Jean Fain

Jean Fain

Psychotherapy & Hypnosis

Laser lipo: the next best thing?

**An Encouraging Word, Vol. 7**

an occasional note from Jean Fain

Harvard Medical School psychotherapist & hypnosis instructor

Published Nov. 26, 2006

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Read on if you’re interested in losing weight without the deprivation associated with dieting. Feel free to forward “An Encouraging Word” to a friend. If you didn’t receive this note directly from Jean Fain and you’d like to subscribe, send an email to the address above with the word “subscribe” in the subject field. If you’d rather not receive future announcements, send an email with the word “unsubscribe” in the subject field.

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There are always new weight-loss plans making headlines, and this month it’s laser lipo, aka SmartLipo. As you read on about this new, non-surgical liposuction, a few words of caution: a) there are no magic cures for obesity b) laser lipo sounds safer than traditional liposuction, but, as with any medical procedure, it’s got risks. If you find yourself intrigued, please weigh the risks against the benefits before making any decisions.

Rather than jetting to Europe, where they’ve been practicing SmartLipo since the Millenium, you can now have your fat literally melted in less time, with less pain than with traditional liposuction. That’s right, since the FDA approved this less-invasive lipo mid-November, plastic surgeons and their happy patients have been extolling its virtues: faster recovery; tighter skin; less bruising, swelling and discomfort. “No more lipo lumps,” coos one plastic surgeon on an internet message board. (To watch the ABC News report, click on http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2648892.)

Laser lipo sounds less traumatic than traditional liposuction, which, in addition to unsightly lumps, can cause infection, organ damage, pulmonary embolisms and, in rare cases, death. Once melted, the fat drains, sans surgery, through the lymphatic system. But I’m not sure this new-improved body-contouring technique is good news. Sure, patients can have their fat melted outpatient after breakfast and be back to work before lunch, but they still have to shell out $3,000-plus per body part. Last I checked, you can burn body fat walking on your lunch break, for free. While a local anesthetic and a needle-sized incision is better than chemical anesthesia and traditional surgery, laser lipo is still more dangerous than bicycling or swimming or high-impact aerobics, for that matter.

All one client wants for Christmas is laser lipo. Frankly, I’m frightened. Pigs have survived with less bacon fat, but researchers have yet to conduct long-term studies on low-fat humans.

On a different, but related note….

It’s easy to forget what really matters, especially during the holiday season. This time of year, I often redirect clients’ attention to the most valuable gift of all: loving oneself. You might want to try it. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Chanukah or Kwanzaa, consider the radical notion that you are lovable irregardless of your size, shape and weight. That you’re OK as you are. For a free sample, click the following link to a video about one man’s mission to hug and be hugged: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4. And for more of the same, watch, once again, how Jimmy Stewart rediscovers the meaning of love in “It’s A Wonderful Life.”

Attention Holiday Shoppers….

Now through New Year’s Day, “Eat to Live & Lose Weight: A Jean Fain Hypnosis CD” (http://cdbaby.com/cd/jeanfain) is available for $5 off the usual price. Melt holiday stress and excess fat without surgery by hitting the play button on your CD player. Should I be calling this audio lipo?

Food For Thought….

“When I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and it is all one.”

--M.F.K. Fisher

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In addition to seeing clients in private practice, Jean Fain teaches hypnosis at Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and she writes for O, The Oprah Magazine, among other women's magazines. More information about Jean Fain’s services and weight-loss CDs is available on her website (www.jeanfain.com).

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(Click the Newsletter link below to read other volumes of "An Encouraging Word.")

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