BRADENTON
Missy Sauer is trying to get rid of “a glazed doughnut I never get to eat.”
The Punta Gorda woman has always been self-conscious about the “doughnut” -- a small pouch of fat cells on her stomach.
So when she learned that Dr. Jeff Scott, the plastic surgeon who had performed her facelift, had a new noninvasive method to deal with small deposits of fat, she was ready to try it.
“The fact it was noninvasive made it very attractive,” she said.
So last week the 53-year-old spent an hour in Scott’s office where a procedure was done using a controlled cooling method called Cryolipolysis to cool and eliminate her fat cells.
The procedure, known as CoolSculpting, is relatively new and approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Patients are told they will see results within about two months as the crystallized fat cells break down and are flushed from the body, Scott said.
“Lipids inside the fat cells crystallize, triggering natural cell death,” he said. “Good candidates are people at or near their ideal body weight. It is not intended for weight reduction, but instead a way to target hereditary fatty areas.”
An applicator is applied to the targeted area, which draws tissue into a vacuum cup; cooling plates are then activated that cool the tissue. Patients can expect a fat reduction of 20 to 25 percent.
Scott, who has been in practice at The Plastic Surgery Center across from Blake Hospital since 1991, decided to offer the procedure after examining the scientific research behind it. Scott and Dr. John Leikensohn currently perform more traditional liposuctions, breast augmentations, facelifts, rhinoplasties and tummy tucks.
The idea of freezing fat cells came from scientists noticing an everyday phenomenon -- children who sucked frozen pops lost fat cells in their cheeks. Testing on pigs then showed that the freezing technique could eliminate fat cells.
Technology is just now catching up to patients’ desires for noninvasive techniques, Scott said.
“There is a worldwide market for noninvasive procedures, and there are millions of dollars being put into this research,” he said.
Statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, in fact, show that minimally invasive cosmetic procedures have increased 110 percent from 2000 to 2010, and fat reduction procedures have increased 14 percent from 2009 to 2010.
Anthony Youn, a well-known Michigan plastic surgeon who makes regular TV appearances on shows like the Rachel Ray Show, called noninvasive fat removal “one of the hottest things in plastic surgery” in a recent blog.
“Fat removal without any invasiveness is the Holy Grail of plastic surgery,” Youn blogged.
Other fat reduction techniques involving lasers and ultrasound also are being researched.
The cost is less than traditional liposuction. A one-hour treatment is around $600, Scott said.
Patients, however, are warned that unlike surgical methods, results from CoolSculpting won’t be seen until three to four weeks after the procedure with the maximum benefits seen in two to three months.
“I do before and after pictures on all my patients,” Scott said.
The initial cost to the physician is more daunting. The cost of the machine used is around $90,000.
But Scott believes the investment is worth it, and he expects it will be a growing part of his practice.
“There is a large number of people who work hard at the gym, maintaining, and are frustrated that there are still areas of fat pockets that bother them,” he said. Inner thighs, outer hip areas and the stomach are all areas where extra fat cells often cluster.
Sauer is patiently waiting to see her results and might consider more treatments.
“The fact that you go in, are finished in an hour and you walk out, I find that incredible,” she said.
