Minimal results after 1 treatment of Sculpsure - should I have a second treatment?

The settings start at 1.1 and go up as tolerated. If the treatment was causing a lot of discomfort at 1.4 it would be recommended to lower the setting until there is tolerable if any discomfort. More heat would correlate with a higher risk of lumps. In the FDA trials, nodules occurred 23 % of patients for the abdomen and 12% for the flanks. The duration of lumps was 35-139 days for the abdomen, and 38 to 138 days for the flanks. The thighs were not done as the FDA approval was for the abdomen and flanks.It would seem reasonable to wait until the lumps have entirely resolved before having another treatment. Consider settings that do not cause pain if you do it again.  It does not have to cause pain to get a good result.As far as number of treatments, our standard protocol when there is a fair amount of fat present is two treatments at six week intervals to see optimal results.

Thank you for your question.Sculpsure is a noninvasive 1060nm diode laser treatment that removes up to 25% of stubborn fat in the treated area in 25 minutes.It is FDA approved for the abdomen and flanks. It is safe if you get pregnant in the future.



The body contouring effects are seen in as quick as six weeks with final results at 12 weeks.



The results are permanent as long as you maintain your weight and health.



The laser targets and destroys the fat cells only which are then naturally removed from the body. Since the laser does not affect the skin or muscle it can be used on all skin colors and there has been no reported incidents of burns when treated by a properly trained physician. It is protective since it alternates heating and cooling.



It has four applicators that can be customized to treat the areas of stubborn fat.



If a second treatment is needed we wait at least six weeks and usually closer to 12.





If you notice lumps after (which I've never seen) I would recommend massage. You should also alert your surgeon.





There is no downtime and you can resume your normal activities right after the treatment. There may be some soreness in the area for a few days for which you can take ibuprofen or tylenol. A cold compress can also be used.





Sculpsure is not used for skin tightening however some of our patients have seen this. If more skin tightening is needed we have combined this with thermi or Ulthera for a complete treatment. Sculpsure is recommended for stubborn areas of fat that are not being lost by diet and exercise. It is not a weight loss treatment





Since I have both a coolsculpting and sculpsure I am working on protocols of utilizing both of these depending upon what areas need to be treated and the response to the treatment.



I have used sculpsure on other areas other than the abdomen with very good results.





I also use a Vectra 3D imaging system to try and show people what their treatment areas could look like.





Since Sculpsure outcomes can be based on technique and experience, please see a board certified plastic surgeon that specializes body contouring to see if Sculpsure or other treatments are available to meet your goals.





Take care,





Dr Schwartz



Board Certified Plastic Surgeon

Thank you for your question. It would be worth a revisit consultation to determine the setting of the machine during your first treatment and how an increased setting in your potential second treatment can benefit your results. More than likely, your second treatment will be able to supplement the first treatment to become closer to your desired result. Please always consult with a board certified facial plastic surgeon.

Best wishes,

Please note that the standard of care is two treatments about 6 weeks apart for optimal results. In fact we usually encourage the patients to buy a package treatment as almost all patients will need the second treatment, This does not mean that you should not have any results for the first treatment and in fact many patients do see fantastic results within few week. We just see much steeper improvement with the second treatment. You should also try to have your MD move the applicator around a bit of you are experiencing  pain. It's usually on of the four plates that causes most of the pain and that pain is often resolved with some relocation of the plate.

We have found that an additional SculpSure treatment is often beneficial in patients such as yourself. Provided your physician recommends it, you've waited the appropriate time between treatments, and you feel you are getting some benefit from the treatment. We are seeing some great results from this device with our patients.

It's difficult to say if you were a good candidate for the procedure without seeing photos.  The thigh area is technically "off-label" use of SculpSure which is currently approved for abdomen and flanks based on FDA submitted studies.  That being said, many clinicians, including myself have had success in treating the thighs and other non-trunk areas.  However not everyone is a good candidate for the procedure since SculpSure works best on a specific subset of body types and body-fat percentage.  In general, however, you should see more improvements with two treatments as opposed to one.

Most people get better results with multiple treatments.  If you saw some improvement with the initial treatment, I would recommend a 2nd treatment to improve on that reduction. A reduction of 1/4" in circumference may not be bad based on treating only the outer thighs as well as depending on how much of a fat pocket you had to start with.  Good luck!

Thank you for your question.  I am assuming that you did see some response with the first treatment.  Hopefully, this was notable on good quality before-and-after photos.  In people who have an adequate layer of fat, I have not had a patient with no response, but some do get more of a response than others.  In studies, SculpSure was shown to reduce fat in treated areas by 24% on average, but that includes hundreds of procedures with a range of results - so some people may have only had a 10% reduction, while others may have had a 35% reduction.  If you did get some improvement, then it would be reasonable to assume that a repeat treatment will also give you some reduction too, most likely not any better than the first, however, but the results should be additive.  Best of luck!

Yes for sure, you should undergo another treatment, especially if you have seen a response from the first one. We routinely suggest at a minimum of two sessions to obtain ideal results. Good luck!

In my experience, the results from SculpSure are improved with multiple treatment sessions.  So, I would say it would be worthwhile to treat your outer thighs again.  Each treatment session will destroy fat cells that were not destroyed in prior treatments.