# "Arasys inch loss" machines - are they effective? How effective?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arasys-inch-loss-machines-are-they-effective-how-effective/323238
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 24, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arasys-inch-loss-machines-are-they-effective-how-effective/323238 "2005-09-24T18:18:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arasys-inch-loss-machines-are-they-effective-how-effective/323238/1 "2005-09-24T18:18:47Z")
The Arasys machine I had a go on yesterday was basically a kind of giant version of those “ab-belts” you can buy in chemists shops that put electrical currents into your stomach muscles through little pads. The arasys machine had twelve pads, which were put all over my upper body, and they were turned up extremely high. The sensation was quite bizarre, but bearable. Actually I could probably enjoy it in a sick kind of way.
Anyway I was wondering if anyone had any experience of these bigger machines. If I book a whole course of treatments it’ll cost rather a lot, so I’m hoping it’ll be a worthwhile treat for myself. I don’t have all that much to lose but my stomach is an area that doesn’t seem to shift with exercise.
Apparently they do work, properly, but I can’t seem to find any “before” and “after” pictures showing svelte models and sixpacked hunks. I realise those are invariably inaccurate, but it’s the first such product I’ve found that doesn’t use them, and frankly I miss them a little.
This is the place I went: [http://www.inchlossclinic.co.uk/](http://www.inchlossclinic.co.uk/)
ps: I know it’s a waste of money and I know I should just join a gym
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### Author:  [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arasys-inch-loss-machines-are-they-effective-how-effective/323238/2 "2005-09-24T21:52:30Z")
> [@Ross](#):
>
> Apparently they do work, properly
Ummm…yeah, they “work”, as in, “they apply electricity to your muscles”, but they don’t “work” for weight or cellulite loss.
Quackwatch and the FDA say [not.](http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/cellulite.html)
> [@](#):
>
> Electrical Muscle Stimulators (EMS) and Iontophoresis Devices
>
> Muscle stimulators are a legitimate medical device approved for certain conditions – to relax muscle spasms, increase blood circulation, prevent blood clots, and rehabilitate muscle function after a stroke. But many health spas and figure salons claim that muscle stimulators can remove wrinkles, perform face lifts, reduce breast size, reduce a “beer belly,” and remove cellulite. Iontophoresis devices are prescription devices that use direct electric current to introduce ions of soluble salts (i.e., medications) into body tissues for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes. The only approved use is for diagnosing cystic fibrosis.
>
> The FDA considers promotion of muscle stimulators or iontophoresis devices for any type of body shaping or contouring to be fraudulent [3,4]. The most infamous of these devices, the Relax-A-Cizor, was claimed to reduce girth by delivering electric shocks to the muscles. More than 400,000 units were sold for $200 to $400 each before the FDA obtained an injunction in 1970 to stop its sale. At the trial, 40 witnesses testified that they had been injured while using the machine. The judge concluded that the device could cause miscarriages and aggravate many preexisting medical conditions, including hernias, ulcers, varicose veins, and epilepsy.
I notice that the inchloss website is in the UK, and therefore beyond the sway of the FDA.
Oh, and…their “unique faradic electrical wave system”? The fifty-cent quack word for “electrical stimulation”.
What it does: makes your muscles stronger, a bit. Doesn’t make them bigger. Doesn’t remove fat or cellulite.
[Cite.](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7109885&dopt=Abstract)
> [@](#):
>
> Surging intermittent faradic stimulation can develop both types of strength at slow speeds of motion. Such stimulation should be valuable modality for developing isometric strength when normal voluntary motion is hampered. However, it appears to have little applicability to developing the kind of strength associated with rapid movements.
> [@](#):
>
> - If I book a whole course of treatments it’ll cost rather a lot, so I’m hoping it’ll be a worthwhile treat for myself. \*
Only if you consider that allowing yourself to be persuaded to set fire to a large pile of pound notes by a con artist wielding a gadget that doesn’t do anything constitutes a “worthwhile treat”.
hey, whatever floats yer boat
> [@](#):
>
> _I know it’s a waste of money_
Fine. Go for it.
😃
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### Author:  [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arasys-inch-loss-machines-are-they-effective-how-effective/323238/3 "2005-09-24T22:02:03Z")
[Four Secrets to a Flat Stomach.](http://menshealth.about.com/cs/fitness/a/flat_stomach.htm)
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### Author:  [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arasys-inch-loss-machines-are-they-effective-how-effective/323238/4 "2005-09-24T22:08:48Z")
> [@Ross](#):
>
> Apparently they do work, properly, but I can’t seem to find any “before” and “after” pictures showing svelte models and sixpacked hunks. I realise those are invariably inaccurate, but it’s the first such product I’ve found that doesn’t use them, and frankly I miss them a little.
Probably no before and after pictures because there is no improvement (although that doesn’t stop companies from providing fake before & afters). It’s my understanding that this sort of muscle stimulation is intended for people who are paralyzed, in order that their muscles don’t atrophy completely, and that it is sometimes successful for that–but it wouldn’t build a svelte model or sixpacked hunk.
If you’re gonna toss the money away anyway: (1) personal trainer (2) liposuction.