Ultrasonic Cavitation Fat Removal...OH MY GOD, THE PAIN! Southport, AU

I have had stubborn saddlebag fat ever since I was about 18 years old despite being very slim elsewhere. Nothing worked. Even if I lost enough weight to resemble a skeleton (non-intentional weight loss, by the way), the saddlebags still remained, though only slightly smaller.

I had heard this procedure could produce visible results even after the first treatment, and when I found a Groupon deal for $109 for four sessions, I was quite excited. It was supposed to be a painless and non-invasive method of fat removal.

The clinic I went to was nice and the staff friendly and professional, and the procedure went as follows:-

The nurse (I think?) measured the area in question, but did not make any marks with pen (which may have been useful on hindsight).

I then lay down on a bed / table thing with a heat belt of some sort wrapped around my butt and around to my front. It was only slightly warm and I waited there for 10 minutes.

The machine to be utilised was a huge thing...with a fairly large hand piece. The nurse removed the belt and activated the machine, before placing the hand piece on the side of my right thigh. She kind of pushed it deeper into my skin, which was slightly painful but not that bad, until it apparently had grabbed enough skin / fat to suck into the much smaller area within the front of the hand piece. Then she held it there and I felt a blast of heat. She did this over and over, moving around my thigh. She seemed to focus mostly on the top of the thigh, which I was not happy with as I wanted the SIDE / BACK of my thigh treated, as this is where the saddlebags actually area. I pointed this out and she did spend more time around the side.

Within about 30 seconds, I was in extreme discomfort and pain. Sometimes she would hold the hand piece on my skin for an extended time, like over 5 seconds, and it literally felt as if a hair straightener plate was being pressed onto my skin and burning it. I have had various procedures in my time ranging from laser hair removal, IPL, tattoos, piercings, lip filler, cheek filler, nose filler and lipo-dissolve. NOTHING has ever been as painful as this procedure!!!

I am always stoic and reserved in these procedures as well, but this one caused me to say "ow" several times, as it was just THAT painful. For me to actually vocalize and express any sort of pain would be like someone else who was more demonstrative crying out.

After it was finally over, I stood up to get dressed again and saw my thighs were all pink (as to be expected) EXCEPT the actual saddlebag areas, which were visible most clearly when standing, were NOT pink at all! I was not happy. It seems when I lie down, the fat in that area falls down a bit so it ends up that I'm lying on it. I made a note to tell her next time, and also to mark in pen the exact right area.

Also after getting up, I noticed my back was drenched with sweat. Yes, the hand piece is REALLY hot and so it would have heated up my entire body, causing the sweating, but I also believe it was my body's immense physical stress from the pain that caused my sweating.

I felt fine afterwards. Walking felt ok. No after effects whatsoever and the pinkness vanished in a few hours, leaving behind just a few faint "spider vein" type marks. They also faded in about 2-3 days. The one thing that has STILL not faded however, a month later, is a small burn mark from that boiling hot hand piece. It left me with a red mark right up near the bottom of my bikini line (I do NOT know why she even PUT the hand piece there. I don't think she meant to and was distracted with something else at the time. That was THE most painful part of the whole procedure) which has now finally faded to a slight pale brown flat scar. I HOPE it disappears entirely at some point.

I was supposed to go back the next week but simply could not stand with it, so put it off for another week and then returned. I told the nurse about my past issues with the pain. She was very surprised since it is not supposed to hurt at all. I showed her the burn and she was also shocked and seemed quite embarrassed. She asked if she had done the procedure last time. Uh...YES.

So again, the same procedure was performed...the same warming belt...the same horrific pain from the hand piece. It just BURNS right on the skin. It is supposed to heat the fat cells BENEATHE the skin and bursting their shells so the fat can be absorbed by the body and then removed naturally.

I had seen absolutely NO improvement or shrinkage after either session and she measured me after the second one and seemed a bit surprised at this. I however, was NOT surprised. I just don't think it works on me. It targets the surface of my skin, not the fat underneath it seems.

Again, when I stood up, the thighs were pink and the saddlebags were NOT. I had forgotten to mark the area in pen though I had mentioned to her to try and use the hand piece further down / under where I was lying.

After this, I was sweating again majorly, and just found the whole thing SO unbearably painful and pointless also, so never went back for my remaining two sessions.