Mesotherapy: Fact or fiction?
August 21, 2004 | 12:00am
A ladies’ lunch reunion in a French Café in Paris turned out to be a game of truth or consequence.
No longer kids but with a lot of beauty secrets to hide or to share, this ladies’ lunch turned out to be so much fun. In order to make it unique, we wrote questions on pieces of paper, put them in a basket and each one picked out a paper. The questions were light or daring. One had the choice to answer or not to answer, in which case, the consequence of having to pay for the whole lunch was the punishment.
Two of my friends who have lived in New York and Paris respectively had a certain glow. Their faces looked taut without having gone through a surgical face lift. Their love handles which were noticeable before seemed to have diminished remarkably without doing liposuction. In short, they did not do anything invasive. Curious about these improvements, I asked them what magical treatments enhanced their already existing good looks. They both did Mesotherapy which they both discovered coincidentally through friends of friends. One friend did it in Paris and the other in New York. In both countries, the procedure is the same with just a slight change on the medicines used.
I decided to check it out when I flew to New York. My girlfriend was having her treatment and she allowed me to watch. I had the chance to interview her doctor, Shirley Madhere, a brilliant young plastic surgeon with a master’s degree from Brown University Graduate School. Madhere’s practice includes skin care and age management. She believes that beauty radiates from within and that the externals are reflections of the inner health of mind and body. She believes that even if Mesotherapy is not scientifically proven, and the benefits undocumented in American or medical literature, the benefits are numerous because of the vitamins and homeopathic agents that are infused in the patients, middle layer of the skin.
Mesotherapy is a technique that involves the injection of small doses of vitamins, homeopathic drugs and medications into the middle layer of the skin. This method was invented by Dr. Michel Pistor in France in 1952. Although not yet too popular in the US, it has been used in Europe and South America. In France, for example, approximately 15,000 doctors use Mesotherapy daily and up to 60,000 patients are treated with such injections daily. French doctors believe that it is not only beneficial as a beauty treatment but also used for traumatology, rheumatology, sports medicine, neurology and aesthetics. It has been used successfully in the treatment of muscle inflammation, painful joints, osteoarthritis, migraine headaches, presbyopia, alopecia, (hair loss) cellulite, mild to moderate obesity, facial wrinkles and sagging skin. The practice is based largely on theory, the physician’s clinical experience, and patient testimonials. The medical field in France is so advanced in research and methodology.
In general, two or more types of drugs are injected simultaneously. These include vitamins A, B, C, E, K, homeopathic agents and medications frequently used to treat other ailments. The chemical and physical compatibilities of these drugs have been tested. Mesotherapy uses mixtures that vary with the patient according to history, health, skin tissue quality and treatment goals. These medications have been widely approved in Europe and found safe for injectable use. But some of them have not been approved by the FDA in the US.
For weight loss, a medicine to melt fat is injected together with the other vitamins and homeopathic agents. This will be helpful in the treatment of mild to moderate weight gain. But diet and exercise should still be part of the formula.
Mesotherapy tightens the skin slightly but will not change the body contour. The number of treatments may vary depending on the patient’s needs.
Mesotherapy is non-surgical, relatively non-toxic, generally well tolerated and has minimal ill effects. It requires multiple sessions to achieve the outcome. It requires dedication to the treatment plan including diet and exercise programs. The complications include injections that could be painful, skin infections and bruises due to the injections, allergic reaction to the medicines, tissue necrosis, or lack of response to the therapy.
We all agree that beauty is its own excuse for being but it is a known fact that beauty needs to be maintained and nourished and the techniques are varied and not cheap.
What I saw in my friends were very positive effects. The vitamins injected on their faces made their skin taut and hydrated, giving them a youthful glow. The medicines used to melt the fat were effective in dissolving their slight bulges. I can safely conclude that Mesotherapy is for those who don’t need major body contouring nor major facelifts. For these, a cosmetic surgery procedure is recommended. But for those that need a light treatment to erase some minor wrinkles, cellulites, minimal love handles, dry skin and slightly sagging cheeks, Mesotherapy could be the answer. Oftentimes, it is just a thin line between a tired looking face and a glowing face. And if it takes only some ant bite injections to achieve the difference, Mesotherapy is worth the try.
No longer kids but with a lot of beauty secrets to hide or to share, this ladies’ lunch turned out to be so much fun. In order to make it unique, we wrote questions on pieces of paper, put them in a basket and each one picked out a paper. The questions were light or daring. One had the choice to answer or not to answer, in which case, the consequence of having to pay for the whole lunch was the punishment.
Two of my friends who have lived in New York and Paris respectively had a certain glow. Their faces looked taut without having gone through a surgical face lift. Their love handles which were noticeable before seemed to have diminished remarkably without doing liposuction. In short, they did not do anything invasive. Curious about these improvements, I asked them what magical treatments enhanced their already existing good looks. They both did Mesotherapy which they both discovered coincidentally through friends of friends. One friend did it in Paris and the other in New York. In both countries, the procedure is the same with just a slight change on the medicines used.
I decided to check it out when I flew to New York. My girlfriend was having her treatment and she allowed me to watch. I had the chance to interview her doctor, Shirley Madhere, a brilliant young plastic surgeon with a master’s degree from Brown University Graduate School. Madhere’s practice includes skin care and age management. She believes that beauty radiates from within and that the externals are reflections of the inner health of mind and body. She believes that even if Mesotherapy is not scientifically proven, and the benefits undocumented in American or medical literature, the benefits are numerous because of the vitamins and homeopathic agents that are infused in the patients, middle layer of the skin.
Mesotherapy is a technique that involves the injection of small doses of vitamins, homeopathic drugs and medications into the middle layer of the skin. This method was invented by Dr. Michel Pistor in France in 1952. Although not yet too popular in the US, it has been used in Europe and South America. In France, for example, approximately 15,000 doctors use Mesotherapy daily and up to 60,000 patients are treated with such injections daily. French doctors believe that it is not only beneficial as a beauty treatment but also used for traumatology, rheumatology, sports medicine, neurology and aesthetics. It has been used successfully in the treatment of muscle inflammation, painful joints, osteoarthritis, migraine headaches, presbyopia, alopecia, (hair loss) cellulite, mild to moderate obesity, facial wrinkles and sagging skin. The practice is based largely on theory, the physician’s clinical experience, and patient testimonials. The medical field in France is so advanced in research and methodology.
In general, two or more types of drugs are injected simultaneously. These include vitamins A, B, C, E, K, homeopathic agents and medications frequently used to treat other ailments. The chemical and physical compatibilities of these drugs have been tested. Mesotherapy uses mixtures that vary with the patient according to history, health, skin tissue quality and treatment goals. These medications have been widely approved in Europe and found safe for injectable use. But some of them have not been approved by the FDA in the US.
For weight loss, a medicine to melt fat is injected together with the other vitamins and homeopathic agents. This will be helpful in the treatment of mild to moderate weight gain. But diet and exercise should still be part of the formula.
Mesotherapy tightens the skin slightly but will not change the body contour. The number of treatments may vary depending on the patient’s needs.
Mesotherapy is non-surgical, relatively non-toxic, generally well tolerated and has minimal ill effects. It requires multiple sessions to achieve the outcome. It requires dedication to the treatment plan including diet and exercise programs. The complications include injections that could be painful, skin infections and bruises due to the injections, allergic reaction to the medicines, tissue necrosis, or lack of response to the therapy.
We all agree that beauty is its own excuse for being but it is a known fact that beauty needs to be maintained and nourished and the techniques are varied and not cheap.
What I saw in my friends were very positive effects. The vitamins injected on their faces made their skin taut and hydrated, giving them a youthful glow. The medicines used to melt the fat were effective in dissolving their slight bulges. I can safely conclude that Mesotherapy is for those who don’t need major body contouring nor major facelifts. For these, a cosmetic surgery procedure is recommended. But for those that need a light treatment to erase some minor wrinkles, cellulites, minimal love handles, dry skin and slightly sagging cheeks, Mesotherapy could be the answer. Oftentimes, it is just a thin line between a tired looking face and a glowing face. And if it takes only some ant bite injections to achieve the difference, Mesotherapy is worth the try.
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