Extreme Makeover: Coming to a Beach Near You

Short shorts. Revealing mid-drifts. Slinky dresses. Slim-fitting shirts. How about swimsuits? Almost seems like the fashion world is dead-set against us enjoying the luscious Mexican foods and really lazy days we've come to love. With our beautiful Los Cabos weather and our active lifestyles, men and women scurry to do whatever they can to look their very best on the beach.

From low-carb diets and round-the-clock Pilates classes to butt and bicep implants, there are no limits to the lengths that people will go to, to create their makeover. So when you notice the growing numbers of bodacious bods on the beach, there may be more to it than you realize, just ask your local plastic surgeons , medical aestheticians, or dermatologists.

Surgery not your cup of tea? And you have worked on you diet and exercise and still your dream body is out of reach? Excess cellulite and saggy skin? You can take the non-surgical route to beautifying your body, without any pain or downtime.

Sayonara, Cellulite? Cellulite is a common term used to describe superficial pockets of trapped fat, which cause uneven dimpling or “orange peel” skin. It appears in 90% of post-adolescent women and is rarely seen in men. Common but not exclusive areas where cellulite is found, are the thighs, buttocks, and the abdomen. Contrary to popular belief, cellulite is not related to obesity, since it occurs in overweight, normal, and thin women.

There are new FDA approved treatments that may be a viable way to get rid of cellulite once and for all. They include mesotherapy, lasers, endermologie including ultrasound and microcurrent lymphatic drainage, muscle stimulation, steam/infrared and combinations thereof.

Endermologie was the first FDA approved treatment for cellulite, it involves a mechanical massage between two rollers that breaks up the fiberous bands on fat which results in a tighter appearance in the treated areas. This has now been improved by the addition of ultrasound and microcurrent lymphatic drainage. The additional ultrasound and microcurrent actions break up cellulite and helps to increase drainage of lymph and blood cells, so fat cells aren't backed up with the fluid that leads to a cottage cheese appearance. Endermologie can be complimented with mesotherapy, medilift (muscle stimulation), and/or infrared/steam treatments.

“Mesotherapy is a technique where we inject medication, plant extracts, and vitamins into the mesoderm layer of the skin to break-up the amount of cellulite that's visible," explains Dra. Marcela Ruvalcaba Dueñas, located in Los Cabos. The mesoderm is the middle layer of the skin. "We break the band in skin that causes the lumpy appearance and melt the fat to give a smoother appearance," she says. Dra. Marcela regularly performs mesotherapy on legs, arms, backs, and abdomens. Dra. Marcela takes her program one step further by offering additional diet and nutrition programs and infrared heat combined with muscle stimulation. "You typically see results in four weeks depending on how severe the cellulite is, mesotherapy is FDA approved and costs roughly $500," she says. And it only takes 20 minutes.

Staying in shape seems harder than ever. Busy schedules, more stress and the demands for maintaining a youthful appearance make the muscle-stimulation of the Medilift a dream come true. Unlike mesotherapy or endermologie, which only treat the cellulite and lymph, the medilift unit (FDA approved) additionally works on the muscle. This is the system that can make all the difference for people who have become excessively overweight, and have lack muscle tone because they have been unable to exercise, recently had a baby or just need help fighting the aging process.

The newest twist in heating body tissue and raising body core temperature is the combination of steam and infrared. One such unit is called the Spa-Jet, complete with computerized programs for weight loss and cellulite reduction. The capsule also provides massage, aromatherapy, LED light therapy, Vichy shower and a vitamin and mineral spray system to hydrate the skin. "Dr. John Welbes, in Omaha, Nebraska, recommends the use of combination steam and infrared in the treatment of cellulite, finding it superior to body wraps.”The purpose of a body wrap is to raise tissue temperature and body wraps are very slow;" says Dr. Welbes, "it may take an hour to achieve the same temperature increase that you can get in about 10 minutes in a steam/infrared bath." According to Dr. Welbes, the heat helps loosen the fatty tissue so that it is less solid and can more easily be broken down.

Infrared and steam combined also causes an increase in body metabolism and detoxification (making it a great treatment for overall health). "Sweating is therapeutic, but so too are other physiological effects of the infrared/steam bath. Dramatic effects derived from the circulatory changes are caused by the intense heat exposure. These treatments have a stimulating effect on the cardiovascular system. The heart rate increases as much as 50% to 75% during a 10-20 minute steam bath session. The pulse rate increases from 75 beats per minute to between 100-150 beats per minute during a 15-20 minute treatment. This increases blood circulation, but not blood pressure, since the heat also causes the tiny blood vessels in the skin to expand, accommodating the increased blood flow. According to A.C. Guyton, M.D., an authority in the field of medical physiology, the metabolic rate is increased 100% for every 10° C rise in temperature. An increase in temperature from 98.6° F to 104° F increases metabolism by about 30%. In one 45 minute treatment the patient burns approximately 900 calories.

What about that loose skin, you might ask. You have lost your weight, your cellulite is gone, now what? There is new technology for this problem as well, Titan by Cutera. Titan utilizes a safe infrared light source with a unique wavelength filtering design to uniformly heat the dermis. The non-invasive Titan Procedure protects the epidermis through continuous contact cooling while the infrared light heats the deep dermis. No down-time or pain medication is required. It is a nonablative, nonsurgical lifting procedure which causes the collagen in the dermis to contract and tighten. It is not a laser but it does employ infrared light to lift and tighten the skin so that gravity changes are softened, fine wrinkles are less obvious and pores are shrunk. The Titan can be used for tightening lax skin over various areas of the body, including the forehead, the lower face along the chin line, under the eyes, the hands, the abdomen, thighs, saggy underarms, around the knees, and in some cases the breasts.

The first set of before and after photos show Titan procedure results for a 50-year old patient with post-partum skin redundancy from carrying twins 23 years ago. The procedure takes about 45 min. to one hour. http://www.monaspaandlaser.com/news.htm

With theses new technologies, you can finally take your sarong off and reveal your new you.

Cathy Dammann-Fleishman is a Certified Advanced Medical Aesthetics Practitioner and has certifications in Aesthetics, Light and Laser Therapies, Massage, Electrolysis and Hair Removal. She is the owner of Spa Cielo, specializing in the newest technologies for non-surgical, non-ablative, anti-aging, skin and body rejuvenation. Spa Cielo is located in San Jose del Cabo, Plaza Los Portales, 3^rd Floor Blockbuster Building. 624-105-2209. Cathy’s Cell 044-624-129-7311.