My Experience with Smart Lipo & More

I had my 4th of 5 appointments today. Instead of having the technician do today’s treatment, the doctor wanted to do it herself. It would appear that Vaser Shape is not the right choice for me. Although I don’t feel so bad since they told me that there’s quite a few people not getting the desired results. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. We’ve decided that doing SmartLipo on the inner thighs is likely my only option at this point. I’ve heard of the stocking lift but I haven’t had any lucky finding a lot of information on it. I’m not going to lie. I’m not super excited to go through the SmartLipo again. It’s not that I had a bad experience – I just know its going to be painful. I’ve put this body through a LOT in the past year. I’m not super excited to spend more money either. I feel so poor lately Just a lot to think about. As I was standing there having the doctor’s critical eye all over my body, I certainly wished I had taken charge of my weigh sooner. I try not to beat m...

Have you heard of Vaser Shape? When I went to the doctor to have the CO2 Laser Resurfacing done, I saw advertisements for this new body sculpting technique. I was very curious as to whether it would be a good choice for my inner thighs .. aka football player thighs! Today I had my consultation. The doctor thinks that this would be an excellent choice for me. Now, you may be skeptical in that it is her practice and she obviously wants to make money. However, I originally wanted to have the laser lipo done on my inner thighs and she said no as the results would not likely be what I was hoping for. The pricing is $1500 per area – an area being approximately an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. It takes 5 sessions that are approximately 30-60 minutes long. There is no down time or garment like with the SmartLipo. It uses ultrasound technology and the body metabolizes out the fat. I’m so excited .. I have my first appointment on Tuesday Of course, I will post plenty of progress...

I went and had CO2 laser resurfacing done on my stomach yesterday to try and smooth out some of my stretch marks. I spent an hour with topical anesthetic on my stomach to help ease the pain.  It was an extra $35.  I wasn't sure if it would really do a lot of good.  When it was finally time to start, I started to get nervous.  It didn't tickle but it didn't hurt substantially. Not yet anyway.  She had me turn some and all of a sudden it was horrifically painful.  The assistance commented that the Doc was going outside the lines of the topical anesthetic.  The doctor is a bit of a perfectionist.  Her comment, "well, you have stretch marks here too, I'm almost done."  My legs were shaking from the pain. The procedure overall didn't take but maybe 20-30 minutes.   The doctor told me to keep cold packs on the area to help with the swelling.  I was also advised to continue to wear the garment to prevent any friction against the area...

Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't getting nervous.  I'm not exactly sure how much pain I'll be in and that scares me.  I also don't know how long it will take for the skin to heal.  Or if it will show any great improvement once it is healed.  I keep telling myself, I've come this far, I might as well see it all the way through with the CO2 resurfacing.  I'll let you know how it goes :)

Well - the skin isn't perfect, but I didn't expect it to be.  There area where the skin is crinkling due to the stretch marks hasn't gotten any better.  After my last follow up appointment, I've decided that I'm going to do the CO2 resurfacing on my stomach.  It should help soften the stretch marks and possibly help with the skin on the surface.  I've been looking at before and after pictures on google and there aren't a lot that focus on stretch marks specifically.  Like always, I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures so you can see just what impact, if any, the procedure made.  It's costing me $600.  I figure, I already spent $6,200 on just my stomach area.  Might as well go the whole way and try to get the best results I can.  Why not right?

Here are my before and after pictures from 3 weeks after the procedure.  Not a whole lot of change in the last two weeks.  Just like the first time.  All the major changes happen in the first two days.  If I would have thought about it, I could have pulled my belly button apart to ensure it looked more normal.  The skin would have adhered accordingly, but instead, I'm stuck with this one.  But I'm ok with it :) I slept without the garment on for the first time last night.  It was nice.  I'm still wearing it during the day while I'm at work as I do a lot of sitting.  I'm still really happy with my decision to buy maternity pants.  I think they've really helped with the smooth healing of the skin.

So, I'm almost three weeks out since my procedure.  I'm still having weird pains.  I guess it's just all part of the healing process.  It's funny how it's only been 6 months since my first procedure and I've already forgotten how I felt 3-4 weeks after getting the procedure done. My skin has retracted so much that my stretch marks have caused my skin to look crinkly.  You can see what I'm talking about in the picture below. This was taken right after I woke up too - if you're tummy has a time when it looks it's best, that would certainly be it! It upsets me a little bit.  I knew it was a possibility but it looked so good after the first week I was really hopeful that it wasn't going to happen.  But, the skin does continue to tighten for up to three months so I guess my optimism was a little premature. The massage therapist thinks that it could potentially get better once the hardening and softening of the skin has gone through it's cyc...