How this laser device promises to help its users lose fat

TORONTO – It almost sounds too good to be true: you lie on a bed, while cold laser beams go through the skin and after a few sessions, you’ve lost inches off of your figure.

It isn’t in the leagues of liposuction and other invasive surgeries, but a “body sculpting” procedure called Zerona is promising that its laser will shrink fat cells in painless treatments that zap away unwanted weight.

It’s both Health Canada and FDA approved and is already found in health clinics across Canada. But how does it work?

The procedure relies on an Erchonia Laser that emulsifies unwanted body fat, which then passes through the body in normal detoxification. It can be done on the waist, hips and thighs, according to the company website.

In a previous Global Toronto broadcast report on the procedure, cosmetic surgeon Dr. Stephen Mulholland said Zerona guarantees the loss of three to nine inches.

“These cold laser beams go through the skin into the fat and induce little openings in the fat cells,” he said.

“So if you have a bunch of grapes that are causing all these lumpy bump, wiggly jiggly areas, the grapes open up and the contents, the triglyceride, leaks into our tissue spaces where the normal digestive process will take care of it,” he explained.

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In short, the laser is aimed at the problem sections of your body where it punctures holes in fat cells and shrinks them. But what’s in the cells is flushed out of your body.

Each treatment takes about 40 minutes. The treatments are performed in a doctor’s office over the course of a few weeks.

Prices can vary at around $2,800 for nine treatments, $3,500 for 12 treatments and $4,000 if you get 18 treatments.

Liposuction, on average, can start at about $2,500 and upwards, depending on the areas being treated,  according to industry websites.

Very small studies suggest the majority of patients do lose inches off their frames. Zerona received its licence from Health Canada on March 28, 2012, according to the federal agency’s database.

Zerona says that it was proven safe and effective through a double-blind study. During clinical trials, patients lost an average of five inches in weight, hip, thigh and arm circumference combined over the course of two weeks, Zerona Canada says. It even promises pulling off this feat with zero side effects.

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In surgical procedures, like liposuction, the fat cells are actually removed from the body. In this case, they’re flattened out but they could swell again.

“FDA approval means the data collection is only the beginning; we don’t really know how effective either of these two procedures will be in clinical practice,” plastic surgeon Felmont Eaves, president of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, told U.S. health reporter Deborah Kotz, who first wrote about Zerona and another option in 2010.

Zerona says that maintaining the results can be done by living a healthy lifestyle.

The ideal candidate for Zerona is someone who is already committed to improving their health and doesn’t have a lot of weight to lose, according to a Shape magazine feature on the procedure.

In that case, the magazine’s health and fitness writer tried the laser fat removal process. She went through nine sessions over two weeks.

During this time, she committed to eating clean, working out, wearing compression garments and staying hydrated. Her results? She was three inches smaller.

“At the end of my Zerona experience, my thighs had only gone down ¼ inch each and I lost one off my hips. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t experience huge changes…but I also didn’t have as much to lose in the first place,” she wrote in her June 2012 report.

–          With files from Beatrice Politi

carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
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