Sponsored by BTL Aesthetics
Similar in concept and approach, but distinctly different in delivery, both the game-changing Emsculpt NEO and emerging Emface platforms from BTL Aesthetics (Boston, Mass.) represent a one-two punch from a marketing, as well as aesthetic outcome perspective. Harnessed properly, these novel devices have unheard-of potential to usher in new patients and expose them to your entire armamentarium.
Emsculpt NEO merges BTL’s high-intensity focused electromagnetic (HIFEM®-brand) technology and radiofrequency (RF) energies with simultaneous delivery for peerless body shaping outcomes. While the HIFEM energy induces supramaximal contractions of target musculature for scientifically proven muscle hypertrophy and hyperplasia, Synchronized RF adds a fat-reduction effect. Results also suggest a synergy where the RF improves the muscle outcome and the HIFEM energy induces local metabolism to enhance reduction of local adiposity. There is also a powerful wellness boost from the muscle stimu- lation with improved core strength and stability that can benefit patients of all ages.
The new Emface platform also melds Synchronized RF with what is termed high intensity facial electromagnetic stimulation (HIFESTM-brand) technology in an innovative dual-modality facial treatment using a unique applicator, but there is a profound difference. The muscle improvement – also scientifically demonstrated – is directed to the facial muscles that are different from the muscles on the body. “The facial muscles are significantly smaller, and the target areas are not deep,” according to New York City-based facial plastic surgeon Yael Halaas, MD. “The more superficial HIFES allows the user to directly stimulate the target elevator musculature. With HIFES technology, we are looking for tone and function, rather than hypertrophy and muscle building, as compared to stronger and more in-depth penetrating HIFEM technology.”
Its RF component, also concurrently delivered, improves surface facial tissue in numerous ways that promote the overall result. “As with the facial HIFES energy, we want to properly diffuse the RF energy to stimulate collagen and elastin while restricting depth,” Dr. Halaas added. “We don’t want to cause fat loss.” The result is a marriage made in heaven for facial restoration that can stave off the need for injectables, or even work in conjunction with them.
“These technologies are hyper-stimulating the industry in the same way that they hyper-stimulate muscles, and they can hyper-stimulate your practice as well,” emphasized celebrity cosmetic dermatologist Paul Jarrod Frank, MD (New York City, N.Y.). “These technologies are growing in visibility and popularity. They are sim- ple, easy, painless and free of hassle or downtime. They have across-the-board appeal, from the millennials to the boomers. You can treat anyone safely and many would benefit. These devices are both an aesthetic treatment and a naturopathic skin and body fitness tool, and that dual benefit should bring people into your door.
“Nothing comes close to how well they fit the modern climate for aesthetic and well- ness medicine,” Dr. Frank continued. “They provide scientifically proven results safely. Improvement is powerful but subtle, in a variety of ways that are incredibly profound as a whole and in a way that is both visible and natural-looking. The functional improvements are a wellness benefit. There is no pain or downtime, only the sensations associated after vigorous muscle exercise.”
Plastic surgeon Brian Kinney, MD (Beverly Hills, Calif.), credits the intuitive nature of these therapies for playing a key role in their appeal. “We refer to the outcomes as ‘natural restoration’ because they do not promote an artificial result,” he said. “With Emsculpt NEO for the body, it is structure and function, reduce the fat, build the muscle, and you look and feel better. Emface helps restore more youthful function to facial muscles and promotes more youthful-looking skin, which doesn’t just look better, it functions more like it used to. It is very easy to explain this to people and they love the concepts, especially if they are averse to more invasive treatments or injectables, which many people are.”
And that’s the rub: while aesthetic medicine has become more accessible and thus more mainstream, many are still put off by various aspects of it such as the cost, stigma, value, hassle or components. “Even though injectable treatments blew the doors of aesthetic medicine wide open more than two decades ago, many people still dislike the idea of injecting foreign substances into their bodies,” Dr. Kinney stated. “Others dislike needles, and many will avoid anything invasive. BTL’s technologies make aesthetic results available to these patient groups.”
BTL technologies are a key component of the practice of facial plastic surgeon Jennifer Levine, MD (New York, N.Y.), who is not surprised at the effect Emsculpt NEO and Emface are exhibiting. “Remember that BTL is primarily a physiotherapy company focused on non-invasive treatments, which has applied and adapted their knowledge to the aesthetic realm,” she explained. “That has positioned them perfectly to present these dual aesthetic and functional therapies. The improvement of diastasis recti for moms, thanks to Emsculpt, is a notable example. The only contraindications for treatment would be metallic implants for Emsculpt/ Emsculpt NEO, and metallic facial or dental implants for Emface.”
BTL’s Emsella should also be considered a practice builder, according to Dr. Halaas, and adds an excellent third component. “It does wonders for women and men for issues such as incontinence, and it is a major component of BTL’s Core-to-Floor protocol.”
“Always, first we need to get people in the front door,” Dr. Frank emphasized. “Regardless of their resources, problems and needs, once they experience the profound benefits of Emsculpt NEO and Emface treatments, their curiosity will be piqued, and they will be a little more open-minded. Isn’t that the definition of ‘gateway treatment?’”
“These BTL technologies embody the increasing crossover between the aesthetic and functional, and overall wellness. Nowadays, we are not just about looking better, but inherently improving quality of life as we age so that we can enjoy life and its many fruits, such as relationships, as long as possible,” Dr. Halaas explained. “It is not just about looking better and younger, but feeling better for longer, both physically and psychologically. That is why patient satisfaction and expectations management are so important; the psychological component to therapy is out of our con- trol, but more than ever we can control or at least influence how we age. Show people that paradigm, give them aesthetic and functional results, and of course they will want to know what else you can do.”
