Weight-loss method uses series of shots
September 1, 2004
By Melanie Wong
A new weight-loss method called mesotherapy, a procedure its proponents claim actually dissolves fat through a series of injections, has come to Odessa.
Nurse practitioner Rhonda White said she has been performing the increasingly popular procedure for about three months with great success.
Mesotherapy is the practice of putting microinjections of medicinal cocktails into the middle layer of the skin for healing or corrective treatment, according to the Cosmetic Health Institute in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The method, developed about 50 years ago by Frenchman Dr. Michel Pistor, is widely used in Europe and South America, and has recently stirred more interest in the United States. But despite its popularity, some doctors, wanting more information on the subject, have greeted it with caution.
Mesotherapy is used for a variety of treatments, but
it has been used in West Texas mainly to help people
lose
weight.
The “natural medicine” is injected with about 14 shots into a body area, said White. “It breaks open fat cells and dissolves the fat, then the fat cells heal,” she said.
Most patients can expect to lose up to an inch of fat during the two weeks following the injections, said White. They can then repeat the therapy as desired.
The procedure varies depending on the mesotherapist. Some clinics offer “customized injections” and the ingredients of the injections can vary.
“It’s like liposuction in a shot,” Dr. Alice Pangle said, a Lubbock general practitioner and mesotherapist. She said she gives up to 40 shots containing “fat burning amino acids” per area.
The results range from patient to patient, she said, but some have lost up to 6 inches in two weeks.
But patients lose more than just fat. Mesotherapy can cost about $500 per treatment in bigger cities, and from $98 to $150 in West Texas.
Easy as it sounds, both mesotherapists cautioned that it is not a magic shot. White said she encourages patients to do mesotherapy in addition to diet and exercising.
“It’s like going to the gym — the fat’s gone, but you can gain it back,” she said. “Changing the way you’re eating and your lifestyle is really the only way to lose weight.”
Pangle said side effects can include redness, bruising and soreness but that the risks are minimal, especially when compared to liposuction, where weight can be regained in unnatural places.
Sherry Phillips, 61, of McCamey, said she has lost 15 pounds and three inches after four treatments in the abdomen area. She wanted to lose the weight that had crept up on her over the years.
“The older you are, the harder it is to lose weight. I exercised and tried to watch what I eat, but it didn’t work,” she said.
White said mesotherapy is beneficial in helping discouraged dieters and exercisers like Phillips. “Sometimes you hit a plateau,” she said. “It helps keep you on a diet. No one likes to diet and exercise and see no results.”
Alissa Jolly, 24, of Midland, at 5’9” and 145 pounds, is not overweight, but said she just wanted to “tone down” her lovehandles and thigh areas that exercise did not seem to help.
“It’s a confidence booster,” she said “At first I was a skeptic, but then I looked into it in-depth. It’s harmless, and it works almost like the body does.”
Too good to be true? Some doctors think so. Many doctors are either wary of the procedure or had not heard of it at all.
Odessa plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Matthew Furst said he is concerned with the lack of research for mesotherapy.
“The outward blush of it is that is works. The problem with it is that no one has done any prospective, double-blinded studies,” he said. “This is sort of fringe medicine. It hasn’t gone through the same rigorous process other procedures have.”
Odessa plastic surgeon Dr. Sylvan Bartlett said he wants to know more details about how the process works before he would perform it. “I’m curious to see if it’s worth something,” he said.
He said he was concerned when he saw a patient who had done mesotherapy and was experiencing allergic reactions each time. “It made me a bit leery,” he said.
Furst said he would advise patients to ask a lot of questions and be educated about side effects. He said people should be cautious since it is hard at this time to definitely say whether the procedure is safe.
Source:www.oaoa.com
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