Sculpsure Laser Body Contouring Explained: My Experience + Before/After Photos

Sculpsure Laser Body Contouring is one of the aesthetic procedures we do at our clinic. To date, it is the first and only FDA-approved laser treatment for stubborn body fat (i.e abdomen, love handles) that most of us can't get rid of despite diet and exercise. It permanently destroys up to 24% of fat cells in the area of treatment and unless you gain significant weight, those are gone for good! Your body gets rid of those destroyed fat cells through the lymphatics and while results vary from patient to patient, most that we have treated so far saw amazing results between 6-12 weeks after their first treatment. The more pincheable fat you have, the more realistic you should be when it comes to expectations. In general, you can achieve your body goals with 2 or 3 treatments. Sculpsure is a quick 25-minute procedure (30 minutes if you include photo-taking, fitting and adjustment of the belt) and has no downtime, surgery and anesthesia involved. One important thing I always tell patients is that Sculpsure is not a weight loss program but if you combine it with healthy and active lifestyle, this body investment as I call it is all worth it. Depending on your location, Sculpsure costs anywhere from $1500-$2500 per area of treatment.

Short clip of me getting #Sculpsure #laserbodycontouring 👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼As Aesthetic RN, this is one of the procedures I do but I was the patient 3 nights ago. @Sculpsure is the first and only FDA-approved laser treatment for stubborn fat in the mid-section, love handles. It also works on other areas like thighs, arms, bra fat, etc. It permanently destroys up to 24% fat cells without surgery, anesthesia and downtime. It's a 25-minute procedure so you can do it during your lunch break and be back to the office w/o restrictions #holidaybody #bodyinprogress #newyearnewme #beauty #bblogger

A video posted by Marie Kathryne (@thefabzilla) on Dec 15, 2016 at 3:13pm PST

Sculpsure utilizes 4 paddles (made of sapphire glass) which emit infrared laser specifically targeting the subcutaneous fat. The first four minutes is the build-up phase, and the remaining 21 minutes is the procedure itself. Overall it's tolerable but depending on your threshold, you may feel a sensation somewhat similar to dysmenorrhea. It goes thru a cycle of warm (25 seconds) and cool (10 seconds) and in the event of discomfort, the energy setting is adjusted or you maybe given extra 10 seconds of cooling. Regardless whether you are on the lowest setting, as long as you feel the warmth with very minor contraction, your results won't be compromised. I stay with my patients the entire time for evaluation plus it makes them feel at ease, at least based from their feedback. You will be asked to return to the clinic after 6 weeks and 12 weeks for evaluation including a before/after photo comparison. If you decide to proceed with 2 or 3 treatments of the same area(s), then you need to space out the next session between 4 to 6 weeks from the initial treatment. Reason being, the macrophages (type of white blood cell that engulfs cellular debris including dead fat cells) reach the treatment site in about 4 weeks. Interestingly, since new collagen is formed in response to laser, some skin tightening is also observed among patients. As mentioned, there are no activity restrictions but I do want to emphasize frequent hydration (water) and massaging the area twice a day for few minutes to facilitate drainage.

While I can explain to patients the whole concept of this breakthrough laser body treatment, nothing beats seeing the actual results straight from the horse's mouth. If you know me, I pretty much lead quite a healthy lifestyle (still need to work on my sweet tooth 'tho). But see, the dreaded pouch is as stubborn as my head, haha! So yeah, I put Sculpsure to test and after 6 weeks (when the photos below were taken), the results are in. For reference, I treated my upper and lower abdomen. I didn't feel any pain after the procedure but it felt quite tender to touch for about a week. The treated areas felt jiggly for about 3 weeks. And if the following photos weren't convincing enough, I went from pant size 27 to 25 or petite small depending on the brand (i.e True Religion size 25, Vince Camuto leggings petite small)

Unretouched photos. And yes, I have stretch marks too!

Side view: you can see that my lower pouch was reduced in size significantly. The upper pouch was less protruding as well.

Front view: gosh, my belly button went from "smirk to ahh", look it opened up, signaling loss of fat! You can also see my sides looking quite hourglass and it's only been 6 weeks! Take note, optimal results are achieved in 12 weeks so I can't wait to see more changes. 

Disclaimer: As Aesthetic Registered Nurse, I voluntarily subject myself to certain aesthetic procedures so I can explain and level patient's expectations if need be. If you live in Oahu, Hawaii and you are interested with Sculpsure, check out our clinic in Kapolei or better yet, inbox me for further questions. For all other states, this locator guide can help you.