Hope In A Needle?
By PéPé Castro

The results from mesotherapy last long, “especially when combined with exercise and proper nutrition,” adds mesotherapy.com.  However, we cannot stop the natural aging that affects your appearance. For this reason, we recommend regular maintenance visits.”

And costing only from P3,000 to P10,000 per treatment, “just about everyone can afford to have it,” Aranas says.

CLOSER LOOK

Many, however, continue to look at mesotherapy with skepticism, since unfortunately, a lack of scientific study “makes (it) a fad with potentially dangerous side effects.  There is simply no data, no science and no information, to my knowledge, that mesotherapy works," says Rod Rohrich, M.D., chairman of the Department of Plastic Surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.

In USA Today, Dr. Robin Ashinoff, speaking for the American Academy of Dermatology, says, "A simple injection is giving people false hope.  Everybody's looking for a quick fix.  But there is no quick fix for fat or fat deposits or for cellulite."
Adds Naomi Lawrence, a derma-surgeon at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, also in USA Today: "No one says exactly what they put into the (syringe)."  One drug often used, phosphatidylcholin, is “unpredictable, and causes extreme inflammation and swelling where injected. It is not a benign drug."

Thus, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons issued a position statement not endorsing mesotherapy because ‘to date, there has been no established mechanism of action, demonstrated efficacy, or established safety profile with any of the drugs used in mesotherapy.’

Thus, mesotherapists are cautious, recommending the treatment only for “healthy adults seeking a relatively painless treatment, which, like other cosmetic procedures, can lead to improved self esteem.  It is not recommended for patients who are pregnant, on blood thinners, are insulin-dependent diabetics, on medication for heart arrhythmias, have heart disease, or have cancer,” Blue Mountain states.