Introduction
Getting rid of fats can be difficult and frustrating at times. Although a good diet and exercise regime sounds like the perfect answer, it can be trickier than that. For some people, stubborn fat pockets remain on certain parts of our bodies no matter how much we work them out. Thankfully, advancements in technology have given us solutions to these problems. truSculpt is a brand of non-invasive body contouring methods that are designed to help people build muscle and lose fat — all without going under the knife!
With truSculpt machines, people can now build muscle mass and/or reduce fats in a comfortable, clinical setting, and conveniently in less than an hour. But while it may sound all very exciting, it is important to understand that truSculpt is not an effortless solution to obesity, or a replacement for a nutritional and active lifestyle.
Rather, truSculpt complements healthy lifestyle choices to help patients achieve the strong and sculpted bodies they want. Read on to find out what truSculpt can and cannot do for you!
How does truSculpt work?
There are three types of truSculpt techs — truSculpt flex, truSculpt 3D and truSculpt iD. truSculpt flex builds and tones muscles, while truSculpt 3D and truSculpt iD focus on fat elimination.
To sculpt muscle:
truSculpt flex works by stimulating your muscles using multidirectional electrical currents. Designed to replicate the muscular actions of intense crunching, squatting, and twisting, it brings about muscle contractions more intense than actual physical exercise! [1] Yes, imagine your muscles working out while you lie down without actually moving.
While primarily for muscle building, truSculpt flex can also help you to reduce fats indirectly. With increased muscle mass comes an increased need for your body to burn fats into glucose to fuel your muscles. In other words, you will be burning more calories! [2]
To reduce fats:
truSculpt iD makes use of radiofrequency (RF) energy to heat up the layer of fat between your skin and muscle. [3] Its temperature control technology applies over 45ºC of heat to the fat while maintaining the skin temperature 3 - 4ºC cooler. The fat cells treated will be permanently destroyed and eventually excreted from the body over 12 weeks.
The truSculpt iD machine has multiple hands-free applicators — allowing several areas of your body to be targeted in a single session. Your doctor will not have to be there throughout the treatment.
**truSculpt 3D works similarly to truSculpt iD, but is limited to treating only one area at a time. It only has a single handpiece that your doctor operates with a gliding motion across your targeted area. [4]
You can think of truSculpt iD as the newer, updated version of truSculpt 3D in terms of user flexibility! Yet, they essentially function with the same RF technology.**
Does truSculpt help with weight loss?
A major, important point to note is that truSculpt is a fat loss procedure — not a weight loss one.
The number of fat cells we have remains mostly constant from our teenage years onwards. Every time you gain or lose weight, these fat cells are becoming bigger or smaller, respectively. But they do not naturally go away on their own — and stay equally capable of holding the lipids that you may have lost at some point. [5] This is what makes lost weight easy to put back on!
Fat loss is not the same and it refers to the destruction of your fat cells — a process that is irreversible. Fat cell removal can help to sculpt the body but does not make for extreme weight loss. There is a limit to how many fat cells you can remove from your body, and the remaining ones are still prone to expanding or shrinking later on. [6]
In other words, the more likely outcome you will observe from truSculpt is a reduction in the circumference of the targeted area (e.g. waistline), rather than any drastic changes in your weight. Don’t expect to lose 10 kg with your truSculpt sessions!
Double chin, thick thighs, bulging abdomen: Can truSculpt help?
Generally, truSculpt treatments can be used on the common areas people find excess stubborn fat pockets — like the abdomen, thighs, arms, neck/chin, ‘love handles’.
Moreover, truSculpt iD, designed with multiple hands-free applicators, has an added versatility of treating small, unique areas. [3] Your doctor will be able to customise a treatment plan for you to treat your targeted concerns.
How effective is truSculpt?
Based on clinical studies, truSculpt iD can reduce up to 24% of your fat thickness within one session. [x] Research that looked at submental fat — a.k.a. the double chin — has found an average reduction of 1.4cm of the submental circumference one month after treatment. [7]
For truSculpt flex, patients have seen an average increase of 30% in muscle mass from its treatments! [8]
Will truSculpt help tighten my skin?
Apart from unwanted pockets of fat, you may also worry about loose skin in the same area. Sometimes, body contouring procedures can also leave patients with sagging skin, or ‘contour irregularities’. [9]
Though loose, sagging skin is more typically associated with extreme changes in your body shape and form [10], it may help to know that truSculpt iD and 3D can help to tighten your skin at the same time while it reduces fat!
Multiple clinical studies have attested to the use of RF technologies for skin tightening outcomes. [11] This happens because RF energy generates heat, causing your collagen-rich tissue layers to contract, and collagen fibres to denature. This helps your skin tighten and get better.
This does not, however, apply to truSculpt flex, which caters to muscle growth, rather than fat removal. truSculpt flex boasts many other benefits like increased endurance and flexibility [8]; but it will not tighten your skin.
Does truSculpt help remove cellulite?
To be clear, cellulite is not the same as fat.
Rather, cellulite develops when fat and connective tissue interact underneath the surface of your skin. [12] Unlike fat, cellulite is not burned as fuel for your daily activities. As such, cellulite is often stubborn, and really hard to get rid of. [13]
So far, some evidence shows slight improvements in cellulite appearance using RF tech. [13], [14] Possibly, truSculpt iD and 3D can reduce the appearance of cellulite, but do not expect that it is permanently removed.
Am I a suitable candidate for truSculpt treatments?
Generally speaking, truSculpt can be used for adults of different body types, BMIs, and skin types. [15]
However, the ideal candidate for truSculpt should also be healthy and have realistic expectations of the outcomes. While truSculpt can help you build muscle and/or reduce fats, it is not a weight loss procedure, and neither is it a substitute for a good diet and exercise regime. You can expect it to help you to shed some tummy bulges or build stronger muscles, but not change how you look drastically.
Talk to your doctor about your health record, concerns, and expectations — and they will be able to help you determine suitable options for you.
What is the price of truSculpt in Singapore?
The price of truSculpt treatments in Singapore will vary from clinic to clinic, depending on how many areas you are treating, and the size of these areas. Treatment of multiple areas within a single session tends to be more cost-effective!
As an estimate, these are the prices you can expect to pay for truSculpt in Singapore:
Treatment
Cost Per Session
truSculpt iD
$1200 - $1800 [16]
trusculpt flex
$400 - $600 (for one body area)
Your healthcare provider will be able to give you a detailed breakdown of the cost before treatment commences.
How many truSculpt sessions will I need?
Typically, patients can see results within:
- truSculpt iD: 1 - 2 sessions
- truSculpt flex: 4 sessions, recommended once a week
However, the results will not show immediately. It may take one to three months for the destroyed fat cells to leave your body, and for the full result to show. [17]
Depending on how much fat you have and what your goals are, you may be advised to return for follow-up sessions to maintain the result. In your consultation, your doctor will be able to prescribe a treatment plan suited to your needs.
What should I expect in a truSculpt session?
In a truSculpt iD session, you will be placed in a lying down position, with the applicators attached to the treatment areas. You will feel some heat — gradually building in cycles until it reaches the optimal temperature to treat your fat layers.
Depending on which part you are targeting, treatment time may vary. For some areas like the legs, only 15 minutes is needed. This makes the process quick and convenient. [18]
In a truSculpt flex session, you will, again, be put in a comfortable, lying down position. Handpieces will be placed on the targeted areas. You will go through three modes or stages of treatment [1]:
In prep mode, you will feel a twisting motion that warms up and stretches your muscles.
In tone mode, your muscles will be contracted, held until exhaustion, before relaxed. This helps your muscles become stronger and develop endurance!
In sculpt mode, you will feel fast and intense sequential contractions of your muscle. This will build muscle mass and raise your basal metabolic rate.
There is generally zero to minimal discomfort associated with truSculpt sessions. [19]
Are the results of truSculpt permanent?
The destruction of fat cells is permanent and irreversible. In clinical studies, the positive results were shown to maintain even six months after treatment. [7]
However, as mentioned, the remaining undestroyed fat cells you have are still subject to expanding and shrinking. Meaning, your weight can still fluctuate even after truSculpt treatments. Your desired outcome is best supported by a healthy lifestyle afterwards!
Similarly, your newly toned muscles that truSculpt flex sculpted should be maintained with regular exercise even after treatment.
Is there any downtime needed for truSculpt?
truSculpt is a non-invasive procedure, so no knives or injections involved! Recovery time is minimal — if needed at all. It is possible that patients may experience some warmth and flushness at the treated areas in the following hour and mild tenderness in the days after. [4]
These effects should subside quickly without bothering you too much. You can return to your regular activities and exercise right after treatment!
What are the side effects of truSculpt?
Possible side effects you may experience with truSculpt iD include [20]:
- Redness
- Swelling
- Aches
For truSculpt flex, side effects include tingling or soreness. [21]
Again, these are temporary and ought to resolve soon. If you feel any lingering discomfort that is concerning, reach out to your doctor right away.
truSculpt iD vs Coolsculpting
Chances are, if you have been looking into non-invasive body contouring, you would have heard of Coolsculpting, too. Not sure how they are different or which you want? Here, we break down their differences for you!
1. Fat freezing vs fat melting
Coolsculpting is a brand of cryolipolysis, or fat freezing. While truSculpt iD uses RF energy to heat up your fat cells to destroy them, Coolsculpting cools them down till they crystallise and get destroyed. These frozen fat cells eventually leave your body. [22]
They’re essentially opposite mechanisms that yield similar outcomes!
2. Process
Both are rather quick ‘lunchtime’ treatments. truSculpt iD typically takes only 15 minutes, whereas Coolsculpting takes about 35 minutes.
Some patients have reported feeling some pain from the coldness of Coolsculpting — at least before the numbness kicks in. [23], [24] Generally, though, the reported discomfort associated with these treatments is minimal.
3. Price
The average cost of Coolsculpting in Singapore is $600 per session and May cost more depending on the no of applicators required . You may need one to three sessions to achieve your desired result. For truSculpt iD, the average price starts from $1200. One to two sessions of truSculpt treatment are usually needed.
4. Downtime and aftercare
Both truSculpt iD and Coolsculpting require minimal downtime as they are quick and non-invasive procedures. The common side effects of Coolsculpting are similar to those of truSculpt: redness, swelling, and tingling. [25]. There is however an uncommon complication of Coolsculpting referred to as Paradoxical Adipose Hyperplasia which means the treated area actually becomes larger.
Whichever you opt for, the best way to maintain your newly sculpted body would be a good nutritional diet and ample exercise!
5. Safety
Both truSculpt and Coolsculpting have acquired US FDA clearances, attesting to their benefits and safety for patients. [26], [27] Be sure to only seek treatment at a doctor that you trust to operate these machines with your safety and health as the priority.
Conclusion
Non-invasive body contouring procedures are growing in popularity as more and more people look for body sculpting options without the costs and risks associated with surgery. Fat melting procedures like truSculpt are generally safe and effective while not causing much discomfort or disruption to you.
With advancing technologies today, fat melting is only one of the many types of non-invasive body contouring methods available in the market! When considering your options, look out for the brand’s credentials, safety record, possible risks, and of course, a doctor that you trust to guide you through your treatment as comfortably as possible.
Find a doctor to ask your questions to or schedule a consultation with.
