Doctors in Connecticut are using lasers for many health and beauty procedures and now there’s another one to add to the list -- zapping fat.
“I kept looking at my stomach and it wasn’t what I wanted it to be,” said Jerry Long, of Bloomfield, who embarked on a health and fitness mission a few weeks ago. He came to Dr. Desmond Ebanks at Alternity Healthcare in West Hartford to take charge of his health.
Dr. Ebanks, a board–certified internist, put Long on a comprehensive fitness plan that includes a laser that claims to zap inches off a patient’s waist, buttocks and thighs.
Dr. Ebanks said the Federal Drug Administration approved Zerona Laser for that purpose after a trial.
“In that clinical trial, they used to get specific FDA approval for circumferential reduction of body fat. On average, 3-to-5 inches of circumferential loss was documented in that study,” Ebanks said.
Long liked the sound of that and signed up for two weeks of Zerona Laser treatment, which costs $2,500.
He goes to Alternity Healthcare every other day and lays on a table for 40 minutes while the red beams of the laser go over his mid-section and upper legs.
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Since it’s considered to be a cold laser, he said he does not feel anything, and actually relaxes.
And he said he’s noticed a difference.
“Yes, I’ve noticed my pants are falling off of me,” Long said.
But he can’t credit the laser alone. Dr. Ebanks is overseeing Long, who is required to do 30 minutes a day of exercise a day and eat a healthy diet. He must also drink lots of water and abstain from alcohol during his two-week treatment.
Dr. Ebanks said that, unlike liposuction, which takes fat cells out and is invasive, the Zerona Laser shrinks them during a lunchtime visit.
“The wavelength of the laser activates a photoreceptor on the wall of the fat cell and it causes a pore to open and the fat cell gradually empties” Ebanks said.
What sold Dr. Ebanks on the Zerona Laser was a key health benefit revealed in the trial. He said 84 percent of those in the study had lower triglycerides and cholesterol levels after two weeks of laser treatment.
But Dr. Ebanks reminds patients that if they really want to maintain their results, they must keep up the healthy lifestyle.
