Most Overrated Cosmetic Procedures

Photo by: CN Digital Studio

LASER LIPOSUCTION
Using a laser to enhance traditional liposuction may sound like a scientific advance, but many doctors have their doubts. Six years ago, surgeons began promoting the device as an efficient way to melt fat with high heat before removing it from the body. In reality, so-called SmartLipo and similar procedures add both time and money to the typical technique. First, a laser wand is inserted under the ... more 

Photo by: CN Digital Studio

LASER LIPOSUCTION
Using a laser to enhance traditional liposuction may sound like a scientific advance, but many doctors have their doubts. Six years ago, surgeons began promoting the device as an efficient way to melt fat with high heat before removing it from the body. In reality, so-called SmartLipo and similar procedures add both time and money to the typical technique. First, a laser wand is inserted under the skin, then another tube vacuums out the fat. The benefit of the heat is better skin tightening, with more elasticity and less bruising, says Barry DiBernardo, a plastic surgeon in Montclair, New Jersey. The downside? "There is the added risk of burns, large scars, tissue hardening, and prolonged pain," said Steven Teitelbaum, a plastic surgeon in Santa Monica, in a debate with DiBernardo at last year's meeting of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. (Cynosure, the company that makes SmartLipo, acknowledges "a very small" number of "uncomplicated" burns from th less