Zeltiq: A Tripple but not a Home Run
The Zeltiq Coolsculpting device has been the most succesfulpiece of equipment we have ever acquired. It works exactly as advertised. It isuseful for belly fat, love handles and back fat. We have also used it on thebuttocks and the male breast. These last two applications are off label, andthe use on the buttocks was for volume reduction and not shaping.Continue reading »...
Cellulite: The Latest Skinny II
Unfortunately, the currently available treatments for cellulite are mildlyeffective, at best, and usually fail to show persistent effect over time. Thequality of published studies is extremely poor, frequently lacking controls andconsist of small number of patients without blinded evaluators. It is difficultto have identical lighting in a series of photos, and without this, thepictures are often worthless. Neverthe...
Cellulite: The Latest Skinny III
The treatments discussed in this post are, for the most part, among thenewest treatments that will soon be available for the treatment of celluliteand fat.Continue reading »...
Zeltiq: Cool Device or Flash in the Pan?
Zeltiq is a device currently available in the US, with an indication forskin cooling. However, the real purpose of this device is to reduce body fatthrough cooling. The company says that the device is in the late stages of FDAapproval. When the FDA approves a device, it does not vouch for theeffectiveness of the device, only its safety.Continue reading »...
Hand Rejuvenation: An Underappreciated Treatment
"All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand." WilliamShakespeare, MacBethFortunately, since Shakespearean times, we have become much better atimprovingthe appearance of hands, although perhaps not much better at washing awaytheir sins.Continue reading »...
Non-invasive Fat Removal: Why we’ve acquired a Zeltiq device
Ever since the development of safe and successful liposuction, at the end ofthe last century, there has been a hunt for a less invasive way to obtainsimilar results. This has coincided with the desire of the public for lessinvasive procedures, and the dramatic increase in treatments that catered tothis desire. The most obvious examples are the rapid adoption of botulinumtoxin and fillers by physicians and the gener...
People Who Don’t Get The Message
Today I received an email asking if we have a specific brand of CO2 laser.People who ask this kind of question have absolutely no idea what they'redoing, and are at great risk of getting into trouble. In this Wild West worldof cosmetic surgery, people get the idea that there is a magic machine or amagic procedure that will take care of their problems. That's absolutenonsense. Let's say there were such a magic machi...
Zerona: Do You Believe in Magic?
Zerona is a FDA approved device using "low-level" laser light to "contour"the body. Before getting further into this discussion, to avoid interactionswith the company's lawyers, I should make two things clear. First, what Iam writing represents my own personal opinion about this device, based on whatI've learned in discussions with representatives of the company as well asinformation on their web site and inf...
Topical Botulinum Toxin?
Revance Therapeutics, a start up company, has been working to develop atopical form of botulinum toxin. This would be an advantage for people who areadverse to needles. Botulinum toxin is a relatively large molecule, andconventional wisdom would suggest that it would be difficult or impossible toget such a large molecule through intact skin. The molecule would have to be ingood enough shape to be functional.Continu...
Fractional CO2 Resurfacing: Does The Emperor Have Any Clothes?
In an article published in the October 2010 issue of Lasers in Surgery andMedicine, the authors examined the results of fractional ablative CO2resurfacing in 9 Chinese patients. The patients were being treated for skinrejuvenation and acne scars. Overall, the vast majority of the patients werepleased with their results, and there was mild to moderate improvement.However, there were significant problems with post tr...