Elle / By Melissa Dick
Best for: Effective fat reduction at a price. At its launch Cynosure Smartlipo MPX was touted in the beauty pages as a lunchtime treatment and the non-evasive alternative to Liposuction – the jury is still out on this relatively new to the U.K procedure.
How it works:
Stubborn areas of fat and cellulite that don’t budge even after dieting and exercise plague most women, Cynosure Smartlipo MPX which works with laser technology, is designed specifically for these areas of fat and is reported to work particularly well on love handles, thighs, stomachs and fat ankles.
The area to be treated is anaesthetised (by flooding the area with liquid anaesthetic which is inserted by a cannula needle) and a laser is then used – again this involves a rather needle – to poke around the area, ‘zapping’ fat cells and liquefying them. The laser is hot enough to break the cell walls and liquidise fat but not hot enough to be harmful in any other way and the procedure is painless. The liquid fat is then sucked out, exiting the body gradually over the following 3- 6 months because the fat is broken down in the lymphatic system.
As the body cannot renew fat cells – after adolescence we stop acquiring them – the fat should not return to this area. However this is not a licence to go out and gorge yourself on junk food – you can still gain weight if you don’t stick to sensible eating, it will simply get stored somewhere else in the body.
The verdict:
Cynosure Smartlipo MPX does remove fat – we tested it on the inner and back of thighs. It also has less downtime than liposuction as it only requires a local anaesthetic and there is absolutely no bruising or scarring. But it’s still a fairly brutal procedure that leaves you groggy and wobbly for a few days, not to mention a little low from the drugs and anaesthetic (in addition to anaesthetic you’ll be given sedative tranquilisers like Temazepan/ Xanax).
Always go to a recommended surgeon.
To view Dr Ayoubi in the media click here.
