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Beauty Tech Review: Cellulite Reduction - SmoothShapes

 

New advancements in treating cellulite are giving women back their confidence, and smooth thighs.

Beauty Tech Review: Cellulite Reduction

For years the only options for treating cellulite were creams and wraps, many of which didn't work all that well. Recently, several new technologies have been developed that can significantly reduce the appearance of cellulite, and help restore your confidence in miniskirts and shorts. SmoothShapes from Eleme Medical incorporates several methods of improving cellulite into one device for serious results.

"SmoothShapes incorporates different treatment modalities," says Dr. Leyda Bowes. "For example, it utilizes movement and it moves through the body in the direction of the lymphatics, but also it utilizes massage therapy or suction, plus combining wavelengths which is what I think is critical for the device." Dr. Bowes says that the wavelengths work together - one increases permeability of the cell membrane, and the other is selectively absorbed by fat cells.

cellulite treatment
Actual Results of Dr. Leyda Bowes with SmoothShapes

Dr. Bowes does point out that there is no cure for cellulite, but there is treatment."[SmoothShapes] is not a cure for cellulite and as far as I know there's no device in the market that could claim that it will cure cellulite. In my opinion cellulite is a very dynamic process and even if we do maximum therapy with this, which I believe to be a superior device on the market, I cannot guarantee any patient that cellulite is going to be removed for life or eliminated for life but definitely gives significant improvement in patients that receive at least 8 sessions."

Multiple treatments are needed to see the final results. Dr. Bowes does 8 sessions then an additional 2 after that for around $1800-$2200 total. "The first 8 sessions are going to be done twice weekly for about 4 weeks, but we do believe that - as I mentioned before - cellulite is very much a dynamic ongoing process. There are a lot of hormonal factors, genetic predispositions for cellulite and we believe that if we offer one additional maintenance session per month were going to enhance and hopefully help maintain the results that we get with the initial 8 sessions."

Dr. Bowes says that patient improvement varies, but some see a difference after only a couple of weeks. "There are patients that after 3 or 4 sessions they already see an improvement in the contour and improvement in appearance of cellulite but most of the time its after the 8 session that they see maximum results."

cellulite treatment
Actual Results of Dr. Leyda Bowes with SmoothShapes

"What makes the science work is that it's combining three modalities in the treatment of cellulite, which we discussed is a very dynamic, ongoing process - so the motion is directed in the way that we want to achieve specific contours and definitely facilitating the lymphatic movement. Therefore, there's motion and secondly there's suction that actually does a little bit more intense effect on the lymphatics, and also as you suction the skin around the areas of cellulite you are approximating the areas of problem into this window where there's going to be greater contact with the fatty layer underneath the skin, and from that window you're going to be emitting or firing two wavelengths of light; one that is selectively absorbed by adipocites and a second one that increases the permeability of the membrane of the lipid cells," says Dr. Bowes.

Patients also enjoy the comfort and safety of the procedure, with only minor discomfort. "With the suction some patients might complain of a little bit of discomfort but never to the point of extreme pain nor have we had any complications that refer to burns, ulcerations of the skin, which I believe might be something you could find with other devices but we have not been able to find a single one with our device," describes Dr. Bowes.

cellulite treatment
Actual Results of Dr. Leyda Bowes with SmoothShapes

She says that SmoothShapes can treat several areas of the body. "The most common areas are the thighs and bottom area in women, but we've done a series of men who had been in very good shape and working out and they have some laxity of the abdominal skin or frontal trunk, as well as some men that we have treated for the love handle area, and we were actually very surprised to see that, by the pictures, it seems like those areas decreased significantly."

"There's really no downtime," says Dr. Bowes. "I've had a handful of patients that had some bruising when we did the Eleme, which depends on how much suction we use. I've had a few of those patients, but what is interesting is that it's not the typical bruising of large vessels that resolves in 7-10 days. Rather, by the next session, in three days, it's resolved." Dr. Bowes says that treatments are fast and patients are even able to come in on their break and go back to work after treatment.




Dr. Leyda Bowes
Dr. Leyda Bowes
Dr. Leyda Bowes is a Board Certified Dermatologist and founder of Bowes Dermatology in Miami, Florida. A member of several prestigious associations including the the American Society for Laser Medicine & Surgery and the American Academy of Dermatology, Dr. Bowes is prolific in the field of dermatology. She has been published in several works of research and has traveled all over the world as a lecturer on the topic of dermatology. After completing her fellowship at Harvard Medical, she continued on to San Diego, California to continue her knowledge in Cosmetic Surgery. The winner of several awards and honors, Dr. Bowes practices out of her office in Miami, FL.


American Health and Beauty Beauty Tech Review Cellulite Reduction
American Health and Beauty, in an effort to provide the most up-to-date information to our readers, presents the Beauty Tech Review. The next installment in this ongoing series discusses Cellulite Reduction technology. Join American Health and Beauty editor, Keith Veseleny, as he speaks with leading physicians who share their knowledge on each cellulite reduction platform.

The Beauty Tech Review: Cellulite Reduction - will include: Dr. Neil Sadick on Reaction by Viora, Dr. Hema Sundaram on Velashape and Dr. Leyda Bowes on SmoothShapes.

Previous Beauty Tech Reviews have included the following topics: Laser Lipoloysis, Fractional Resurfacing and Body Contouring.

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