Mesotherapy
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Mesotherapy (from Greek mesos, "middle", and therapy from Greek therapeia, "to treat medically") is an alternative medicine treatment intended to stimulate the repair of the tissues called by its exponents the "mesoderm", including the skin, connective tissue, and adipose tissue. It involves the injection of chemicals, vitamins, and other random products into the "mesoderm" (fat), just under the skin, to treat various ailments specially in subcutaneous fat to allegedly reduce the fat or improve cellulite.
Mesotherapy is part of a branch of medicine called homotoxicology which is purported to encourage the body to stimulate its own healing processes in order to cure ailments. It can be used for painful as well as general medical conditions. This non-scientific procedure originated in France, and is now promoted by some practitioners in the United States. Mesotherapy concerns include bruising, allergic reactions, liver damage, atrophy (loss of tissue volume) and infection.
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Usage
Despite criticism, mesotherapy is popular in the United States and still one of the most requested non surgical cosmetic proceduresTemplate:Fact. Physicians specializing in non-surgical cosmetic medicine or operating medical spas are the most common practioners.
History
Dr. Michel Pistor (1924-2003) is credited with both the creation and promotion of mesotherapy in human subjects, first in Europe and then in North America starting in the 1950s. Europe and South America initially embraced the use of Mesotherapy and about 50,000 practitioners provide mesotherapy treatments.
Criticism
Physicians in North America are concerned about the efficacy and safety of mesotherapy, arguing that a lack of scientific study makes mesotherapy a fad with potentially dangerous side effects. "There is simply no data, no science and no information, to my knowledge, that mesotherapy works," according to Rod Rohrich, M.D., Chairman, Dept. of Plastic Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas. Dr. Robin Ashinoff, speaking for the American Academy of Dermatology, says "A simple injection is giving people false hope. Everybody's looking for a quick fix. But there is no quick fix for fat or fat deposits or for cellulite." The American Society for Dermatologic Surgeryinformed its members in February 2005 that "further study is warranted before this technique can be endorsed." It is currently banned in a number of South American countries.