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It's no surprise to hear that plastic surgeons are hurting in this economy: A survey by the American Society for Aesthetic Surgery shows that cosmetic surgeries are down 15 percent over the past year. But don't worry, it's not like society is suddenly becoming less shallow and image obsessed. It turns out that more young people are getting stuff done than ever before, and boob jobs and liposuction are the most popular procedures. And plenty of new stuff is on the horizon, too, like the new fat-busting machine that performs a very creepy-sounding procedure called "cryolipolysis."

A non-invasive technique that involves having a suction cup placed on your wobbly bits, cryolipolysis sucks heat from fat cells causing them to die, while keeping actual skin at normal temperature. According to dermatologist Neil Sadick, a 25 percent reduction in flab is possible, and the only drawback is that the results are not instantaneous, but take a few months to see.

Tantalizingly, the machine is not yet FDA approved, but is supposedly "on the verge" of being. Then again, they said that about the Ultrashape, and we're still waiting. You would almost think that providing convenient ways to slenderize our figures wasn't a top priority!

Fat-Blasting Device [Elle]
Economic meltdown is causing many to delay cosmetic surgery [NYDN]