The weight loss journey is full of ups and downs. There are periods of rapid weight loss that excite you, and you’re motivated to push even harder for your goals. Then, a plateau happens. As soon as you’re about to give up, the weight is shed and you are excited once again. However, the experts at The Dermatology, Laser & Vein Center in Cincinnati, OH understand that some people need Vaser Lipo to achieve their contouring goals, even after weight loss.
Arguably the most frustrating thing about weight loss is that you can’t tell your body where to lose weight. You may lose weight in your hands, feet, and face, but see no change in your upper arms or inner thighs. That’s where Vaser Lipo comes in, quickly, safely, and accurately eliminating excess fat from your trouble regions. Today, we reveal whether this innovative treatment can also tighten loose skin.
Does Vaser Lipo Tighten Skin?
Yes. Vaser lipo absolutely tightens loose skin. However, it’s important to understand that you may not get the look you want if you have excess skin. If you have loose, excess skin, the appearance of your skin will improve somewhat after treatment; your skin will be a bit more flush with the underlying tissues. However, it will still be noticeable that you have excess skin.
How Quickly Will I See the Results?
It can take anywhere from one to six months to see the final results of this treatment. Unlike most body contouring treatments on the market, the excess fat is removed from the targeted regions during treatment. However, your skin is not like a rubber band. It will not snap into its appropriate position immediately. The process takes time, and the only thing you can do besides waiting patiently on your final results is to improve the health of your skin.
How Do I Improve the Health of My Skin?
To improve the health of your skin, you have to focus on keeping your collagen healthy and strong. This treatment tightens sagging skin by inducing collagen production through heat. To promote the health of your collagen and see skin tightening results as quickly as possible, drink plenty of water every day, minimize your consumption of alcohol, don’t consume tobacco products, and protect your skin from the sun.
You can also promote collagen health by eating healthy foods and minimizing your consumption of unhealthy foods, like heavily processed carbs and trans fats. Foods that are particularly good for collagen production include citrus fruits, nuts, seafood, poultry, and red meat. Nuts, fatty seafood, and fatty cuts of meat should be consumed in moderation. Even healthy fats, when consumed in excessive quantities, can be bad for you.
How Much Fat Loss Can I Expect?
The amount of fat you can expect to lose after treatment depends on several factors, including your body fat distribution, body fat percentage, and body weight. If most of your excess fat is in one or two trouble areas, you can expect to lose a great deal of fat. Similarly, you can expect to lose quite a bit of fat if you have a high body fat percentage. Your body weight affects how much fat you can expect to lose because only 4-5% of body weight can be removed per treatment.
What if I Gain Weight After Treatment?
If you consume more calories than your body needs for maintenance after treatment, your body will first store the excess energy as glycogen. Once it can store no more glycogen, it will start to fill fat cells with excess energy. The areas that were targeted for treatment will have fewer fat cells, but the remaining fat cells can still store excess energy.
There’s a chance that you will notice a volume increase in the targeted areas, and other parts of your body, if you gain weight. However, fat cells can only store a finite amount of energy. If all of the fat cells remaining in the targeted area fill with fat, your body will start to store the excess energy elsewhere.
Am I a Good Candidate for This Treatment?
Maybe. If you think this treatment could help you achieve your aesthetic goals, we strongly encourage you to come in for an initial consultation. During this consultation, we will assess your skin to ensure that it is only loose and there is no excess skin. We will also assess your body fat distribution; if you have too much fat in a targeted area, the treatment will be less effective. Here are some of the things we look for when determining who is a good candidate.
Body Fat Percentage
One of the first things we look at when determining who is a good candidate for this treatment is the body fat percentage of the individual in question. If you have a body fat percentage of 32% or greater, you won’t be considered a good candidate for this treatment. This treatment is designed to remove up to four liters (8.8 pounds) of fat per session. If you have a body fat percentage of over 31.9%, you won’t be satisfied with the fat loss results of treatment.
Furthermore, when your body fat percentage is at least that high, there is a very good chance that excess skin developed. If you received treatment and lost nearly 10 pounds of fat in a single session, even if you could tell that you lost a lot of fat in the targeted area, you wouldn’t be satisfied with the appearance of your skin. In fact, the excess skin would be more noticeable.
Body Fat Distribution
Another thing we look at is your body fat distribution. The best candidates for this treatment have pockets of stubborn, unwanted fat in just a couple of regions of their body. If you have excess fat distributed evenly throughout many regions of your body, you may not be ready for treatment. If you’re, for example, 29 pounds away from your goal weight, work on losing weight for a while longer.
While you can’t force your body to burn fat from a specific part of your body, the fat will be burned from somewhere. The closer you get to your goal weight, the more each of your contours will approved. By the time you reach, or get very close to, your goal weight, you may only have one or two problem areas, so you will need fewer treatments to achieve your ideal results.
Skin
As stated previously, if you have excess skin, you may not get the results you’re looking for from this treatment. While the loose skin can be tightened, the treatment won’t make excess skin disappear. Once we determine that you don’t have excess skin, we will assess the elasticity of your skin. The more elastic your skin is, the sooner you will see the final results of your treatment.
Elastic skin is skin that snaps into its proper position relatively quickly. Again, skin tightening is a slow process, but you can get a decent idea of how elastic your skin is with a simple at-home test. Simply, pinch your skin away from your body and release it. If it returns to its previous position quickly, you will see the final results of this treatment relatively quickly and be happy with the results.
Health
We also look at the health of an individual who is considering this treatment. Most healthy adults will be considered a good candidate for this treatment, but it is not right for everyone. For example, you could be perfectly healthy at a weight that is healthy for your height and not be a good candidate if you are pregnant or nursing. You should not consider this treatment if you are currently trying to become pregnant.
Furthermore, certain medical conditions may preclude you from being considered a good candidate for this body contouring treatment. For example, you should not consider this treatment if you have high blood pressure that is not controlled by medication. You should also not consider this treatment if you have uncontrolled type 2 diabetes, bad asthma or, a recent case of a transient ischemic attack or stroke.
How Should I Prepare for This Treatment?
Stop Taking Blood-Thinning Drugs and Supplements
In the two weeks leading up to your treatment session, stop taking any drugs or supplements that are designed to, or may, thin your blood. The most notable examples of blood-thinning medications are NSAIDs (like ibuprofen) and MAOIs (like Marplan), but several dietary supplements also affect the viscosity of your blood. For example, you should not take fish oil supplements, vitamin E supplements, or garlic supplements in the 14 days before your treatment.
Don’t Drink Alcohol
Another important thing to do before your treatment session is to not drink alcohol. Alcohol affects your body negatively in numerous ways. For example, it elevates your blood pressure, which is never ideal but should definitely be avoided before your body contouring treatment. Alcohol is also a bad idea the night before your treatment because it dehydrates you and flushes essential micronutrients out of your body.
What Can I Expect After Treatment?
After your session, you are free to return to work. We use a local anesthetic rather than general anesthesia and don’t use a sedative so you will not experience any ill effects after the treatment. Whether you choose to return to work or go home once your session is finished, remember to drink plenty of water. If you’re hydrated after treatment, you have a very good chance of seeing the final results of your treatment quickly.
During your initial consultation, we will provide you with a comprehensive list of everything you should do and avoid during your “recovery” period. Of note, it is very important that you walk regularly. The more you support your circulatory system, the sooner you will see the final results of treatment. You should also take the time to meditate; psychological stress leads to the production of cortisol, a hormone that triggers overeating and abdominal fat gain.
Discover the Amazing Power of Vaser Lipo for Yourself
If you’re looking to lose stubborn fat from specific regions of your body and tighten loose skin, Vaser Lipo near me may be right for you. However, it’s important to understand that it won’t drastically improve the appearance of excess skin. To discover if this treatment can help you improve your contours, contact us now at The Dermatology, Laser & Vein Center in Cincinnati, OH to schedule your initial consultation. We can’t wait to help you achieve your ideal body.