NEW ORLEANS -- There are all sorts of medical machines on the market to get rid of fat while you relax in the doctor's office, but there has never been one to build and sculpt muscle.
That is, until now.
There are some people who will get the biggest benefit from this new technology.
At 48-years-old, Doug Cook makes working out a regular part of his life, running and weight lifting five days a week, but for him, like most people, it's difficult to get some of that definition in the lower abs.
Then he heard about a machine that in 30 minutes, could stimulate his abs as if he had done 20,000 sit ups.
"I've just noticed some more, more definition on like more of that V that's coming in, and it's only been two weeks," Cook said.
In her early 50s, Connie Reso does an intense workout just about every day, but her body type wasn't the kind that would build up her glutes for a lifted backside.
"I mean, I've tried everything. I've done hundreds of squats and it seems like it goes no where," Reso said.
So, she's turned to that same machine for help.
"When I'm running, I can feel the muscle inside. I can feel every movement I was making, so like if I was walking or running, I can feel that muscle inside and this was like three days after the treatment," Reso said.
It's called EMSCULPT. It's FDA cleared to work the abs, buttocks and even the pelvic floor muscles, by sending electromagnetic signals to make the muscles contract and relax over and over, like you were working them out.
Some people feel muscle soreness the next day, the good kind, like after a good workout. Others don't.
Board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Kamran Khoobehi says there are studies looking at the treated muscles on MRI scans.
"They found out the muscle mass goes up almost 20 percent, so actually there is physical change," said Dr. Khoobehi, who practices in Metairie and New Orleans and is also a Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at LSU Health Sciences Center.
He says his first patients are beginning to see a difference and feel a difference with better function of that muscle area, but he cautions, this is not for everyone.
"This is basically very small group of patients, that they are fit, they exercise, and they can not get the look they want," he explained.
There is a saying that "abs are made in the kitchen," and body builders say "abs are the first to go and the last to show," so this is not for people with excess body fat.
"If a patient comes over here and they are 30 pounds overweight, and they have heard about this EMSCULPT, I'm going to say, 'No. You're not a candidate for it. You're wasting your money. You're not going to see enough improvement, because there's so much fat that it's going to kind of camouflage the muscle improvement,'" he said.
Dr. Khoobehi says it also helps women who have had a tummy tuck after having children like Connie.
That surgery gets rid of the excess skin and then sutures the separated muscles back together, something diet and exercise can not accomplish.
"So, when they do exercise and everything, it helps them, but we see that most ladies, when they get older, they get little bit bulging lower abdomen," Dr. Khoobehi said.
EMSCULPT can not take the place of fixing excess skin and separated muscles like a tummy tuck, but he says the emsculpt makes those muscles stronger and work harder, something surgery can not accomplish.
"Two days later, I actually had a deeper line and I had two bumps, and I was like, 'This is only two days after the first one,'" Reso said
Dermatologist Dr. Mary Lupo did a study with EMSCULPT before it came on the market and she agrees that it is for people in good shape who are looking for extra tone in troublesome spots, that they are not getting with diet and exercise. It is not a replacement for those who would benefit from a tummy tuck.
Both Connie and Doug know that the results are just temporary. They are getting four treatments the first two weeks, then maintenance at three months, and then twice a year at every six months, but they say paying for that doesn't bother them, because if they stopped working out, gym results would be temporary as well.
"It's like working your abs, you know, you have to keep it up, you know. It's very intense," Cook said.
EMSCULPT costs $3,000 for four treatments.
To learn more, visit their website here.
Meg Farris can be reached at mfarris@wwltv.com