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Smooth Skin Shortcut; To Regain Youthful Looks, Some Women Are Having the Years Vacuumed Away

Posted on: Friday, 19 November 2004, 12:00 CST

Suck in that gut. Well, not the gut exactly, but definitely those unsightly love handles, thigh bulges and buttocks dimples. That's what Christine Schweickart, a licensed aesthetics practitioner, does with her Endermologie machine.

Clothed only in a sheer cotton body stocking, Karen Martin reclines on a padded chair as Schweickart guides a wand along her client's body. The device works like a vacuum cleaner. It sucks up the upper and subcutaneous layers of the 48-year-old woman's skin so a pair of plastic rollers can knead the tissue. The theory is that by deeply massaging the tissue, the rollers stimulate blood flow to the area and release toxins and abnormal water buildup that have accumulated in the skin cells.

Martin has been a regular customer of Schweickart's business, Anew Skin Health, 501 Windsor Park in Washington Twp., for a year.

"I find it both stimulating and relaxing at the same time. It is like a deep massage, way deeper than a massage therapist can go," says the Warren County woman who lives in Clearcreek Twp.

Martin claims to have seen some aesthetic benefits, too.

"It's not a drastic effect, but it keeps things in check," Martin says. "I haven't noticed any rapid declines that so often accompany people as they get into their 40s."

Martin says it's important to stay young-looking in her line of work. She sells cosmetics in a local department store.

Schweickart says the Endermologie machine was originally developed in France more than a decade ago to reduce the appearance of scars. She was looking for a way to improve the effects of liposuction she'd had on her legs and discovered that endermologie had been FDA-approved for treatment of cellulite.

"I wanted to tighten my skin back up. When I had lipo, it was like letting air out of a balloon. Endermologie smoothed out indentations from the lipo," Schweickart says.

The aesthetician says that after nine treatments her skin looked less dimpled.

Because endermologie is a nonsurgical procedure, there is less potential for negative side effects. People may experience pinching sensations during treatment and some skin and muscle tenderness afterward.

Pam Reichel, community health education manager at Dayton's Good Samaritan Hospital, says that cellulite is nothing more than fat that lies just below the surface of the skin. According to the health educator, 85 percent of women have a hereditary tendency to hold fat, and because fat is lumpy, some area's of the body may look dimpled.

Schweickart says that many of her clients are middle-age women -- 35 and older -- who want their skin to have a more youthful appearance. Eight to 10 treatments administered twice a week are required to see improvement.

"The older you are, the more time it will take. The amount of water you drink will affect the maximum results as will your intake of fruit and vegetables along with moderate exercise -- three times a week for 30 minutes," Schweickart says. Reichel believes that diet and exercise are what really works. "Muscle is smooth and fat is lumpy. If you walk a lot or use a stair stepper, you'll get more muscle there and it will look smoother," Reichel says.

Paula Begoun also is skeptical of the benefits of the Endomologie machine on her Web site (www.cosmeticscop.com).

She writes, "The false hopes these products and procedures provide are definitely alluring, but there are so many better ways to spend our time and money.

"Endomologie is simply a sad reminder of our vulnerability around spurious promises of youth and beauty."

Schweickart charges $85 for a single treatment and $988 for 17 treatments. Each treatment takes approximately 45 minutes.

Jody Homan has been a client of Schweickart's for almost six years. The Celina woman drives more than an hour each way for her monthly maintenance treatment.

"It's not a magic answer, but it will make you look more toned. If someone wants to make their skin look healthier, it works," Homan says.

To maintain the desired look, once it has been reached, Schweickart advocates for a single treatment each month. She says this helps keep her clients' clothes fitting comfortably and their skin feeling softer. Endermologie also exfoliates or removes dead, scaly skin cells.

Reichel doesn't think there is too much harm in endermologie if people have all the facts and are still willing to pay for the treatment. However, the health educator isn't sure that people can be realistic.

"They may think they see some improvement because when you are paying a lot you want to see some results," Reichel says. "I have no doubt it feels good. I think they are going in with an expectation they will look better, but I think eventually they will be disappointed."

Schweickart agrees that people should have realistic expectations.

"I can get them 50 percent there, the client must do the rest," Schweickart says.

Contact Centerville free-lance writer Pamela Ferris-Olson at Ferris-Olson@ woh.rr.com.

Source: Dayton Daily News

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