IRMO, SC (WIS) - How many of you feel like you work out and eat healthy, but you still have some trouble spots, like those love handles that just won't go away? You may not be able to take a pill to hit those areas, but what about an injection?

There's a procedure now being done called Lipodissolve. Several stars in Hollywood are doing it, and now it's available in this area.

Here's what Lipodissolve could mean to your middle section, your buttocks, thighs, chin or arms.

It looks like a makeshift dot-to-dot board. Rather, it's a procedure called Lipodissolve, a process where medical professionals get rid of body fat by injecting a soy-based product into a person's trouble spots.

Nurse Carlotta Davis says, "I'm always researching things and I was like, this looks interesting, but it just seemed too good to be true."

Lisa Hockenberry wanted to see if it could be true for her.

"I felt like I was fit everywhere. It was the summertime and I decided that in a bikini, that was the area that I wanted to tighten up."

So she chose to undergo the Lipodissolve procedure at Rejuvenations Medical Spa in Irmo.

First, the dots for the injection sites are marked on the fat. Then a cold pack is placed on the area to help numb the skin.

Using a very small needle, nurse practitioner Carlotta Davis then injects about a 1/2 teaspoon of the compound into each of the 30 marked spots.

The compound is phosphatidylcholine deoxycholate.

Nurse Davis says, "Phosphatidylcholine is what your body naturally makes and that's how you get rid of your fat, your cholesterol, your body naturally gets rid of it."

And the deoxycholate is bile acid - a solvent that your liver secretes to break up fat that enters your small intestine.

"You inject it right into the fat and it's going to cause an inflammatory response. And it will dissolve the fat and the body will get rid of it," Nurse Davis explained.

The compound is injected into that area of the fat cells you want to get rid of. The fat cells harden and dissolve. That is eventually excreted through the bowels and you have a thinner stomach.

Patients have to realize Lipodissolve is only designed to remove small, stubborn pockets of fat.

Hockenberry says, "It was just to target a small area. Not for weight loss, but to target an area where 'gosh, you work out all the time, but you still have this tiny little trouble spot.'"

Not everyone is a candidate for the procedure.

Nurse Davis says, "It's not for people who are obese, overweight or have large amounts of weight to lose. Those people need diet and exercise. People that have a lot of excess skin and fat. They may need a tummy tuck, liposuction. This is not for those individuals."

Initial results are expected within a few weeks of the first treatment.

Hockenberry says, "I was swollen and a little tender immediately after, but then in a couple weeks, I did notice that area had become tighter."

More treatments are required for more substantial weight loss.

"You just notice that your pants fit a little smoother."

Lisa has had three treatments. In between each one, she returns to the Medical Spa for ultrasound which heats up the medicine and helps stimulate the process.

"The area where you can pinch a little here and there, I noticed that had become a little less noticeable."

Because the procedure is so new, no long-term studies have yet been performed on the effectiveness and safety. Lipodissolve began in the US in 2004; however, it has been used in Europe since the 1980's.

For Lisa, the proof is in her clothing, "I think I'll be very confident next summer when I get in my bikini."

Lipodissolve is not FDA approved. It's like Botox in the sense that it is an off-label drug, meaning it has been approved for another purpose and doctors found it worked for others. The compounds used in Lipodissolve are used in emergency rooms to break up fatty embolisms.

Besides the Rejuvenations Medical Spa in Irmo, the nearest locations offering the Lipodissolve procedure are in Myrtle Beach and Atlanta.

The cost? A package of three treatments is $1,450.

Reported by Dawndy Mercer

Posted by Bryce Mursch