Laser Fat Destruction & Eyelid Burns

Although many cosmetic surgeons now recognize that lower eyelid bags are more commonly due to tissue loss rather than true fat protrusion, there are many who are still excising lower eyelid fat. Apparently a very small subset of these is attempting to remove this fat by making a small incision in the lateral lower lids, inserting a fiber from the "LaserTight" device and attempting to melt the fat and tighten the skin. This is a procedure that is new to me, and on the surface appears fraught with hazard. There are muscles near the fat that, if injured, could make it difficult for both eyes to move in a coordinated fashion. Furthermore, bleeding from eyelid surgery can rarely result in loss of vision, and this procedure is performed without direct visualization.

Cryolipolysis: Fat Removal Without Surgery?

As cosmetic surgery has become more more sophisticated, there has been a movement toward less invasive procedures. Many of the initial attempts were marginally effective, but with time the effectiveness and specificity of these procedures has improved. Fat removal has so far not been affected by this trend. The supposed, but still unproven, advances of laser assisted liposuction still required surgery. The use of mesotherapy, which involved the injections of solutions of varying composition, proved to be problematical for treating fatty areas of significant volume, and had problems that resulted in a number of lawsuits and the bankruptcy of a chain of facilities that were formed to capitalize on the treatment. Now, an article in the most recent "Dermatologic Surgery" journal reports on the use of external cooling to reduce fat.

Fat removal without liposuction?

As there is increasing movement of cosmetic procedures toward less invasive alternatives, one of the areas ripe for improvement is fat removal. Modern liposuction has been around since the early 1980s, and with the exception of the development of tumescent liposuction, developed by Dr. Jeff Klein, a dermatologist, there has not been significant advance toward a less invasive approach. One exception may be the "Lipodissolve" injections to remove fat, but the safety of these is very controversial and they are not practical for larger body areas. Now there are several technologies on the horizon that may prove to offer advances in this direction.   

Can Topical Creams Help Fat Reduction?

Obesity is a significant health problem and a significant social problem as well. Overweight and obese people are significantly more likely to have experienced depression than people of normal weight. Weight loss can reduce the amount of depression among those formerly overweight.

Lipodissolve and SmartLipo: Alternatives to Liposuction

LipoDissolve and SmartLipo have been proposed as alternatives to traditional liposuction. How well they work is still open to question.