When a person is overweight or, in some cases, not overweight but still wants to lose some fat, there are a number of options that they consider. These range from diet and exercise (which is always a great choice, but can take a very long time and requires an extraordinary amount of discipline) to surgical options. There are many in-between alternatives, including procedures that make use of lasers. 

Of course, not every person is a good candidate for every possible alternative. We aim to help our members (TSLMS) and the general public figure out who is and what procedures are the absolute best for them.

 

What Makes Someone Fat Enough to Remove Fat

At its most basic, overweight implies that a person is above a weight that is “considered normal or desirable.”  Obesity and overweight are sometimes used interchangeably. 

Did you know that 1 in 3 adults in the US is considered overweight or obese, with the majority being men? According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH):

The terms “overweight” and “obesity” refer to body weight that is greater than what is considered normal or healthy for a certain height. Overweight is generally due to extra body fat. However, being overweight may also be due to extra muscle, bone, or water. People who have obesity usually have too much body fat.

Your body mass index (BMI) is one way to tell if you are at a healthy weight, overweight, or obesity. The BMI is a measure based on your weight in relation to your height. The greater your BMI, the greater your risk of health problems from overweight and obesity…

Medical experts recommend that people who have obesity should lose weight. Most people who are overweight and have one or more factors that raise their chance for heart disease should lose weight. These factors include:

• diabetes
• prediabetes
• high blood pressure
• dyslipidemia—high levels of LDL cholesterol, low levels of HDL cholesterol, or high levels of triglycerides NIH external link
• a large waist size—for men, greater than 40 inches; for women, greater than 35 inches

Anyone who falls into this category is a good candidate for weight loss.

 

Weight Loss Options in 2019

As noted above, there are any number of weight loss options for those who are suffering with obesity. They tend to fall into one of several categories. Weight loss surgeries, diet and exercise, and non surgical procedures.

Diets and exercise can be fantastic and really help a person to be much healthier for their lifetime. However, weight loss surgeries can be very effective for both short and long term weight loss. As WebMD notes, choosing the right one for the right person is important:

Restrictive surgeries work by shrinking the size of the stomach and slowing down digestion. A normal stomach can hold about 3 pints of food. After surgery, the stomach may at first hold as little as an ounce, although later that could stretch to 2 or 3 ounces. The smaller the stomach, the less you can eat. The less you eat, the more weight you lose.

Malabsorptive/restrictive surgeries change how you take in food. They give you a smaller stomach and also remove or bypass part of your digestive tract, which makes it harder for your body to absorb calories. Doctors rarely do purely malabsorptive surgeries — also called intestinal bypasses — anymore because of the side effects.

Implanting an electrical device, the newest of the three techniques, prompts weight loss by interrupting nerve signals between the stomach and the brain.

Then there is liposuction. This procedure is highly effective in targeted areas, but can leave sagging skin behind that ends up needing additional cosmetic surgery.

 

Best Laser Fat Loss Options

When a person decides to get a laser procedure for fat loss it is usually because they do not want the invasiveness of surgery, and diet and exercise have not worked the way that they had hoped. They see laser as a way to shape and form themselves without going under the knife or having something implanted into their bodies.

“Laser fat reduction is a non-invasive procedure that melts fat while keeping skin tight, thanks to the effects on your body’s production of collagen, a protein in the skin. The good news is that the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) reports on a study that showed that low-laser therapy for spot reduction is effective and safe. Laser fat reduction is often used as an alternative to traditional liposuction, and some surgeons use the two together to achieve greater results,” points out Erchonia, a maker of lasers. 

The company also points out that there are things that make a person a better candidate for successful laser fat removal. One is that candidates should be of normal, or healthy, body weight. 

Rather than being obesity control, lasers help in the same way that liposuction typically does – to obliterate stubborn fat pockets that just will not go away with diet and exercise. Candidates also need to be in good general health and cannot be pregnant:

The NCBI lists a study that reports that there hasn’t been enough research to conclude whether cosmetic surgery during pregnancy is safe or not. For this reason, the study advises pregnant women to steer clear of elective surgery until after the baby is born.

After the woman gives birth, her surgeon may want to wait a while to perform a procedure like this so that her body has time to naturally heal. If you’re considering laser fat reduction treatment after pregnancy, talk to your surgeon about a safe time frame and what cosmetic treatment options you have to help get your pre-baby body back. (Source).

That said, laser fat removal is one of the safest and most effective avenues for the removal of fat out there.