Got bat wings or flabby arms?
Here’s What CoolSculpting, SculpSure & EMTONE Can Do About Them
Underarm fat, otherwise known as “bat wings” is incredibly common and ranks pretty high on the most hated body part list for most women. If you wave at someone and your underarm skin continues to wave after you have stopped, you know what we are talking about.
A quick search on Google yields plenty of ‘solutions’ with diet and ‘top-10 arm exercises’ populating the first 10 pages, but the reality is a bit more complex. Can you truly diet and exercise your batwings away?
Today we talk to Josh Chua, a Bodysculpting Expert who has personally supervised body sculpting procedures for over 6,000 body parts in the past 10 years. Josh also dispels the old belief that bodyfat spot reduction is impossible and shares how current body sculpting technologies do help patients achieve their goals of ideal body shape and health-wellbeing.
An Honest Start: Body Assessment and Doctor Consultation
“At Clique, every patient starts with a digital body assessment and a consultation session to determine his/her desired goals. A customised treatment plan ensures high chance of treatment success but for that to happen, a patient has to be honest with us. Your current habits and lifestyle play a big role. Poor dietary habits are detrimental if you’re trying to improve your body composition,” Josh said.
“In the case of batwings, we would need to evaluate the reason for the bat wings,” he added.
According to Josh, there are 3 primary causes for bat wings:
- Excess Fat
If you are carrying excess weight, it will naturally accumulate in certain areas. For women, they often store fat in the upper arm area, hips, bosom, thighs, and stomach. So if you are overweight, there is high probability that your batwings are due to fat deposits.
- Lack of muscle definition and tone
If you have undefined muscles, they will appear flabby and saggy even if you are thin or underweight. This is often the case with batwings, where the triceps (the muscle on the back of your upper arm) are undeveloped. You can improve muscle tone and definition with regular weight training.
- Loose skin
Loose skin can be a result of weight loss, aging, or genetics.
Exercise can tone the muscles underneath to make firmer, while non-invasive skin-tightening procedures that can be considered to further shrink the loose skin.
- Fat Reduction vs. Weight Loss
Although fat reduction technology can help you rid your body of unwanted fat, it’s not a substitute for weight loss.
“The main objective for body contouring procedures is to remove stubborn fat that doesn’t budge with diet and exercise,” Josh stated.
In short, to lose overall body weight, a healthy diet and regular exercise routine are crucial.
After a body assessment session, a patient may fall into 1-2 of the following 3 categories:
1. The bat wings are caused by fat deposits
2. They were developed after losing a lot of weight resulting in excess skin that sags to look like bat wings
3. The natural aging process causes the skin to lose elasticity and sag
“If the batwings are caused by excess fat, we would first recommend a combination of exercise and diet to lower the body composition. We have trusted nutritionist and trainers to help patients who need guidance,” Josh said.
“For exercise, it should be consist of both cardio and strength training. It is well documented that strength training (building muscle) encourages fat loss by increasing your resting metabolism so you can burn more calories throughout the day. Too many people rely solely on cardio for weight loss but strength training is equally important because it helps build muscle, which in turn gives the appearance of firmer and toner arms,” he added.
- Post-Assessment – The Treatment Plan
While dietary changes and exercise do help you lose excess fat in the whole body, unfortunately, spot training is not possible and we don’t get to pick where our bodies lose fat. Fortunately though, spot fat reduction IS POSSIBLE with Coolsculpting and SculpSure.
So if you’re suffering from bat wings the biggest factor in changing your body is your nutritional habits, followed by your caloric expenditure.
At Clique our team helps complement the process and accelerate the reduction of bat wings with our Hot and Cold Bodysculpting technique which is a combination of CoolSculpting, a fat-freezing
- How Does Clique Hot and Cold Body Sculpting Technique Work?
CoolSculpting freezes fat away via its advanced cryolipolysis (or fat freezing) procedure. During the treatment, fat cells are frozen using specialised applicators which vacuum the body part to be treated. Controlled cooling energy is then transmitted into the targeted body part to physically destroy them. During the session, the fat cells crystalise and break down. The destroyed fat cells are being naturally dispelled from the body over the course of weeks to months.
The SculpSure technology breaks down subcutaneous fat cells by emitting pulses of long-wave laser heat energy via laser panels that are strapped onto the targeted body parts. Similarly to CoolSculpting, once the fat cells have been liquified by the laser heat energy, the body’s lymphatic system will naturally remove the dead cells a few weeks after, with visible results coming through up to 3 months post-procedure.
Josh also stresses that both CoolSculpting and Sculpsure are not magical treatments. Both procedures eliminate fat cells for good, but if patients don’t stay healthy after having the treatments, then new fat stores can certainly form.
The advantages of both procedures is that they are completely non-invasive yet generating impressive fat reduction results. Patients can return immediately to their normal activities after having either procedure. Minor side effects post- treatment are slight bruising and swelling in the treated body parts but this usually disperses rapidly.
- Why Hot and Cold?
Both CoolSculpting and SculpSure eliminate fat cells but are using different technology. CoolSculpting targets the superficial and subcutaneous fats while Sculpsure is able to target deeper into the skin using laser technology.
Josh also recommends a treatment protocol of both plus EMTone to enhance the tightening process and to reduce cellulite (if any).
Treatment Protocol:
1 CoolSculpting session each week for 2 weeks, followed by 2 Sculpsure sessions.
If the patient has very loose skin or sagging skin, we recommend 2-3 sessions of EMTone post- CoolSculpting and Sculpsure.
How long can I see the results?
1-3 months time.
Maintenance: The fat cells are permanently removed. Patients are advised to adopt a healthier lifestyle and watch their food intake as remaining fat cells will increase in size and it can diminish the results that were achieved. So the results is permanent ONLY IF patients do not put on weight post-treatment. In short, permanent fat reduction after CoolSculpting and SculpSure has to be maintained with a balanced lifestyle, which includes eating nutritious and portion-sized foods, keeping stress-levels low, exercise and getting enough sleep.
- Is a body contouring treatment for me?
Don’t let your bat-wing arms make you feel self-conscious about wearing your best outfits. If you are unsure of the causes of your batwings, or wish to explore more about the advantages of bodysculpting (CoolSculpting, SculpSure, EMSculpt NEO, EMTone), our doctors will be able to evaluate and advise you on the appropriate procedures that will offer the best results.
Rest assured that our team has your best interests for safety, comfort and ideal aesthetic outcomes. Come by for a chat, meet our doctors and let them answer all your questions with their expertise and experience.
WhatsApp or call to schedule a consultation: +60123537960
