Mesotherapy is a procedure that has been claimed to dissolve fat from the repeated injection (and I mean lots and lots of injections) of various substances into the fat layers of skin. Mesotherapy actually got its start 50 years ago in France through the work of a physician who was trying to find a cure for deafness (Source: Dermatological Times, December 1, 2004). From there it gained notoriety in the United States after singer Roberta Flack appeared on ABC’s 20/20 claiming mesotherapy helped her lose 40 pounds (although she said she also dieted and exercised, but what stood out for lots of people was the part that didn’t involve diet and exercise).
Some of the substances being injected are homeopathic and some are pharmaceutical. Strangely, there isn’t necessarily any consistency, and the cocktail of ingredients can vary from practitioner to practitioner. The fact that the material being injected isn’t consistent and that not everyone discloses exactly what they are using makes this treatment very hard to evaluate. The most typically used substance in mesotherapy is phosphatidylcholine, but it can also be combined with deoxycholate. A handful of studies have shown that this can successfully reduce fat when injected into the skin, with one study demonstrating this for the undereye area. Theoretically, the reduction of subcutaneous fat may be caused by inflammatory-mediated cell death and resorption.
However, mesotherapy isn’t without risk. Side effects included burning, erythema, and swelling at the injection site. In a few of the reliable studies that do exist, results are at best mixed with only about 50% of patients feeling they maintained improvement, 20% experienced some fading, and 30% had no benefit at all. Of course there is no way to no what other treatments, diet, or exercise these people used during the same period. There is concern that larger studies evaluating long-term safety and efficacy of phosphatidylcholine for cosmetic purposes are needed. Until further studies are performed, patients considering mesotherapy for cellulite must be aware that the substances currently being injected to treat this cosmetically undesirable situation have not been thoroughly evaluated for safety or efficacy.
Finding out if this would work for you would not be inexpensive. Mesotherapy costs $300-$500 for each treatment and about 10 to 15 sessions are recommended, so it ends up being more expensive than liposuction.
(Sources: Dermatological Surgery, April 2008, pages 529-542; Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, December 2007, pages 250-257; Journal of Cosmetic Laser Therapy, December 2005, pages 147-154, and March 2005, pages 17-19; Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, November 2005, pages 1127-1130; Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, July-August 2003, pages 315-318; and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, July 2003, pages 162-170.)