New Device Takes the “Ouch” Out of Injections

The FDA recently approved a device which is believed to significantly reduce pain both during and after injections. The device called Ouchless Needle is comprised of a canister of Vapocoolant (a topical refrigerant) attached to a disposable syringe and allows clinicians to deliver a blast of topical refrigerant to a patient’s skin seconds prior to injection, thereby numbing the skin to the needle’s pierce.

Studies have found this spray method to be just as effective as messy topical refrigerant creams, some of which need to be applied to the skin at least half an hour prior to injection. The price is also comparable to that of the leading topical refrigerant creams.

According to BellaNovus Development Company LLC, the makers of Ouchless Needle, “The device provides doctors and other clinicians an innovative alternative to numbing creams and ice currently used to minimize localized pain resulting from cosmetic injectables...”

The device which debuted earlier this month has understandably generated a lot of buzz in the cosmetic surgery industry. For many patients, pain is usually a major consideration in the decision to get Botox or other injectables.

According to a 2009 article in the OPRS Journal, 19 percent of people who had never tried to Botox or other injectables said pain was a major deterrent compared to 31 percent of people who had previously tried injectables. Coincidentally, the study referred to those who had no previous experience with injectables as “Naïve.”

However, with this new device such procedures could end up being significantly less painful than people imagine and who knows -– the old adage “beauty is pain” may no longer apply here.

Botox vs Dysport: Is one a superior drug?

A recent study by researchers at the University of California San Francisco found Dysport more effective than Botox in reducing crow's feet. Using 90 volunteers, research injected on side of each patient's face with Botox and injected the other half with Dysport and analyzed the results one month later.

"From our findings, it's clear that there's a better smoothing effect and clearing of lines around the eyes with Dysport," the study's co-author told HealthDay. However, the researchers said they found no evident of Dysport being more effective than Botox at treating other facial wrinkles.

Though Botox and Dysport are both comprised of the same active ingredient, Botulinim toxin type A, Botox has been on the market for a decade longer than its competitor, which was approved by the FDA in 2009. Thus, while Dysport may prove more efficient than Botox in the treatment of some problems, more years on the market and more studies are needed before either could be declared the superior drug.

Liposuction: How to Stop the Weight from Returning

In a recent study, researchers at the University of Colorado found that women who maintained the same eating and exercise habits they had prior to liposuction post liposuction regained much of the weight they had lost, just one year later and usually in a different part of the body.

“I'm all for anybody doing what they want to with their bodies. But here's what amazes me: Many people think that once fat is removed in a given area, problem solved; you're now a thin person. Eat whatever you want because the fat cells are gone,” said writer Judith Newman in an article in the June issue of Marie Claire magazine, where she talks about having liposuction twice.


Like Newman, many people make the mistake of thinking liposuction is the end-all to weight battles. However, keeping that new body after liposuction requires changes in a lifestyle as well, a change of diet in particular. Going back to an unhealthy routine after surgery is like losing weight after dieting and going back to eating unhealthily two weeks later.

With liposuction we remove extra fat and create better shape, but the existing tissue and fat cells are still perfectly capable of enlarging and developing new cells if there is new fat to be stored. Without a healthier lifestyle, a patient has to commit herself to multiple surgeries in order to maintain shape, like Newman did.

However, liposuction is not a weight reduction program; it is shaping and sculpting areas that need to be better defined. Furthermore, while the majority of the women in the study gained weight in a different area of the body, post liposuction, it doesn’t always occur that way. If a patient gains weight after surgery it may the same amount in areas that were treated with liposuction as in untreated areas. It may be less or even more fat deposition in treated areas as well; all scenarios are possible.

To maximize results from liposuction, a patient should try to achieve a weight that he is comfortable with and would have no significant problems to maintain before submitting himself to surgery.

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