How Quickly Does Medical Weight Loss Work?

Patients who begin a medical weight loss treatment plan will lose weight. The rate at which patients lose weight will vary since there are many different factors that affect weight loss. A commitment to the treatment plan, eating the recommended foods while avoiding foods that don’t support weight loss, taking supplements as prescribed, and attending regular appointments will all work together to help you lose weight as quickly as possible.

You should notice positive changes in the scale within the first week to a month of your treatment, and as long as you stay disciplined and committed to the process, you will lose weight. This type of weight loss is also known as medically guided weight loss because you don’t have to do it on your own. When you have someone supporting you, someone to who you must stay accountable, you will be set up for success and will finally be able to shed extra weight.

Medical Weight Loss: How It Works

If you’ve never experienced a medical weight loss management program, we’re here to tell you what it is and how it works. Medically supervised weight loss is a way to lose weight with the help of medical professionals. It involves several different aspects, including lab work, supplementation, and dietary and fitness changes to help overhaul an unhealthy lifestyle, determine your unique needs, and help you reach the primary goal: weight loss.

Evaluating Your Current Health and Weight

The first step in a medically supervised weight loss program involves meeting with our medical professionals. Your initial consultation is an important step because it allows us to not only learn more about your weight loss goals but about your medical and health history. At your first appointment, we will perform a physical exam and may also perform lab work.

Lab work is important because it can give us a better idea of your health and also help us learn more about any medical conditions that may be affecting your current health or your ability to lose weight. This lab work lays the foundational groundwork from which we can build your diet plan and the supplements that we may prescribe to help you reach your goals that much faster.

Developing Your Unique Plan

Once we achieve a comprehensive understanding of your medical history and your current health through the diagnostic labs, we can move forward and design a medical weight loss plan that’s unique to your needs. Each patient has different needs and goals and a different medical history. Additionally, each patient has some health factors that may interfere with their ability to lose weight, and we will take these into account as we design your plan.

Our goal is to help you lose weight and overcome any roadblocks that you may have faced in the past. We will monitor your progress and health along the way, make adjustments as needed, and provide you with the accountability and support you need to succeed.

Creating a Diet Plan

When designing your unique weight loss plan, we will take your nutrition into account. We will provide you with the resources you need to eat the right foods that will nourish your body and promote weight loss. Our nutrition educator can design a dietary plan that will help you achieve results. Nutrition is a significant part of the weight-loss equation, and if you’ve been unable to lose weight in the past, it may be in part due to poor nutrition.

If you’re not sure where to start or what to eat to achieve your weight loss goals, we will overhaul your diet and provide you with the resources you need to eat the right foods, improve your health, and lose weight.

Beginning an Exercise Routine

Exercise is another important part of any weight loss plan, and when you begin a medical weight loss plan here at our office, one of our health coaches can help create a fitness plan that meets your needs. We can take your current level of fitness, limitations, and preferences into account to design a fitness plan it’s right for you.

Adding movement to your daily routine will help you burn calories, increase circulation, and promote heart health. Getting enough activity every day is crucial to helping you reach your body goals, and if you don’t know how or when to exercise, our experts can help you determine the best plan of attack.

Prescribing Supplements

Diet and fitness are significant parts of the weight-loss equation. Still, sometimes patients need something more to help them reach their goals in addition to dietary and fitness-related changes, and that’s where supplementation comes in.

Depending on your current health, your goals, and your preferences, we may prescribe appetite suppressants to help you break through a weight loss plateau and kickstart your metabolism. Appetite suppressants are completely safe when monitored by medical professionals who can prescribe the exact dosage that you need to lose weight quickly yet safely.

Scheduling and Attending Appointments

Over the course of your weight loss plan, you will meet with our medical professionals, who will monitor your progress and make changes as needed. These appointments are critical because they will allow us to track your progress, ensure that your plan is working to help you lose weight, and give you the accountability you need to succeed.

Keys to a Successful Weight Loss Program

If you’ve decided to finally seek outside help to lose that extra weight, you’ll never regret your decision. Once you begin this process, there are some ways that you can ensure successful weight loss. Our experts will walk alongside you throughout your entire weight-loss journey and make sure that you have the support, guidance, accountability, and resources that you need to reach your goals and maintain them long-term.

Stay Committed

Once you begin this process, it’s important that you stay committed. Committing to a weight loss treatment plan is a commitment not only to your current self but your future self as well. Staying committed to your treatment plan will help you succeed, improve your health, and increase your confidence long-term.

Balance Discipline With Grace

There will be times on your weight-loss journey when you’ll be tempted to sleep in instead of getting up to exercise, cheat on your diet, or skip an appointment. It’s important that you utilize discipline and push through the temptation to take the easy road.

However, even if you do cheat on your diet, miss a workout, or skip an appointment, know that you are human and give yourself grace. It’s important that you learn from your mistakes and keep going, stay committed to the process, and remember that tomorrow is a new day.

Keep a Food Journal

One of the best ways to help us help you along this journey is to keep a food journal. Writing down what you eat throughout the day will give us insight into your behaviors and even determine whether or not you are an emotional eater.

Your food journal can help us treat you accordingly so that we can ensure that you are eating the right foods at the right time. By keeping a food journal, you’ll be able to better understand why you binge eating and then take the steps to course correct it so that it doesn’t happen again.

Remember the End Goal

It’s important that while on this journey, you track your progress. There may be weeks that you don’t feel like you’re losing as much weight as you should. Still, you need to remember the end goal. Committing to the process and making the necessary diet and lifestyle changes will help you achieve results.

Remember that this program is an investment in yourself, one that you’ll never regret. When you keep the end goal in mind, achieving a healthy body weight and beginning a healthy lifestyle, it will be easier to stay committed to the process.

Article source:  How Quickly Does Medical Weight Loss Work?

Microneedling

Microneedling is a minimally invasive procedure using thin needles. The procedure can help reduce the appearance of skin concerns such as acne scars, stretch marks or wrinkles. Most people get microneedling for cosmetic purposes, but it can also help with some medical conditions.

OVERVIEW

What is microneedling?

Microneedling is a minimally invasive procedure for your skin. Your healthcare provider uses thin needles to make tiny holes in the top layer of your skin. The damage helps stimulate your skin’s healing process, so it produces more collagen and elastin. These proteins keep your skin firm and smooth.

Most people get microneedling on their face, but you can also get it on your legs, back, neck or other areas where you notice damaged or aging skin. You’ll probably need multiple treatments to achieve your desired results.

Microneedling vs. microdermabrasion: What’s the difference?

Microneedling and microdermabrasion are both procedures to improve the look and texture of your skin. But microdermabrasion doesn’t use needles. Instead, a healthcare provider uses a device with a rough edge, like sandpaper, to exfoliate the uppermost layer of your skin. Microneedling goes deeper into your skin than microdermabrasion, so it might work better for problems beneath the surface, such as acne scars.

Who gets microneedling?

Microneedling has cosmetic and medical uses. You might consider microneedling if you’re concerned about:

• Enlarged pores.
• Fine lines or wrinkles.
• Loose or crepey (thin and wrinkled) skin.
• Mild scars, especially those from acne or burns.
• Skin discoloration or uneven skin tone.
• Stretch marks.

The procedure can also help people who have medical conditions such as:

• Alopecia areata (hair loss due to an autoimmune disease).
• Hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating).

In some cases, healthcare providers use microneedling to deliver drugs or vaccines directly into your skin. The microneedles might be part of a patch that people apply themselves instead of going to their healthcare provider for shots.

Who shouldn’t have microneedling?

Talk to your healthcare provider before getting microneedling if you have:

• Acne or are taking medication for acne.
• Blood disorders or are on anticoagulants (drugs that prevent blood clots).
• Cancer and are receiving chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
• Frequent skin rashes (contact dermatitis) or cold sores.
• Keloidal tendency (your skin forms hard, raised scars).
• Moles, freckles, skin tags or other growths that change in size or shape or bleed.
• Skin conditions such as eczema or psoriasis.

PROCEDURE DETAILS

What happens before microneedling?

Before microneedling, you have a consultation with a healthcare provider. A plastic surgeon, dermatologist or aesthetician might perform microneedling. Make sure that whoever does the procedure has experience in this technique.

Your healthcare provider will examine your skin, review your health history and discuss your goals for the procedure. They may also take photos of the area so you can compare your skin before and after microneedling.

This is a good time to ask any questions you may have about microneedling, such as:

• Are there risks or side effects?
• Does microneedling hurt?
• How soon will I see results?
• Is there downtime after the procedure?
• Will I need more than one treatment?

About a month before treatment, your healthcare provider may ask you to apply vitamin A or C cream to your skin. These creams can help start the process of collagen production.

What happens during microneedling?

Your healthcare provider cleans your skin and applies a numbing cream or ointment, such as lidocaine gel. They do this about 30 minutes to 45 minutes before your procedure, so the ointment has time to work.

Next, your healthcare provider uses a hand-held roller or an electric tool to make the wounds in your skin. The roller has tiny needles. Your healthcare provider rolls it slowly and gently across your skin. If they use the electric device, needles pulse up and down to puncture your skin. They can change the length of the needles on the electric device. Longer needles go deeper into your skin, which might be necessary if you have deep scars or pockmarks from acne. Needle lengths can range from 0.5 millimeters to 2 millimeters.

You might feel warmth or a scratching sensation on your face once the microneedling starts. Some people feel discomfort if the needles are near bony areas, such as your cheekbones. Deep microneedling might cause a little bleeding.

A microneedling procedure can take anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours, depending on the size of the area that needs treatment.

What happens after microneedling?

Microneedling is an outpatient procedure, so you can go home once it’s done. Your skin might be red and swollen for up to five days. An ice pack can help reduce irritation and discomfort. Most people can wear makeup the day after the procedure, but you should stay out of the sun until your skin heals.

RISKS / BENEFITS

What are the risks of microneedling?

Microneedling is a safe procedure, but risks may include:

• Bruising.
• Scarring.
• Skin infection.

What are the benefits of microneedling?

Microneedling can help improve the appearance and texture of your skin. It can minimize stretch marks, scars, wrinkles and other skin concerns.

It doesn’t carry the risk of skin discoloration, unlike some facial rejuvenation procedures that use heat, light or lasers. This makes microneedling ideal for people with darker skin tones.

RECOVERY AND OUTLOOK

What can I expect after microneedling?

In the days and weeks after microneedling, you might notice that your skin burns or feels tight. Some people also have dry, flaking skin that improves with moisturizer.

Most people need multiple microneedling treatments, usually about 3 weeks to 8 weeks apart. It can take 3­ months to 6 months to see results. Afterward, you might need the procedure once a year for maintenance.

WHEN TO CALL THE DOCTOR

When should I see my healthcare provider?

Contact your healthcare provider if you notice the treated area is:

• Bleeding for longer than 24 hours.
• Blistered.
• Swollen for longer than a week.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

What should I ask my healthcare provider about microneedling?

You may want to ask your healthcare provider:

• Am I a good candidate for microneedling?
• Can I perform microneedling at home?
• Would another treatment, such as microdermabrasion or a chemical peel, work better for me?

A note from Cleveland Clinic

Microneedling is a minimally invasive procedure that can improve the appearance of your skin. Talk to your healthcare provider about microneedling if you have acne scars, stretch marks or other skin concerns. It’s a safe outpatient procedure. Most people need multiple treatments over several months to achieve their desired results.

Article source:  Microneedling