and diet and i can loose my body fat once i did 3 hrs of exercises and i just eat steam veg and i lost alot , but after i stop it in about 3 month i start gaining weight and even i start doing exercise and diet this time, i couldnot loose fat, so i guess if some other ways can help us why not as long as they are not harmful,
ReplyHELLO I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU NO THAT I STARTED DOING LIPODISSOLVE AND A FRIEND OF MIND I DID 1 SESSION ON BOTH SIDE WERE U CAN SAY Y LOVE HANDLES IM NOT GOING TO LIE AND SAY THAT IT IS NOT PAINFUL BUT THE TRUTH IS DURING THE SESSIONS U WILL GET NUBING CREAM AND OVER 20 TO 50 INJECTIONS AT THE CITES THEY FEEL LIKE U ARE GETTING PINCHES FOLLOWING AFTER THAT U DO START FEELING THE BURNING AND SWELLING AND REDDNESS FOR THE FIRST 24 HRS IT WILL GO A WAY THEN U WILL BE TENDER I FOUND RELIEF THRU MASSAGEING THE AREA AFTER THE SWELLING U WILL NOTICE SUM CHANGE i WILL BE GOING BAC 4 MOR BUT LET ME TELL U U CANT BE SCARED ALL THE TIME BECAUSE IT IS NOT REGULATE BY THE GOVERMENT LOOKK AT LIKE THIS DO WE REALLY NO WHATS IN OUR FOOD WHEN WE GO OUT 2 EAT OR WHEN THEY GIVE USE NEW MED THINK BOUT IN TEXAS COST 200 DOLLARS EACH SESSION HOPE THIS HELPS MOTHER OF 3 KIDS DO WHAT MAKE U HAPPY EVEYONE IS DIFFERENT.
ReplySome of the claims in this blog are not accurate:
Reply1. Lipodissolve is NOT based on mesotherapy at all. Lipodissolve has existed long before mesotherapy and was based only for cosmetic use. Mesotherapy was a treatment for sports medicine, not cosmetic use. The confusion has arise from marketing efforts in this country and where imitation of lipodissolve began being touted as mesotherapy.
2. Brazil banned MANY medications used in mesotherapy in Brazil, including phosphatidylcholine, because a whole string of both mild and toxic medications were injected by private people, hairdressers and so on who had no medical background at all. It had nothing to do with the medications being banned for being dangerous.
There are plenty of studies on lipodissolve, actually on more than 70,000 treatments! That's not exactly a small number of treatments to monitor results from.
And there are university studies and rabbit studies on the soy substance used in the treatment, which has been used in injectable form even on children for many years. The average treatment contain about 40-80 small injections by a micro needle which you can't even feel. It is necessary to distribute the medications evenly. The patient feedback on satisfaction from treatment is over 85%, that's a higher satisfaction than liposuction patients.
I am Brazilian, and if that were the case, it would have been just regulated, like Botox is, for example, where only dermatologists and cosmetic surgeons can inject it - not even other types of doctors.
It was forbidden for 1 of 2 things, take your pick:
1. Lack of evidence that it is safe to be used this way, in this amount. The fact that it has been safely used in smaller quantities for other things doesn't mean much;
2. Conspiracy by cosmetic surgeons so that people don't stop getting lipo, cause they can just go to a dermatologist to have this injected instead.
Also, mesotherapy with approved substances is legal and can be performed by aestheticians with no especial training, so it is not a matter of "untrained people are giving injections" either.
ReplyEBM is completely wrong in her response that Lipodissolve is not a treatment for cellulite: Lipodissolve is an excellent treatment for cellulite. The reason Fig did not use this method, is that Fig was an unauthorized user of Lipodissolve and misused the treatment and changed the medications. That is why the company eventually got flooded with complaints and complications that are uncommon in the real lipodissolve.
ReplyPhosphatidylcholine is not unregulated in the United States. Its a part of lipid group of raw materials, and is often categorized with vitamins and micronutrients. It has been sold for ages, and even FDA has tons of studies done on phosphatidylcholine for years.
ReplyIts such a mild substance and this is why the controversy is there; pharmaceutical companies are having difficulty taking control of it for exclusive use and they simply dont want products on the market that are already out there to compete with their patented ones. We are talking about a SOYA BEAN here people, not some dangerous drug!!!! Thats like screaming about Vitamin C!
I am not sure I'd want a ton of little shots of Vitamin C under my skin either. It is not about it being soya bean, it is about the method of delivery.
ReplyI've had 7 treatments so far and have only felt dizzy once, I learned that you are supposed to eat lots of protein right before each treatment and I had not ate at all that day (it was early & I can't do breakfast).
ReplyI have seen amazing results on my arms I had the same problem that Jan mentions above and in Texas' hot weather imagine not being able to wear short sleeves, because your arms are as thick as your thighs & you don't want to disgust everyone looking or staring at you!
Just picture that for a second... well I had to live with it everyday!
I've had the meso and lipo both alternating everyweek, I had loads of cellulite and strechmarks and loose skin due to weightloss were my triceps were supposed to be (looked like wings) and most of it is gone even the sagging skin so there is an ingredient in meso for that as well.
I have also learned that it is less painful to treat cellulite than fat pockets, I have left the Clinic each time and gone in straight to work without a problem, not common but I have been told to have very very high tolerance for pain.
My only concern has been the nodules, what would happen if a nodule gets injected with more meds??? These need to be monitored closely, they tell you it is normal and that they go away on their own -most of the time they do-, but I have seen pictures of infections due to these treatments or any treatment that concernes needles, I also have permanent make-up and developed nodules from that and have all disappeared without problems. I always use antibiotic cream at the injection site, just in case for a couple of days.
Do I recomend it? If you have an extreme case like mine and high tolerence to pain...yes I would, if not why risk it?