Vanquish: The New Fat Loss Device Everyone’s Talking About

We all have that fantasy – apart from that one about Ryan Gosling – to lose weight and have better wellness minus the effort of dieting, exercise or surgery. While this seems like nothing more than a pipe dream, your effort-free, weight loss wellbeing may me just around the corner, thanks to a revolutionary treatment called Vanquish that even usually sceptical doctors are excited about.

 

According to David McDaniel, a leading researcher and an assistant professor of clinical dermatology at Eastern Virginia Medical School, who has been conducting an independent study on Vanquish, ‘I’ve seen a lot of fat-removal techniques; some procedures are painful or take too long; some are effective only on small areas of body fat that can be sucked up through a small vacuum. Vanquish addresses all those problems. It can treat a large surface area uniformly. It’s fast, efficient, and comfortable…I’ve been doing this for 30 years, and most advances have been little baby steps. This is a big technological breakthrough.’

 

The treatment, which will become usable by an elite corps of doctor’s offices this month, targets your fat cells through radio frequency waves which heat the cells and kill them off without damaging your muscles or skin. As the applicator is suspended over your abdomen about an inch above your skin, Vanquish is non-invasive, and there’s no downtime or ridiculous price tag. In the US, a 30-minute session goes for $450 (£282) to $800 (£501), and it’s recommended that you have four sessions. During these sessions, you may feel a warming sensation, but there should be no pain. The only risk to watch out for is a hot spot near to a bone, which your technician can readjust and fix without a problem.

 

The FDA approved Vanquish earlier this year for deep-tissue heating, which can help your muscles to recover and heal. However, the FDA is awaiting further results before giving the device the seal of approval for fat reduction. Still, the current research is impressive; animal studies have shown that Vanquish killed 60% of the fat cells treated with it, and a subsequent Prague study done on people with love handles showed visible results within two weeks, revealing an average loss in waist circumference of 2.23 inches after two months. Robert Weiss, an associate professor of dermatology at Johns Hopkins Hospital and the lead researcher of the aforementioned animal study, notes, ‘This new technique is a real game changer—it’s the safest, easiest way yet to remove fat.’

 

‘As the panels heat up, the radio frequency waves they transmit differentiate between fat cells (which are denser and hold less water) and skin and muscle cells,’ Weiss explains. ‘The heat causes cell death in the fat cells; some die instantly, some in a matter of weeks…I’ve seen patients lose several inches after four treatments without changing their diets.’ McDaniel continues, ‘The results are not as dramatic as liposuction, which can remove large volumes of fat,’ adding that Vanquish does not carry the risks of surgery or anaesthesia. However, Adam Kolker, a plastic surgeon and an associate clinical professor of surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital’s Icahn School of Medicine in New York, asserts, ‘I’ve seen a lot of people who’ve undergone various non-surgical fat-reduction treatments who were underwhelmed with the results.’

 

Still, Kolker allows, ‘It may be appropriate for small-scale changes as long as the patient’s expectations are well managed.’ Nonetheless, Patricia Wexler, a dermatologist to New York’s A-list, believes that expectations will be high for the procedure. She points out, ‘It’s great for women who are in good shape, within 5 to 10% of their ideal weight, and don’t want to go through surgery. A lot of women exercise and don’t have a lot of weight to lose, but they’ve had children or seen changes in their core for other reasons.’

Categories: cells, fat loss, frequency waves, nbsp, Non-Invasive, radio frequency, results, surgery, Vanquish

Are You Considering Non-Invasive Facial Fillers?

Cosmetic surgery can seem like a big step to take in the name of anti-ageing wellness. I mean, we all want to look young and gorgeous, but are we really willing to put our wellbeing at risk and go under the knife to do it? According to the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, about 80% of board-certified facial plastic surgeons have now reported an increase in non-invasive cosmetic procedures, meaning that you can lift your cheekbones, eliminate under-eye bags and dark circles, and replicate the results of a nose job, without facing the dreaded scalpel.

 

The new non-invasive procedures all have one thing in common; replacing volume. Fredric Brandt, a New York City and Coral Gables, Florida, dermatologist and founder of Dr. Brandt Skincare, asserts, ‘Nothing makes people look more youthful than filling in volume, and as we get more and more experience with the newer injectables, it seems like we are able to achieve better results without surgery.’ Patricia Wexler, a New York City dermatologist, adds, ‘What I see most in my practice is a large amount of volume loss in the face, which tends to happen in your early 40s, and that is when you replace a surgical procedure with a non-surgical one.’

 

Fardad Forouzanpour, founder of the Beverly Hills Cosmetic Surgical Group, points out, ‘For the past few years, the trend has been more natural looking lips, [and] injectables can give lips more volume and correct lines and wrinkles that form around the mouth.’ For the most natural-looking results, Brandt believes Restylane and Perlane hyaluronic acid-based fillers to be your best bet as they provide a cumulative effect. Wexler agrees, ‘I love Restylane and Perlane for the tear troughs, cheeks, and jawline because of the volume and lift they give to the face.’

 

However, Forouzanpour notes that the more important thing to consider is your physician’s injection technique and the amount that is injected, rather than what the kind of filler is. Wexler comments, ‘If you have cracks at the corner of your mouth or above the lip line, collagen works well to replace structure in the skin. People don’t think about collagen anymore because they are so into hyaluronic acid. Although I use Restylane to add volume, I need collagen to create a border around the lip [cupid"s bow].’

 

So which fillers are the best, then? Wexler explains, ‘Doctors pick certain ones and get proficient at using them. In 2003, we had collagen — period. To do the right kind of filling now, one syringe of anything won’t be complete.’ As it stands, the AAFPRS states that there are almost 20 FDA-approved cosmetic injectable drugs on the market, so how do doctors choose their favourite filler? ‘Besides filling in volume, we need to think about surface irregularities,’ Wexler says. ‘Even the most plump face won’t be pretty if the skin isn’t in good condition.’

 

So when considering getting fillers, you first need to make sure your skin is right for it. Wexler argues, ‘If a 68-year-old woman who has never taken care of her skin and spent a lot of time in the sun comes to me, injectables won’t give her enough of an improvement if she has loose skin and sun damage. There’s a point when you have to start from a new baseline, and if the person is healthy, she would need a face-lift.’ If your skin is filler-ready, however, you need to do your homework before getting any procedure. This means checking out your doctor’s background and reputation before you get injected. Wexler warns, ‘A lot of my work is fixing other people’s work.’

Categories: Collagen, cosmetic surgery, facial plastic, fillers, Hyaluronic Acid, nbsp, Non-Invasive, skin, volume, wexler, york city