While most people know that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates, well, food and drugs, some might not realize the federal agency also regulates medical devices to ensure their “safety and effectiveness.”
Among the more recent medical devices to receive FDA approval are electronic ab stimulators — devices meant to help strengthen, tighten and tone core muscles.
Ab stimulators are part of a broader family of electronic muscle stimulators.
EMS devices often are used for physical therapy or rehabilitation. Doctors provide or prescribe them as treatment for muscle spasms, to improve range of motion, to prevent muscle atrophy and to aid with muscle recovery after a significant injury or major surgery.
“Electronic muscle stimulators have been used by physical therapists to treat injured muscle tissue for decades,” says Lori Shemek, a certified nutritional consultant in Dallas and author of the book “How to Fight FATflammation.”
The recently approved ab stimulators use electrical pulses or stimulation to force muscles to contract.
“This contraction is what produces ab growth,” Shemek says. “Ab stimulators really work.”
Shemek says they can help strengthen and tone ab muscles, “but there is no evidence that it will substantially change a person’s body, such as give you those six-pack abs without also incorporating a healthy diet and sufficient exercise.”
Even when ab stimulators work as intended, she says, it takes “about two months to see any perceptible change.”
Natalie Allen, a team dietitian in the athletics department at Missouri State University, says some ab stimulators also claim to reduce waist size and improve posture, “but studies are limited and do not show significant improvements in these areas.”
“At this time, FDA is not aware of scientific information to support many of the promotional claims being made for numerous devices being widely promoted on television, infomercials, newspapers, and magazines,” the agency says.
According to the FDA, when electrical current is applied to muscles through ab stimulators, “it may eventually result in muscles that are strengthened and toned to some extent but will not, based on currently available data, create a major change in your appearance without the addition of diet and regular exercise.”
In addition to ab stimulators like the FDA-approved Slendertone Flex that uses electrical pulses, there are also FDA-approved devices like the Emsculpt Neo that function a bit differently. “Unlike traditional ab stimulators, the Emsculpt Neo utilizes a different form of stimulation known as high intensity-focused electromagnetic energy combined with radio frequency,” explains Lisa Espinoza, MD, an aesthetic physician and medical director at La Chele Medical Aesthetics in Pennsylvania.
What are the disadvantages of ab stimulators?
While both of these devices are FDA approved, many available ab stimulators are not, and may carry some risks. The FDA notes that it has received “reports of shocks, burns, bruising, skin irritation, pain and interference with other critically important medical devices (such as pacemakers) associated with the use of unregulated (ab stimulator) products.” It adds that unregulated ab stimulators may also have safety problems associated with cables and leads which “can lead to accidental shock and electrocution by users and other household members, including children.”
Even when such devices don’t cause serious harm, Espinoza says many unregulated ab stimulator devices promise results that are often “too good to be true,” and that it’s best to receive physician-monitored care or use physician-recommended devices when considering the use of electronic muscle stimulators.
Shemek agrees, stating that it’s also important not to overuse ab stimulators and to take breaks between use.
“Muscles need time to recover, which is an important and even critical part of why the abs become larger and stronger,” she says.
Allen recommends an overall more natural approach to goals of becoming physically fit.
“Walk, run, hike or bike,” she advises, “and focus on a healthy diet loaded with fruits, vegetables and lean protein to improve overall health and lose weight everywhere, including your abs.”
Read more at usatoday.com
