By Kate Dee, MD
Ever since 2008, I have really wanted Michelle Obama arms. When Emsculpt was first FDA-approved in 2018 and arrived in our spa weeks later, I asked the company, “When will you have applicators for arms?” I have always been fit, but no matter how much I lift weights, I have never been able to achieve that toned look that turns heads when you wear a tank top. Until now. For the first time in my life at almost 52 years old, I was finally getting compliments on my arms. With advances, Emsculpt Neo has the ability to tone the arm muscles and in addition decrease the fat in the arms.
To maximize the effectiveness in the smaller arm (and calf) muscles, the NEO arm applicators are smaller and curved to focus the magnetic waves in the right place. Working out the positioning and best practices for the settings was a long process. The result of this effort is a treatment that delivers the same 20,000 pulses in only 20 minutes per muscle. For the arms, we are able to treat both the triceps and the biceps muscles separately, both building muscle and killing fat. The treatment itself takes a longer than the abdomen or buttocks, which are each 30 minutes with a simpler set up. We treat the biceps and triceps muscles for 20 minutes each, and positioning takes a little longer, so the total time per visit is one hour to treat the arms. (Don’t worry -- we have kept the price the same as for abdomen or buttock despite the longer visit.)
We have found the arm treatment to be very effective. Your experience will depend partly on how toned your muscles are to start with. The larger the muscle, the more intense the contractions during treatment. When I do it, I come away feeling like I just fought a 40-minute boxing match. I do find it a little more intense than the abdominal or buttocks treatment. The experience is intense but not painful. You will feel stronger almost immediately. As always, the fat destruction happens over a longer time frame, with most of that process evident after just 1 month, but the total fat melting time is up to 6 months as with other fat-melting procedures.
As always, at Glow we are most concerned with providing safe treatments that are clinically effective. Before FDA approval, studies were done to prove effectiveness using MRI to objectively measure muscle mass and fat. The MRI was performed at 1 month following the series of 4 treatments, done 2-3 days apart over a time period of just 2 weeks. In the arm studies, on average there was 17.1% increase in muscle mass in the Biceps, a 10.2% increase in the Triceps and a 12.8% decrease in arm fat. For calves, the studies showed a 14.6% increase in muscle mass and a 9.9% decrease in fat thickness. These measurements were done at 1 month. Follow-up studies have yet to be published, but if they parallel the previous studies done for the abdomen and buttocks, we expect to see continued fat loss up to 6 months post-procedure.
If you have ever coveted Michelle Obama arms, this treatment is for you! Emsculpt Neo is available at both our centers in Kirkland and West Seattle. Call us or schedule a consultation here.
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