In The News

Acoustic Wave Therapy treats stubborn cellulite

It's been called the "orange peel effect," or the "lunar landing surface," of your skin. Women hate the cellulite that sometimes covers their thighs and buttocks.

Now, a San Antonio medical spa is offering a new way to fight the fat — the Acoustic Wave Therapy, or AWT, machine. It's new to South Texas, and in use at the Genesis Medical Spa.

The machine is helping AWT client Tamara get rid of the spots she couldn't target with normal diet and exercise.

"Nothing I did improved those problem areas. So, I decided I've got to do something about it because I'm really unhappy, and this is the latest technique," she said.

AWT is a pulsing metal gun hooked up to compressed air, which strikes a metal slug back and forth, creating the sound and the pressure to break up the collagen fibers keeping the compacted fat in place.

"So it kind of releases the skin and allows it to be smooth and even, you know, like a child's, actually," said Dr. Philip Czejak, medical director at Genesis.

Of clients treated with the device, 80 percent saw improvement in earlier trials.

Each problem area is hit with 2,000 pulses during the treatment. Clients usually opt for six treatments over a three-week period.

"It's effective. It really does help the problem," Czejak said. "There's no bruising, no needle sticks, and there' s no pain."

"It's hard to describe it. It's not painful at all. It's rather relaxing," Tamara said.

AWT for cellulite is expensive — six treatments for the entire thigh and buttocks region costs about $1,200.