EMSCULPT NEO is an FDA-cleared body contouring device that builds muscle and reduces fat in the same treatment. It combines high-intensity focused electromagnetic energy with radiofrequency heat, delivered together over about thirty minutes. There is no downtime, no needles and no anesthesia. You walk in and walk out.
What it is, in plain English
Two applicators sit on the area you are treating and do two jobs at once. One is muscle: the device drives contractions far more forceful and frequent than anything you could produce in a gym. The other is fat: radiofrequency energy warms the fat layer sitting above the muscle.
The result the manufacturer's cleared indications describe is fat reduction and muscle strengthening in the treated area, without surgery, needles or recovery time. You can drive yourself home, go back to work, and train the next day.
How it works
The technology has two halves working in parallel, which is what separates NEO from earlier muscle-only devices.
- HIFEM for muscle. High-intensity focused electromagnetic energy triggers supramaximal contractions, meaning contractions your nervous system cannot produce on its own. In the device's clinical studies this is the mechanism credited with muscle growth.
- Radiofrequency for fat. RF energy raises the fat layer to a temperature that damages fat cells, and your body clears them over the following weeks. It also warms the muscle first, which is why the session opens with a warm-up phase.
Because both energies run at the same time, one thirty-minute session covers both goals rather than two appointments on two devices.
Where it treats
Per the manufacturer's cleared indications, EMSCULPT NEO is used for noninvasive fat reduction and for strengthening, toning and firming across several areas. Patients ask most about:
- Abdomen, the most common request, and the area the abdominal tone clearance covers
- Flanks, the area most people call love handles
- Buttocks, for strengthening and firming rather than volume
- Thighs, inner and outer
- Arms and calves
We work out the right area at your consult. Sometimes the honest answer is that what bothers you is loose skin or overall body weight, and this device treats neither.
What a session feels like
Strange the first time, then routine. You lie down in comfortable clothing, we strap the applicators in place, and the intensity builds gradually. You feel your muscles contracting hard, in waves, alongside a steady warmth patients compare to a hot stone massage. It is intense, not painful, and your provider can dial it back at any point.
Between contraction cycles the device runs a tapping phase that helps clear lactic acid, which is why most patients are less sore than they expect. The day after feels like the day after a hard workout.
What a typical plan looks like
The standard series
The manufacturer's standard protocol is four thirty-minute sessions spaced over roughly four weeks. That is where we start.
Your body clears the treated fat
Fat cells damaged during the radiofrequency phase clear over the weeks after your sessions.
Maintenance sessions
Sessions spaced to hold what you built. Your provider will say so if the standard series is not the right shape for you.
Results vary from person to person, and we set your plan at your consult.
What this device does not do
EMSCULPT NEO is a body contouring tool, not a weight loss treatment. It works on a defined area. It will not move the number on your scale in any meaningful way, and it will not solve a problem rooted in body composition, hormones or metabolic health.
It shapes and strengthens an area that is already close to where you want it. That is why we often run it alongside hormone optimization for patients whose body composition changed with their hormones. Results vary from person to person, and we will not promise you a specific outcome.
Why we run NEO alongside weight loss medication
When weight comes off on a GLP-1, some of what leaves is muscle, and the advertising leaves that part out. Patients on semaglutide or tirzepatide describe it two ways: a body that is smaller but softer, and strength that slipped while they watched the scale.
NEO works on the other half. The medication moves the scale, and the device works the muscle underneath, in the area that bothers you. Protein and resistance training matter more than any device here, and NEO sits inside that plan rather than replacing it.
Scheduling sessions against where you are in your dose titration takes seeing both programs at once. We coordinate care across programs: medical weight loss and the semaglutide and tirzepatide program, so we plan your NEO sessions around where you are in the medication.
Why do this at a medical practice
EMSCULPT NEO delivers real energy into your body, and metal implants and cardiac devices are genuine safety issues. Here the device sits inside a medical practice: Achilles Kalnoky, MD is on site, and screening happens before anything gets scheduled rather than on a waiver at the door.
Who EMSCULPT NEO is for, and who it is not
Often a good fit
- Adults who are reasonably close to their goal and want definition in a specific area
- Patients whose training has plateaued in one region, most often the abdomen
- Anyone rebuilding after pregnancy or a long gap in activity, once cleared to proceed
- Patients already in our weight loss or hormone programs who want the contour handled too
Not a fit
- Anyone with a cardiac pacemaker, implanted defibrillator or neurostimulator; contraindicated per the manufacturer's guidance
- Anyone with metal or electronic implants in the treatment area, including plates, screws and joint replacements
- Patients who are pregnant
- Anyone looking for weight loss; we will point you to the program that does
Copper IUDs, hernias, recent surgery in the area and other conditions need individual review. Your consult screens for all of it, and if EMSCULPT NEO is not right for you, we will say so.
What patients want to know about NEO.
Does it hurt?
Intense, but not painful for most patients. You feel strong involuntary contractions and a steady warmth, similar to a hot stone massage. Your provider builds the intensity up gradually and can turn it down at any point. Most patients describe the next day as feeling like a hard workout.
How many sessions do I need?
The manufacturer's standard protocol is four thirty-minute sessions over roughly four weeks, with maintenance afterward. Your actual plan is individualized at your consult.
When will I see results?
Some patients notice firmness within a few weeks of finishing their series, and the fat reduction develops more gradually as your body clears the treated cells. The realistic timeline is weeks to months, not days, and results vary from person to person.
Is the fat reduction lasting?
The fat cells eliminated by the treatment do not come back, but the ones left behind can still enlarge if your weight goes up, and muscle has to be used to be kept. How long your result holds depends on what you do afterward, which is why we often pair this with medical weight loss.
Who should not have this treatment?
Per the manufacturer's guidance, it is contraindicated for patients with cardiac pacemakers, implanted defibrillators or neurostimulators, and it cannot be used over metal or electronic implants in the treatment area. It is also not appropriate during pregnancy. We screen for all of this at your consult.
How much does it cost?
We do not publish pricing, because a number without an exam is a guess. What you would spend depends on which area we treat and how many sessions your plan calls for, and neither is settled until we have screened you. Your consult ends with a written plan and what it costs, before anything is booked.
Screening happens before scheduling.
The device sits in a physician-supervised practice rather than on a franchise floor, so we screen for pacemakers and implants before you book a session. Achilles Kalnoky, MD is on site.
Often paired with EMSCULPT NEO.
Medical Weight Loss
Physician-supervised programs, including compounded options when insurance says no.
Learn more →Hormones & BHRT
Bioidentical hormone therapy for women and men, personalized through lab work.
Learn more →Book your visit.
A NEO consult starts with screening and a straight answer about whether this device treats what bothers you. Booking online takes about a minute, and your appointment is confirmed on the spot.