Q: What are the pros and cons of mesotherapy?

Pros It's a minimally invasive, in-office procedure. Patients don't require general anesthesia. It carries less downtime than more invasive options, such as liposuction. No postsurgical compression garments are needed. Mesotherapy that contains phosphatidylcholine deoxycholic acid, which is similar to the active ingredient in Kybella, can destroy fat cells permanently. Since there are no incisions, the treatment doesn’t leave scars. Cons The procedure is not approved by the FDA, and the agency has issued multiple warning letters due to safety concerns (more on that below). There is no standard treatment or method, so results depend on each individual provider’s recipe and technique. Reputable studies have found that mesotherapy isn’t effective for body contouring or skin rejuvenation. As many as 10 mesotherapy sessions may be recommended, which can get expensive. Swelling can last for up to a week, and patients have reported more serious complications, including permanent scars.

Q: Does mesotherapy work?

Two peer-reviewed studies, one published in the International Journal of Dermatology and the other in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery , found that mesotherapy was ineffective at inducing skin rejuvenation and body contouring, respectively. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons does not recommend mesotherapy for fat reduction. Fewer than half of RealSelf member reviews of mesotherapy say their treatment was Worth It.

Question 1

What is mesotherapy?

Accepted Answer

Mesotherapy involves a series of chemical injections with short, fine needles that target the middle layer (or mesoderm) of skin. It was first developed in France in 1952 by Dr. Michel Pistor, as a treatment for sports injuries and a way to improve circulation.

Doctors who administer mesotherapy use a variety of substances in their injections, including plant extracts, vitamins, amino acids, minerals, hyaluronic acid, hormones, enzymes, and prescription medications.

Depending on the formulations, these bespoke cocktails aim to do everything from treating hair loss and minimizing fine lines to tightening loose skin and reducing the appearance of cellulite and excess fat—particularly the double chin.

Mesotherapy for fat reduction is not a weight-loss treatment. Instead, it’s “really geared toward small pockets of fat—one to two inches of pinchable fat,” says Dr. John Tang, a physician in Saratoga, California. “If you’re 30 pounds overweight or have too much excess skin, you’re not a good candidate for mesotherapy for fat reduction.”

When used for fat reduction, the noninvasive procedure is often positioned as an alternative to Kybella or Aqualyx (their active ingredient, deoxycholic acid, has long been used in mesotherapy cocktails).

However, mesotherapy is not FDA-approved, and there’s no standard of treatment—meaning that practitioners can mix whatever they’d like into their injectable cocktails.

Related: Everything You Need to Know About Mesotherapy

Question 2

What are the pros and cons of mesotherapy?

Accepted Answer

Pros

It's a minimally invasive, in-office procedure.
Patients don't require general anesthesia.
It carries less downtime than more invasive options, such as liposuction.
No postsurgical compression garments are needed.
Mesotherapy that contains phosphatidylcholine deoxycholic acid, which is similar to the active ingredient in Kybella, can destroy fat cells permanently.
Since there are no incisions, the treatment doesn’t leave scars.

Cons

The procedure is not approved by the FDA, and the agency has issued multiple warning letters due to safety concerns (more on that below).
There is no standard treatment or method, so results depend on each individual provider’s recipe and technique.
Reputable studies have found that mesotherapy isn’t effective for body contouring or skin rejuvenation.
As many as 10 mesotherapy sessions may be recommended, which can get expensive.
Swelling can last for up to a week, and patients have reported more serious complications, including permanent scars.

Question 3

Does mesotherapy work?

Accepted Answer

Two peer-reviewed studies, one published in the International Journal of Dermatology and the other in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, found that mesotherapy was ineffective at inducing skin rejuvenation and body contouring, respectively.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons does not recommend mesotherapy for fat reduction.

Fewer than half of RealSelf member reviews of mesotherapy say their treatment was Worth It.

Question 4

Is mesotherapy safe?

Accepted Answer

In 2010, the FDA issued warning letters to six United States companies as well as one in Brazil, questioning the safety and effectiveness of Lipodissolve, a treatment that’s used almost interchangeably with mesotherapy when referring to treatment for fat reduction.

According to the FDA, patients have reported permanent scarring, granulomas (skin deformation at the injection site), and painful knots under the skin.

Other rare but serious risks and side effects include infection and local necrosis (tissue death), “which is thought to be related to improper injection into the skin and not the fat,” according to Dr. Tang.

There have also been reports of death from organ failure.

Question 5

What happens during a mesotherapy treatment?

Accepted Answer

Mesotherapy is an in-office treatment. Your provider first cleans the area being treated, then administers a series of injections.

Each injection places a drop of the solution into the desired area, at a depth of 1 to 10 millimeters.

“It takes only a few minutes to do the actual treatment,” Dr. Tang says. “If the patient chooses to have numbing cream applied in advance, that adds about 10 or 15 minutes to the process.”

You’ll be able to drive yourself home and continue with your daily activities.

RealSelf Tip: Since bruising is always a possibility with injections, avoid taking anything that thins the blood for at least one week before your appointment. This includes fish oil, high amounts of garlic, gingko, aspirin, vitamin E supplements, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, such as Advil. You’ll also need to moderate your alcohol consumption.

Question 6

What should you expect after mesotherapy?

Accepted Answer

There shouldn’t be any downtime after the procedure—most people return to their regular activities right away. Side effects are typically mild.

“It doesn’t interfere with working out, necessarily, but you’ll feel some soreness and see some swelling,” Dr. Tang says. “The swelling is there for a week, typically, and then resolves completely.”

Question 7

When will you see mesotherapy results?

Accepted Answer

Because there’s no standard ingredient mixture or method, there’s variability to when you’ll start to see results from mesotherapy.

“I tell people it usually takes two to three treatments to see visible results,” Dr. Tang says. Still, some will require several appointments, depending on how much fat there was initially. On average, providers recommend between 3 and 10 treatments every 7–14 days. Results will vary. “I generally say that you need two to four treatments per inch of fat,” Dr. Tang says.