Ahead of getting a new treatment, it is completely normal to feel apprehensive. However, the clinic's quiet, modern interior and number of smiley health and beauty professionals clad in white coats drifting around, puts you at ease as soon as you enter the building. The Cadogan Clinic is surprisingly large, with a multitude of white corridors, rooms and floors spreading across the building.
The body contouring treatment I was going to be trying was carried out by a machine called SculpSure™. This futuristic, impressive machine targets the stubborn pockets of fat on the flanks and abdomen that won’t budge despite a healthy diet and exercise (you can also get it on other areas such as arms and back but lower abdomen in the most common).
It is the first FDA-cleared laser treatment for non-invasive fat reduction and uses a controlled light-based technology which works by heating up and destroying fat cells in targeted areas, known as lipolysis.
The applicators lie flat on the skin and send out waves of intense heat and cold to the fat cells, without damaging the skin itself. The great thing about using SculpSure™ is that there is no downtime, so you are able to move around freely, enabling you to go home or back to work, making it a preferable to surgical fat removal options such as liposuction. It's also safe to exercise the next day as usual. However, the targeted area will feel tender and bloated for a few days after the treatment.
The SculpSure™ laser treatment, which lasts 25 minutes, is not meant to be painful, with patients mostly feeling tingling sensations varying feelings of warmth and cold, however, some people have likened the process to contractions or intense menstrual cramps. The practitioner who carried out my treatment, Ms Alicia Redondo Sanz, was absolutely amazing throughout the entire process, answering any questions I had, holding my hand during the treatment and making me feel completely comfortable.
