HOW BODY POSITIVITY CHANGED AESTHETICS

The body positivity movement is helping tackle unrealistic body standards. It’s also powering impressive innovation in body toning treatments, discovers reporter Becki Murray

Cast your mind back to the mid-90s and there’s no escaping it – thin was ‘in’. From size zero models to the Atkins Diet, dropping dress sizes was a widespread phenomenon. It was a lucrative time for fat-reducing treatments too – body toning techniques, including liposuction, boomed in popularity.

Then, in recent years, the body positivity movement broke through and with it the understanding that bodies come in all shapes and sizes. How the aesthetics industry responded when there was no longer ‘one right way to look’ was going to be pivotal.

Luckily, new approaches inspired by this new mindset mean there’s never been a more exciting time to invest in body toning devices. There’s greater choice and better results, both physical and mental, for patients.

THE CONTEXT

“The body positive movement promotes love and acceptance; this societal shift means that when patients are coming for treatments, they are approaching with a much more holistic view of their bodies and own beauty,” explains the training manager at Therapie Clinic, Kate Barry. This sentiment is shared by aesthetics practitioner and co-founder of Remedi London, Dr Nima Mahmoodi: “People are looking for less drastic measures of changing their physique and seeking more enhancement rather than complete augmentation. There is more acknowledgement that looking good is about having the correct weight and size for your frame, not just being the smallest size.”

That means how practitioners approach body treatments has had to shift: “Now, it’s not about conforming to any one specific ideal of beauty. Doctors are a lot more conscious about not directly recommending treatments forpatients unless they have expressed a specific concern”, says the GP and award-winning aesthetician Dr Ahmed El Muntasar. Instead, the focus revolves around the “patient’s own ideas, concerns and expectations”, a trifactorthat allows you to “really understand what’s going on in a patient’s head.”

This approach also allows forbettersafeguarding, by helping identify the root ofwhy someone is seeking fat reduction. “Social media, cultural influences and even psychological issues can cause patients to seek happiness through certain enhancements and we need to identifywhetherthey are beneficial to them ornot,” explains Dr Mahmoodi. “A treatment is not a quick fix, and the end goal is to support the patient; to re-educate and create new healthy habits so that they maintain theirresults and improve theiroverall health.”

GENTLY DOES IT

Clients traditionally wanted fat reduction that was vigorous and fast, but now customers and practitioners increasingly agree on a less invasive approach.

“People always think the face is the most delicate area - actually, the body is the same,” reveals Dr El Muntasar. “If you do a body treatment without perfect technique, you can certainly introduce new issues for a patient.”

This is especially important in the wake of increased media attention. Cryolipolysis is a proven method for fat reduction, but it recently endured negative press due to recognised complications – the risk of fat pocketing and potential increased fat cell production elsewhere.

Fortunately, the situation afforded practitioners the opportunity to educate clients on the risks of any aesthetic treatment. Likewise, it emphasised that the old idiom ‘no pain, no gain’ - so associated with diet culture – isn’t always needed within aesthetics.

As such, there was a boom in non-invasive therapies, including non-thermal low-level laser, which focuses on shrinking not destroying fat cells. “Emerald laser, for example, uses harmless light energy at specific wavelengths to target and shrink fat cells,” explains Dr Mahmoodi. “It has no reported side effects and is the only laser with FDA approval for overall body circumferential reduction in patients with small pockets of fat.”

NEW-AGE INJECTABLES

Facialinjectables have ratherstolenthe limelight inthe aesthetics space recently, but it’sworthwhile contemplating howdermalfillercan beusedforprecision bodytreatmentstoo. Considerthe advanced bodycontouringtreatment Lanluma - an injectable poly-L-lactic acid dermalfillerthat aimsto provide long-lasting bodycontouring results. “Lanluma is a collagen stimulator, meaning it makes your skin produce up to eight times more collagen,” explains Dr El Muntasar. “Then, because you’re creating more collagen, those areas become plumper, more shaped and lifted. It also smooths the skin, so can help reduce cellulite.” These results are all promised with minimal recovery time and relatively quickly too, when compared to traditional techniques.

MUSCLE HUSTLE

In the wake of the body positivity movement, the fitness industry turned its attention to muscle tone, rather than simply losing fat. Now the body aesthetics space is following suit.

In this innovative area of body aesthetics, devices tend to use electromagnetic or muscle stimulation to increase muscle tone and promote fat burning. Just like an exercise regime, these devices can form part of tailored regimes. Plus, they tend to be fast, painless and require no downtime – the sort of appeal that has sent clients to fad diets or pills previously.

Moreover, patients can quite easily imagine the firming and tightening effect they might achieve, as the devices stimulate muscle contractions similarly to when you complete gymbased exercises. Emsculpt, for example, is marketed as “the equivalent to 20,000 crunches in just 30 mins,” explains Barry. “The body sculpting treatment builds muscle and burns fat via electromagnetic pulses, the contractions from which encourage the body to grow new muscle fibres and protein strains.”

Another example is StimSure by Cynosure which uses noninvasive electromagnetic muscle toning technology (HIFEM) to stimulate over 24,000 painless muscle contractions in 30 minutes. It provides natural-looking results without requiring heat or cooling.

NEW-AGE ENDORSEMENTS

Celebrity endorsements are nothing new but, within body aesthetics, they are occurring with a new refreshing openness. Unlike the shame associated with treatments in the past – consider Brooke Windom’s secret alibi in Legally Blonde – the new age of body treatments is being openly celebrated. The support for using a combination of technologies has also helped promote a holistic approach over quick one-shop fixes.

That’s particularly true when it comes to post-childbirth aesthetic treatments. Eva Longoria, for example, has publicly credited a combination of InMode’s EvolveX Transform and Morpheus8 Body for helping her regain tone.

Both Morpheus8 Body and EvolveX use radiofrequency to target stubborn pockets of fat. The former does so in conjunction with micro-needles that reach deeper into the skin than the increasingly popular Morpheus8 face treatment, with a focus on targeting cellulite and stretch marks.

As for EvolveX, the device utilises radiofrequency alongside EMS technology, with a tri-factor action (Tite, Tone, Transform) that improves muscle tone and tightens skin. “It’s the latest in noninvasive, walk in and walk out, no downtime treatments,” according to the founder of EA Clinic, Dr Edwin Anthony, who has patients who even watch TV during it. “It’s great for the needle-shy client.”

BEYOND FAT

The body aesthetics industry has also innovated within previously under-discussed areas; first among them vaginal tightening and pelvic floor muscle strengthening. Treatments include Empower RF - a multifunctional platform that combines intravaginal electrical muscle stimulation, tissue remodelling radiofrequency and skintightening. “It treats conditions such as weak pelvic floor muscles and urinary incontinence. It can also improve circulation in the vagina, which helps with pain relief and sexual function,” advises Dr Angela Rai, who specialises in women’s health.

Technology even now exists which makes treatment less exposing. The EMSELLA Chair is a breakthrough non-invasive pelvic floor treatment ‘chair’ that the client sits in fully clothed. It uses high-intensity focused electromagnetic energy (HIFEM) to target all the pelvic floor muscles, not just those that can be exercised via Kegel exercises. These treatments are a great opportunity for practitioners to not only provide great toning results but also enhance body positivity by encouraging open dialogue and banishing stigma.

Thus, the bodypositivitymovement has caused a realshift in aesthetics; yet toningtreatments have innovated and improved ratherthan beingtotally rejected. Thefocus is on ensuring individuals are comfortable intheir bodies, withthe most successful practitioners providing personalised treatmentsthat have better, longer-term results. Thatwaymore patients can undertake a holistic journeyto lovethe skinthey’re in.