Dangers of Mesotherapy

If you're desperate to lose fat from one stubborn area, or if you're tired of trying to hide your cellulite, mesotherapy may seem like the answer. Many people claim it's a miracle cure for fat. However, you should be wary of so-called miracles. Mesotherapy is unregulated, and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons warns that it could be dangerous.

Identification

• Mesotherapy is a nonsurgical treatment to remove fat. Proponents call it an alternative to liposuction. Your mesotherapy treatments begin by discussing your goals with your doctor. He then creates an individualized mixture of medicines and plant extracts to inject into the layer of fat tissue during your mesotherapy sessions. The mixture removes fat cells and evens out cellulite.

  You'll receive between three and 15 sessions of mesotherapy, given every other week, before your treatment is done.

Benefits

• Those who support mesotherapy claim it is both safer and cheaper than liposuction, which is currently the only other medical method to remove fat cells from the body. It can be done in a doctor's office, and the recovery time is shorter. It also provides help for those whose weight problem isn't bad enough to be eligible for liposuction. Mesotherapy reduces cellulite as well, while liposuction doesn't.

Side Effects

• The most prominent side effect of mesotherapy is swelling and bruising around the area of the injections. In most cases, this goes away within a week or so. Some people have allergic reactions to the medications used, either immediately or later. You may see skin discoloration or a rash. Mesotherapy can also cause infection.

Dangers

• Mesotherapy is not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the FDA has not approved many of the drugs used in the procedure. A different combination of drugs is used for each patient, so it can be difficult to test the treatment's efficacy. The Device and Technique Assessment Committee of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons warns patients to be cautious about mesotherapy until more testing can be done.

  No one is sure what happens to the fat cells after they are removed, and no one is sure what effect the mesotherapy drugs have on the rest of the body's systems. Mesotherapy methods are not standardized, and long-term effects haven't been studied.

Considerations

• Mesotherapy proponents base their claims that mesotherapy is safer than liposuction on the fact that mesotherapy is a nonsurgical procedure. However, liposuction is FDA-approved and -regulated, while many uncertainties surround mesotherapy.

  Proponents' claims that mesotherapy is cheaper than liposuction aren't necessarily true, either. Mesotherapy costs between $1,000 and $1,500 per session; depending on how many sessions you need, that can quickly add up to the cost of surgery.