Contouring, for shape rather than weight.
Non-surgical treatments aimed at the shape of a treated area, not the number on the scale. Suitability is assessed first — led by Dr Sam Lua.
Ask about contouringA different job from weight management.
Contouring addresses stubborn areas that persist at a stable weight. It is not a weight-loss treatment and not a substitute for managing weight medically — those are separate conversations with separate expectations, and we keep them distinct so you always know what a treatment can and cannot do.
If weight itself is the concern, medical weight management is the more useful place to start, and we will say so.
Controlled-cooling fat reduction.
A non-surgical approach that uses precisely controlled cooling to target pockets of fat in a treated area — the kind that hold on despite steady diet and exercise. The body clears the treated cells gradually in the weeks that follow.
It changes the shape of a treated area, not your overall body weight. Whether it suits you, and what is realistic to expect, is something we talk through honestly at your consultation.
Consult & suitability → Treatment session → Gradual change over weeks
Quoted after consultation.
Focused-ultrasound lifting and tightening.
Uses focused ultrasound energy to reach the deeper layers beneath the skin, prompting the body’s own firming response over time — a lifted, tighter look without surgery or downtime.
Results build gradually and vary from person to person. We will be straight with you at consultation about what to expect and over what timeframe.
Consult & suitability → Treatment session → Gradual firming over weeks to months
Quoted after consultation.
Electromagnetic muscle stimulation.
This one is not a fat treatment, and it is worth being clear about that before anything else.
Applied to the abdomen or buttocks, high-intensity electromagnetic energy causes repeated involuntary muscle contraction. The published work reports a change in muscle thickness alongside a smaller change in the fat layer above it. It suits someone whose concern is firmness and shape rather than volume, and it does nothing for skin laxity.
It is not a substitute for training, and it is not a treatment for being overweight. If your weight is still moving, this is the wrong starting point.
Radiofrequency for deeper heating.
Radiofrequency warms tissue below the skin surface rather than removing anything. It is used where the concern is tissue quality and firmness rather than a discrete pocket of fat.
Published magnitudes vary considerably between studies. What is reasonable to expect in your case is a conversation at assessment, not a number on a website.
Honest about what fits.
Doctor-led
Assessed medically, so what is recommended matches your health rather than just the goal.
Options, with trade-offs
The realistic choices explained, including what each asks of you and where its limits are.
Quoted after consultation
Treatment is priced once your assessment is done, not before.
If contouring is not the right answer for what you are describing, we will tell you that rather than treat anyway.
Worth reading before you decide: what body contouring can and cannot do — the effect sizes reported in the published studies, how strong that evidence actually is, and the risks that come with it.
What the evidence actually shows.
Non-surgical contouring is well studied in places and thinly studied in others. Rather than quote the flattering end of that, here is the shape of it.
For electromagnetic energy, a 2024 systematic review in Aesthetic Plastic Surgery pooled fifteen clinical studies and reported mean abdominal changes of roughly 5.5 mm less fat thickness and about 2 mm more muscle thickness, with no complications reported. Follow-up in most of those studies ran between one and six months, so longer-term behaviour is not established.
For controlled cooling, the picture is more mixed. An evidence-based review in the same journal assessed thirty-two reports and rated the overall body of evidence at Level III, noting that most lacked rigorous methodology and that commercial bias was a recurring problem. It also documents skin necrosis and frostbite, particularly where treatment was carried out outside medical settings.
The best-documented adverse effect of controlled cooling is paradoxical adipose hyperplasia — a firming and enlargement of the treated area, the opposite of the intended result. A 2025 meta-analysis covering twenty-eight studies and 13,078 patients put the pooled incidence at 0.22 per cent, roughly one person in 455. That is uncommon, but when it happens the reported correction is surgical, which is a difficult outcome for someone who chose a non-surgical treatment.
For radiofrequency and focused ultrasound, a 2024 narrative review covering eleven non-invasive technologies describes them, like the rest, as treatments for circumscribed deposits rather than for generalised obesity. Reported magnitudes vary by modality and by study.
One finding runs through all of it: a prospective study measuring participants before and after treatment found no significant change in weight, BMI or visceral fat, despite measurable reduction in the treated area. The fat in the treated area changed. The number on the scale did not.
More detail in what body contouring can and cannot do.
What happens at the assessment.
Nothing is booked or bought at a first appointment.
We look at where the fat actually sits, and how much of it is subcutaneous rather than visceral — because visceral fat does not respond to any of this, and that distinction decides whether contouring is the right conversation at all. We go through your weight history, whether it is currently stable, previous treatments, and what you are actually trying to change.
Then we go through which modality fits, or whether none of them do. Where more than one is reasonable, you get the trade-offs — sessions required, what each asks of you, and where each one’s limits are.
Who this is not for.
Contouring is not appropriate in pregnancy.
It is not the right route if your weight is still moving, or if what you are describing is a general concern about size rather than a specific area. That is a conversation about medical weight management instead, and it is a better use of your money.
It is also not for anyone hoping a treatment will substitute for the metabolic work. If both apply to you, the sequence matters: weight first, shape afterwards — if it still needs asking by then.
What it costs.
Treatment is quoted after your assessment, once there is something specific to quote for. What it depends on is which modality suits you, the area treated and how many sessions are reasonable — none of which can be known before you are seen.
Nothing is sold in packages, and you are told the cost of anything before it happens rather than after.
Contouring questions, answered plainly.
Is body contouring a weight-loss treatment?
No. It addresses the shape of a treated area rather than overall body weight, and it is not a substitute for medical weight management. The two are kept deliberately separate.
How much does body contouring cost?
Treatment plans at Belief Medical are quoted after your consultation — pricing depends on the areas treated and the approach that fits you, so it is set after an assessment rather than from a menu.
How long before I see a change?
Change is gradual in both approaches — weeks for controlled cooling, weeks to months for focused ultrasound — and it varies from person to person. Expectations are set at consultation.
Is it suitable for everyone?
No. Suitability is assessed in person, and there are people for whom neither approach is appropriate. That is part of what the consultation is for.
Which treatment is right for me?
That depends on whether your concern is a pocket of fat, firmness, or tissue quality — and on where the fat sits. It is decided at assessment rather than chosen from a menu beforehand.
Can body contouring go wrong?
Uncommonly, yes. The best-documented adverse effect of controlled cooling is an enlargement of the treated area rather than a reduction, reported in around 0.22 per cent of patients in a 2025 meta-analysis. Correction is surgical. It is one of the reasons this is carried out in a medical setting.
Will the fat come back?
Fat cells reduced in a treated area do not return, but the cells that remain still respond to weight gain. Contouring does not exempt you from that.
Do I need to lose weight first?
If your weight is still changing, usually yes. Treating a moving target produces a result you cannot judge.
Page reviewed: August 2026
Start with an assessment.
Tell us the area you have in mind, and we will tell you honestly whether it fits.
Ask about contouring