Tongue patch — new way to lose weight

Tongue stapling — yet another way to lose weight, as reported in the Daily Mail back in 2013.

This method, called the "tongue patch," is the brainchild of Dr. Nikolas Chugay, a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who launched the "Weight Reduction Patch" in 2009. A postage-stamp-sized piece of Marlex — an abrasive plastic mesh normally used to repair hernias — is sewn onto the top of the tongue with six stitches, making it almost impossible to eat solid food. The only menu left is liquids: roughly 800 calories a day. (Medical Daily, Christian Post)

The patch can only stay on for a month — Chugay's own site warns that after that, the plastic can start fusing to the tongue tissue. He claims patients can lose up to 30 pounds in that month. (Medical Daily)

The procedure costs $2,000 in the US, where Chugay claims to have treated only about 60 women since 2009. But in Venezuela, where clinics offered it for around $150, more than 900 women reportedly got the patch after 2011. (Christian Post)

Critically, it is not FDA approved. And doctors have called it dangerous. "With any kind of thing you put in there and suture into the tongue, you run the risk of getting an infection," said Dr. Richard Chaffoo, a La Jolla plastic surgeon. "You're going to be drooling a lot, it's going to be really painful… You could get an ulcer, an infection. It could dislodge and go down your throat and cause an airway obstruction." (YNaija)

Why suffer all this pain just to lose weight? The appeal, it seems, is desperation meeting vanity — but a painful, unapproved surgery with real risks of infection and worse is no substitute for the boring answer: a balanced diet, consistent exercise, and habits that last longer than a month.