Cavitation treatment: how to lose fat without exercising

Dubai’s latest form of weight-loss therapy – cavitation treatment uses low-frequency ultrasound waves to penetrate the skin and reach the fat underneath. Then it breaks down those fat cells and enables the body to expel them naturally.

Top, Dr Chandy George consults with a patient at Balance Wellbeing 360. Balance Wellness Clinic

It sounded too good to be true. In just one session I would lose up to two centimetres from my thighs? I’m talking about Dubai’s latest form of weight-loss therapy – cavitation treatment. The theory is that it uses low-frequency ultrasound waves to penetrate the skin and reach the fat underneath. Then it breaks down those fat cells and enables the body to expel them naturally.

The best bit? You don’t have to do anything.

The first stage of my treatment involved a consultation session with Dr Chandy George, the Ayurveda consultant at Balance Wellbeing 360° in Dubai’s Oasis Centre. After asking me questions about my lifestyle and diet, he measured my body fat, minerals, proteins and water levels using a body composition analysis ­machine.

I already knew I was carrying most of my excess on the tops of my thighs and after the doctor confirmed this, he referred me to the cavitation therapy room for my treatment.

Promising fat reduction in a matter of minutes, without anaesthesia, scars or discomfort, he assured me I would see the difference and handed me over to the nurse.

In the cavitation room, the nurse measured the circumference of my thighs at the indent point. I then lay down on the bed and the nurse turned on the ultrasound machine and passed it vigorously over my thighs.

As part of the process, sound waves heat up the fat cell membranes so they start to break down. Because they are a different composition to vascular, nervous and muscular tissue, the machine is perfectly safe – targeting only the fat cells. It was a strange sensation; not painful, but every time the soundwave sensor made contact with my skin, I could hear a very high-pitched noise, which was coming from inside my head and was only audible to me. It was a bizarre experience.

After 15 minutes of sound-wave application, the second stage of the treatment was a vacuum suction again passed vigorously over the same area to aid the absorption of the loose fat cells and liquid into the body’s lymphatic system.

This was quite uncomfortable but not really painful and lasted for another 20 minutes.

After we were finished, the nurse measured my thighs again and I was shocked to see that the circumference had reduced by two centimetres on both sides. If I’m honest, I really didn’t think it was going to work and was pleasantly surprised that it did. After the treatment you must drink up to two litres of water to flush out toxins and the fat. Seven to 10 sessions are suggested for a sustained impact, but the whole procedure was so quick and easy that this didn’t seem so bad.

• One cavitation session at Balance Wellbeing 360, Oasis Centre costs Dh600. Package deals are available upon recommendation from the doctor. For more info visit www.balance-wellness-centre.com