We live in an era where our body is a form of expression. We invest an increasing amount of time and money in nutrition, diets, and sport. A fit and healthy body is empowering and a statement of our values. However, sometimes it doesn’t reflect how we feel on the inside. Sometimes, it needs a little help to reach its full potential and beauty. This is where body contouring comes in.
Whether you have recently lost weight, had a baby, or simply can’t seem to be able to get rid of stubborn fat despite working out and eating healthy, body contouring is the solution you have been waiting for. The procedures associated with body contouring allow for the noninvasive removal of fat cells and revealing the true shape of your beautiful body.
What is body contouring?
Let’s start by telling you what body contouring isn’t. Body contouring is not a weight loss solution. Body contouring procedures are designed to help people at a healthy weight to remove fat pockets that can’t be removed through exercise and diet. In other words, body contouring focuses on fat reduction by targeting fat cells from certain areas of your body.
Every person has a certain number of fat cells in their body. The number of fat cells we have in our body is fixed and cannot be changed. This means that when you gain weight, you don’t produce additional fat cells. You just enlarge the fat cells you already have. As soon as you start losing weight, the same fat cells will start to get smaller. And this is how gaining and losing weight actually works!
While you cannot add additional fat cells to your body, you can remove and destroy them. For good! Body contouring procedures eliminate fat cells from your body without any way for them to regenerate or be replaced. As soon as you “attack” those stubborn fat deposits through body sculpting techniques, your body will reveal its true shape.
Who needs body contouring?
Everyone who wants to sculpt their body and are currently at a healthy weight or on their way to achieving it! Body contouring also deals with sagging skin, the remnant of massive weight loss. These procedures are usually the best choice for people who have undergone weight loss surgery and are looking for a way to deal with excess skin. Through various muscle and skin-tightening surgical procedures, experts in body sculpting and plastic surgeons manage to remove loose skin and improve the body’s aesthetics.
However, fat-reduction procedures are not meant only for people who have lost a lot of weight. They can very well be a smart solution for those who want to lose a few inches off their thighs, tummy, or waist. By removing the excess pockets of fat and loose skin, body contouring improves the shape of the underlying support tissue and creates smoother contours and an overall better-proportioned body.
Considering that the body contouring market is predicted to reach the incredible number of $1.1 billion by 2022, we can easily say that body contouring is popular. More and more people choose to invest their money in noninvasive and minimally invasive fat-reduction procedures to avoid side effects, pain, and recovery time, and get fast results with minimal effort.
What types of body contouring procedures are available?
Due to the massive demand for body contouring, numerous body sculpting procedures promise incredible results. And most of them make good on their promise! However, not all treatments are made equal and each procedure has its own set of recommendations.
Liposuction
The most famous body contouring procedure in the world, liposuction is here to stay. However, this is also the most invasive of the minimally invasive body sculpting procedures. It is worth mentioning though that liposuction has come a long way in the past two decades with shorter recovery time and less painful side effects, like swelling and bruising. It is the first choice of those who want to remove large pockets of fat or simply aren’t satisfied with the results of non-invasive body contouring procedures.
Body contouring surgery
Often necessary for people who have lost a lot of weight and are trying to improve the aesthetics of their body, body contouring surgery focuses on removal and lifts for excess skin or areas. Among the most common procedures are abdominoplasty, also known as a tummy tuck, Brachioplasty (arm lift), breast rejuvenation, buttocks lift, inner thigh lift, and panniculectomy (removal of excess skin in the lower abdominal region). Some discomfort and pain are to be expected following such procedures.
Temperature-based body contouring
These non-surgical body sculpting procedures for fat reduction are based either on freezing temperatures or controlled heating and high-temperature technology. Cryolipolysis targets and destroys fat cells with the help of cold temperatures while laser lipolysis and radiofrequency lipolysis use controlled heating and ultrasounds, respectively, to kill fat cells. The freezing or high temperatures destroy fat cells that will be removed from your body through the lymphatic system. Once gone, they will never return! However, both types of procedures are associated with discomfort and next-day bruising.
How does body contouring work?
Non-invasive body contouring is a non-surgical treatment designed to break down fat cells and eliminate them through the body’s lymphatic system. Many treatments are considered to be body contouring, but each of them is based on different technology and has its own effectiveness. Besides removing fat and being non-invasive, they have no other common elements.
Some body contouring treatments rely on freezing fat cells until they crystalize. The technology is efficient and applied using a suction vacuum on various areas of the body: chin, arms, abdomen, and thighs. Cold treatments or cryolipolysis is one of the most popular body contouring options available.
There also are heat treatments that use lasers to damage the structure of fat cells. Once the fat cells are destroyed, the body takes over and eliminates them through our lymphatic system. While efficient, heat treatments use a flat device on the targeted area, which means they work better on the stomach and thighs and less on curved areas of the body.
Based on mechanical vibrations, ultrasound body contouring treatments are exclusively used for the abdomen. In this case, a device that emits ultrasound energy will target and kill the fat cells. The last type of body contouring technology is based on radiofrequency energy. The energy is used to achieve high temperatures that will subsequently kill the fat cells.
What are the side effects of body contouring?
Since all body contouring techniques are minimally invasive treatments, there are no dangerous side effects or life-threatening risks. They usually don’t require anesthesia and many of them involve no downtime. Each session will last somewhere between 25 minutes and one hour.
If we’re talking about cold treatments, the only inconvenience during the actual procedure is that you are going to feel really cold. Some of the most common side effects are intense discomfort and bruising.
Heat treatment sessions last only 25 minutes but they are usually associated with the same side effects as cold treatments. Patients often report stinging or burning sensations. However, most of the time, they say the discomfort is tolerable, especially since the heat treatments are short.
On the other hand, ultrasound treatments, like Ultrashape Power Fat Reduction, destroy fat without causing any discomfort. According to a clinical study, 90% of patients confirmed that this treatment was comfortable and not linked to any side effects and were satisfied with its effectiveness.
The same goes for radiofrequency procedures, such as Velashape, considered an effective cellulite treatment. Velashape is often associated with a warm sensation but that’s about it when discussing side effects. Moreover, both Ultrashape and Velashape require absolutely no downtime and you can easily schedule your appointment during your lunch break.
What are the risks of body contouring?
Most risks associated with body contouring appear following invasive and surgical procedures. As we’ve mentioned before, under the body contouring umbrella are included various procedures, both surgical and non-surgical. Liposuction, tummy tucks, arm, and butt lifts, and the removal of excess skin through surgery are linked to serious risks like scarring, wounds, excess fluid, and even internal bleeding.
Fortunately, scientific studies claim that non-surgical body contouring is safe. Moreover, less than 1% of patients report any complications following such treatments. The complications reported are usually nausea or stomach cramps, so mostly minor risks without any long-term consequences.
Nevertheless, people who want to undergo body contouring treatments should make sure to discuss their health history with their practitioner. Also, it is good to remember that minimally invasive or non-invasive body contouring procedures are recommended to those who have already reached their ideal weight and have a normal body mass.
Are body contouring treatments effective?
The answer to this question depends on the types of body contouring procedures. Various human studies show that body contouring treatments are successful in removing fat cells and cellulite and reducing their reappearance. Whether you use cold or heat treatments, ultrasound, or radiofrequency, you will see improvements in your body shape and tone. Depending on your body type and the area you’re planning to treat, you will probably need between two and four sessions.
However, don’t expect immediate results. The fat cells will be eliminated from your body in the months that follow the procedure, so it might take 12 to 16 weeks before you will be able to admire the full results. While body contouring procedures kill fat cells for good, if you go back to an unhealthy diet or sedentary lifestyle, fat can reappear on the body areas exposed to treatments. This is because the remaining fat cells that haven’t been killed will expand in size.
You need to remember that body contouring is not a weight loss solution. It is a fast way to target certain areas of your body that could do with less fat. There is no shortcut for a fit and healthy body. Diet and exercise are paramount. However, body contouring can be considered a safe and painless accelerator.
Are there any painless body contouring procedures?
Yes, there are! If you have a healthy weight and are looking to improve the aesthetics of your body or simply to get rid of cellulite on certain areas of your body, you will be happy to know that you can opt for noninvasive, 100% pain-free body sculpting procedures.
Velashape
Already famous among persons who have declared war on cellulite, Velashape guarantees cellulite reduction and a toned body in just 3 to 6 treatment sessions. It is a great body sculpting procedure for persons who want to contour certain areas of their body and improve their skin texture. The best thing about this procedure is that it doesn’t require any downtime and there is no discomfort whatsoever to be experienced neither during nor after the procedure.
Ultrashape Power Fat Reduction
Another pain-free, easy, and fast way to kill those nasty fat cells is to expose them to the Ultrashape Power Fat Reduction procedure. This FDA-cleared body shaping procedure uses pulsed ultrasound energy to blast fat cells from targeted areas of your body that are then naturally eliminated from your body. There are absolutely no risks of damaging any surrounding tissue, nerves, or muscles, and it is a completely painless procedure with no recovery necessary.
