Three treatments for thunder thighs.
Global warming and the pandemic have revolutionized my sartorial choices. I used to reserve shorts for weekly supermarket runs and quick nips to the corner shop but increasingly I’ve been living in them.
But living in shorts has its drawbacks. I’ve been battling the bulge, sag, and cellulite since the pandemic set. This time last year, I managed to fit in an Onda treatment for fat reduction and skin tightening for my thighs while in Kuala Lumpur on a business trip, and had planned for another session there in the following months.
However, since then, as Singapore has been going in and out of lockdowns of varying strictness, aesthetics treatments were quickly relegated to the bottom of my to-do list, until social-distancing measures were eased recently.
I was quite impressed by a recent HIFU session I underwent at Xpress Medical Aesthetics for my lower face, so thought of applying the same to my thighs. But when I arrived for my appointment, I was told that while HIFU could help with SMAS remodelling under the skin, a radiofrequency (RF) treatment would be more effective with subcutaneous fat reduction and skin-tightening.
I first underwent the Doublo Gold HIFU treatment which was concentrated on the top of my thighs near my pelvic bones. When the applicator was applied onto my skin, it felt warm and tingly; and it was as if something was lightly scraping beneath my skin. It felt a little strange but not uncomfortable.
The 448K BodyKONTOUR RF treatment was hands-down the most comfortable treatment for my thighs in a long time. It felt like a warm stone massage. I tend to get ticklish around my inner thighs, and no masseuse had attempted to massage my thighs without me giggling and asking for it to stop, but thanks to the deft hands of Katie, my therapist, I got used to it and nearly fell asleep! While she said my thighs were “quite firm” and “didn’t need as much help”, she asked me to return to do my flanks where the 448K BodyKontour can really shine. She then showed me the before and after photos which were rather impressive!
Finally I gave the EM MuscleSKULPT a spin. Like many body-sculpting technologies, electromagnetic technology to induce muscle contractions to build muscle fibres to help you burn fat more effectively is not new. There are many competitors in the market. For best outcomes, you should aim for treatments that give you some degree of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) which you can expect after intense exercise.
Three weeks after the treatments, with regular walks on the length of East Coast Park, and to my office at the top of Joo Chiat Road from my Marine Parade abode, my thighs feel firmer than before. The appearance of cellulite and the uneven ridges from old stretch marks have also been reduced.
Living through the pandemic in my trusty shorts appears less daunting; in fact it even feels a little brighter.
All photos by Shah Rizal Baharudin