Related Articles
Attacking cellulite the French way
Endermologie, a nonsurgical procedure, uses a massage-like device to roll away the dimpling
Endermologie, a clinical process created in France for the treatment of cellulite, has been introduced to the Puget Sound area by plastic surgeons Richard Tucker of Seattle and Richard Baxter of Edmonds.
The surgeons refrain from calling the procedure a weight-loss method. Rather, they bill it as a way to reduce the appearance of cellulite from typical problem areas including the hips, thighs and buttocks of women and men without surgery or liposuction.
The treatment centers on what Tucker calls a "modified massage" with a roller device that lifts, rolls and manipulates fatty deposits in the upper layers of skin while suctioning the skin like a vacuum cleaner. All this occurs as a technician runs the device over an area from just below a patient's breasts all the way down to the knees.
In explaining the process, Tucker compared cellulite's "dimpling" of skin to the dimpling seen on overstuffed chairs where buttons hold in the stuffing. The dimpling occurs on people when long fibrous strands of tissue that attach muscle to the outer layers of skin contract and pull in the skin.
Endermologie's suction and massage eliminate the dimpling by stretching the skin and re-extending the strands, Tucker said. It also stimulates the flow of blood to the area surrounding the fat deposits which, in turn, breaks down and flushes out the excess fluids and toxic materials in the fat deposits.
"Essentially, what the machine is doing is helping flush out the toxins that accumulate in the body," said licensed massage therapist Mary Hurlbert, an endermologie technologist for Baxter's plastic surgery practice in Edmonds.
 Cheaper than liposuction
The process isn't cheap, but it isn't as expensive or as invasive as liposuction, which surgically removes fat.
Tucker's First Hill practice -- Seattle Head, Neck and Plastic Surgeons -- charges $80 (Baxter charges $85) for each 45-minute treatment over a recommended course of 14 treatments, or $1,120. Even with a recommended once-a-month maintenance treatment, the $1,840 bill for a year's worth of endermologie is still cheaper than a single liposuction treatment, which typically costs around anywhere from $2,000 to $6,000, Tucker said.
Because endermologie falls under the category of cosmetic surgery, insurance companies won't pay for the treatment, Tucker said.
It may be too early to tell who the typical client is because endermologie treatments have only been available in Seattle since December, but Tucker estimates that his patients run the range from homemakers to executives. About 90 percent are women, 10 percent men.
Baxter says all 10 of his endermologie patients are women.
"It's closely enough related (to liposuction) that a fair number of people that think they want to have liposuction would be good candidates for this," Tucker said.
Ideal candidates are men and women who are less than 30 pounds overweight, range in age from 30 to 45 and exercise regularly, Hurlbert said. Patients who are pregnant or more than 30 pounds overweight generally should avoid the treatment, Tucker said.
Please click here to read full article at Busines Journal
Total Body Design, Endermologie and Lipomassage Center in Reston, VA(Virginia). Call today for an appointment and take your first step towards a Beautiful Body, Beautiful Mind, and Beautiful Image...
|
