Pandemic Weight: How to Lose the Extra Pudge
If you didn’t manage to put on at least a few extra pounds during the pandemic, consider yourself lucky! The phenomenon was so widespread it even got its own name: the Quarantine 15. Actually, many people gained even more than 15 pounds due to the stress of the coronavirus, the lack of exercise, and the renewed interest in baking.
With the advent of the vaccines, we’ve slowly been able to return to something resembling normal life. Many have already dropped much of the extra weight they gained. But our board-certified dermatologists at Genesis Dermatology in Jupiter have heard the complaints from those who still struggling with how to lose the pandemic weight. Whether it be on their bellies, thighs or other areas, they just wouldn’t budge.
For those people, we have a solution to help lose their pandemic weight: our new non-invasive Emsculpt NEO body contouring process. It passively sculpts these areas for you while you’re lying down.
What is Emsculpt NEO?
In 2018 the FDA approved the original Emsculpt for body sculpting that builds muscles and burns fat. It delivers high-intensity focused electromagnetic energy (HIFEM) pulses to the muscle tissue. This creates supramaximal muscle contractions that can’t be achieved through exercise alone.
Emsculpt NEO, launched in the fall of last year, is a next-generation Emsculpt device, also FDA-approved. It is the only non-invasive body shaping procedure that provides fat elimination and muscle building in a single 30-minute session. It combines the HIFEM technology with radiofrequency (RF) heat energy to burn fat more effectively.
Seven clinical studies conducted on the revolutionary Emsculpt NEO device found it produced on average 25 percent more muscle and 30 percent less fat than its predecessor.
“You’re seeing much better effects than just the traditional Emsculpt,” Dr. Yael Halaas, a New York plastic surgeon, told New Beauty magazine. “Before we were getting a fat reduction of 19 percent on average; now we’re getting 30 percent reduction on average with Emsculpt NEO.”
Upgraded technology
That’s because of the RF addition, which targets subcutaneous fat, permanently destroying the fat cells. Plus, improved HIFEM pulses build even more muscle. And more muscle, in turn, helps burn more fat.
The RF technology (exclusive to Emsculpt NEO) provides gentle heat to the treated area. This prepares the muscles for exposure to stress. This is similar to what a warm-up period offers prior to a workout, enhancing the HIFEM effect.
Then the magnetic pulse produced by HIFEM creates up to 24,000 involuntary muscle contractions. As with normal exercise, such extreme muscle stress increases the muscle fibers and cells, resulting in improved tone and strength. These rapid contractions also stimulate the fat cells in the area so they begin to break down.
“It’s a very rapid response compared to other fat-reduction tools where you’re waiting months to see something happen,” Dr. Arash Akhavan, a New York City board-certified dermatologist, told Allure magazine. “With this, even after a single visit, you’ll notice the area looking better a day or two later.”
What does it help?
Emsculpt NEO can strengthen, tighten, and tone the large muscle groups of the abdomen and buttocks, as well as smaller body areas such as the thighs, calves, and upper arms.
The original Emsculpt device limited candidates to a body-mass index (BMI) of 30 or less. The Emsculpt NEO device, however, is approved for those with a BMI of up to 35.
It has also proven effective for treating milder cases of diastasis recti, the muscle separation in the abdominal muscles that are common after pregnancy. Although significant separation should be treated with the traditional tummy tuck, the Emsculpt NEO can help those with minor cases avoid surgery.
What’s involved?
The best part of an Emsculpt treatment? Lying comfortably on the treatment table while the machine does all the work for you.
A full course of treatment involves once-a-week sessions over four consecutive weeks. Just as you’d do in the gym, we begin with a lower power “workout” and gradually increase it as the body adjusts.
A typical session lasts 30 minutes. Patients generally describe the Emsculpt NEO sensations as “intense, but not painful,” with the feeling afterward of having had a strenuous workout. Nevertheless, we will adjust the strength of the contractions to your comfort level.
And remember, we also offer the cutting-edge PRO-NOX nitrous oxide delivery system to help keep you as comfortable as possible during treatment. The safest nitrous oxide mixer available, it not only provides pain relief but also helps lessen stress for our patients who may feel some anxiety before or during a procedure.
While many people notice improvements after a single session, full results from an Emsculpt treatment will become visible over about three months as the muscles continue to build and strengthen. The procedure permanently eliminates fat from the treated area. But to maintain muscle tone, we recommend follow-up sessions every six months.
This safe, non-invasive procedure can help permanent contour and sculpt your problem areas. So give us a call today to schedule a treatment to lose the pandemic weight.
