Everything You Need to Know About Tickle Lipo

Although it is said to be well known in Europe, it is one of the newest methods of liposuction offered in the United States and is not currently actively promoted in the UK to our knowledge.

Traditional liposuction tends to require a large amount of physical effort on the part of the practitioner during the performance of the procedure. CAL/NIL was first introduced in Belgium by a physician who performed several liposuction procedures each day and was developed with the aim of increasing the physician’s performance whilst decreasing his/her physical effort.

Unlike other new breed liposuction or lipolysis devices on the market such as VASER® Lipo or Smartlipo®, it doesn’t use ultrasound or lasers to break up the fat prior to removal. Instead, it relies on the motion of the cannula itself which is powered by air pressure and moves in three dimensions in a whirling movement, vibrating and rotating (known as ‘nutational’), whilst also delivering an infusion of anaesthesia in a tumescent solution.

It is also claimed that the patented technique of nutation provides faster infiltration of the tumescent solution - 25% faster than other liposuction technology, shortening the length of the procedure for both practitioner and patient.

We asked UK VASER Lipo trainer, Dr. Ravi Jain for his thoughts on Tickle Lipo® as a competitor to VASER which was proved to produce superior results to standard suction-assisted liposuction*.

“Tickle Lipo is not a new phenomenon but is a new marketing brand! Nutational Liposuction is a relatively old technology and has been around for a long time. I certainly doubt that 3 out of 4 patients will be laughing throughout a decent procedure unless one gives them laughing gas!

Vibration-assisted infiltration is an interesting concept and may well reduce discomfort during infiltration, but so will slower infiltration rates and more care when infiltrating.

The liposuction part of this procedure is suction-assisted liposuction, so nothing new there. I think it’s just a company which wants to push their product with a new marketing concept. I still believe VASER offers patients the safest and most effective treatments.”

With so many options available for the reduction of fatty tissue, from non-invasive ultrasound devices such as Ultrashape™ and Liposonix™, invasive systems such as laser lipolysis with Smartlipo™, ultrasound-assisted liposuction with VASER® or radio-frequency assisted liposuction with Bodytite™, and on to more traditional tumescent liposuction procedures, it’s difficult for the consumer and the practitioner to evaluate the best methods to employ. The only way this can be done is with further clinical trials and comparative work. 

*Study: A Multi-Center, Prospective, Randomized, Single-Blind, Controlled Clinical Trial Comparing VASER-Assisted Lipoplasty and Suction-Assisted Lipoplasty