Disclaimer: None of the information in this article constitutes medical advice. All statements are merely the opinion of the writer(s). We recommend that patients follow their doctor’s guidance in regard to weight loss.
The VibroSculpt is a device that claims to burn fat through vibration applied to the skin. The device rotates at a speed of 2,600 revolutions per minute (RPM), and the brand claims this can provide benefits from reduced waist circumference to flatter abs to minimized cellulite.
In this article we’ll review medical studies to provide our determination on whether these claims are likely to be legitimate, or if VibroSculpt is just selling a dream.
Lack of Citations for Health Claims
It’s notable that VibroSculpt has no science section of their site or any citations for the bold health and aesthetic claims they make, such as that the device's "micro-vibration" and "micro-compression technology" works to "tighten figure." The burden of proof is on the manufacturer to provide evidence that their medical device is effective, and VibroSculpt’s site doesn’t appear to do so at all.
We find this lack of medical citations or research to be a red flag about the company, and we recommend that consumers generally avoid products making bold health or aesthetic claims without making any attempt to prove those claims.
Most medical devices for improving skin, like the SolaWave, at least link to a few medical trials suggesting how or why the product will work.
Do Handheld Vibration Devices Burn Fat?
We’ve already covered the fact that the VibroScuplt itself hasn’t been proven to work in medical studies, but it’s worthwhile to investigate whether there is any evidence that the class of medical devices is effective generally.
VibroSculpt is described as a “micro-vibration” and “micro-compression” device on the product’s homepage. We searched PubMed, which is one of the largest databases of medical trials, for both terms and found no relevant results.
We did locate one medical trial suggesting that vibration plate machines found in gyms may be effective for fat loss, but these devices are totally different from a handheld “micro-vibration” device.
The clinical trial linked above documented that overweight patients who used vibration plate machines at the gym in addition to a restricted-calorie diet had superior weight loss outcomes to patients on a restricted-calorie diet alone.
We cannot locate any medical studies suggesting that handheld vibration devices cause fat loss or any other aesthetic benefit. Nor does Vibrosculpt appear to link to any on their website. We will conclude that this type of device is unlikely to provide any benefits, health or otherwise.
Real User Tries VibroSculpt
A video on VibroSculpt's YouTube page shows someone using the device. Because this is on the manufacturer's page, we would recommend ignoring any claims of efficacy, but it can be useful to see what the device looks like and how it's properly used:
Fat Loss Devices With Research Backing
While we're unable to identify any clinical research suggesting VibroSculpt is effective, there are two other medical treatments that we've reviewed on Illuminate Health that had significant clinical backing.
We recently reviewed a treatment called CoolSculpting which has impressive research backing it. This treatment destroys fat cells by exposing them to extreme cold temperatures via a handheld device, which is administered by a healthcare professional (CoolSculpting can't be used at home like VibroSculpt).
We don’t recommend CoolSculpting (yet) because we’d like to see more long-term safety data, but there have been several clinical trials and research reviews published in legitimate medical journals proving the efficacy of this treatment for weight loss and fat loss. No major side effects were noted in the trials.
Liposuction treatments like Sonobello are also proven to be effective for cosmetic fat loss, but these treatments come with more health risks than CoolSculpting or VibroSculpt. The linked review we published highlights some of the medical studies on liposuction for fat removal and the side effects.
We want to be clear that we don’t recommend either CoolSculpting or Sonobello, and only recommend lifestyle changes for weight loss. However we felt it would be valuable to consumers considering VibroSculpt to read about a few other treatment alternatives which actually are proven to work in medical studies.
Our Clean Weight Loss Picks
There are food-based nutrients which have been shown in medical studies to be effective for weight loss.
Dietary fiber was shown in a medical review published in The Journal of Nutrition to cause 16 pounds of weight loss in 6 months when combined with moderate caloric restriction (750 calories per day below baseline).
Supergut Fiber Mix is our top fiber supplement, because it contains three different types of fiber powder, and retails for only $1.75 per serving at a subscription rate.
MCT oil was shown in a meta-study to cause more than one pound of weight loss over 10 weeks. This equates to potential annualized weight loss of 6 pounds per year with less than one tablespoon's worth of MCT oil per day.
Bulletproof MCT Oil is our top MCT oil product, because the only ingredient is MCT oil derived from coconuts. and it currently costs only $15.50 for over a month's worth of product.
Ginger intake "significantly decreased body weight" according to a 2019 meta-study on ginger and weight loss that analyzed data from 14 clinical trials.
Pique La Ginger is our top ginger product, because it's an organic tea in convenient crystallized form, and all that's needed is to pour the powder into a glass and add hot water.
All three of the products mentioned in this section are entirely free of additive ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy or unsafe.
Where to Buy VibroSculpt
VibroSculpt is sold at a variety of online retailers. Here's a price breakdown at the time of updating this article:
Walmart: $89.99 (free shipping, link)
Brand website: $89.99 (free shipping, link)
Amazon: $89.99 (free shipping, link to official Amazon listing)
VibroSculpt is one of the few weight loss products that we've reviewed on Illuminate Health where the price is the same on all retailers.
VibroSculpting Pros and Cons
Here are our thoughts on the pros and cons of VibroSculpting:
Pros:
- Cheaper than CoolSculpting
- No side effects
Cons:
- No proof of efficacy
- Bold, uncited health claims on manufacturer website
- Questionable mechanism of action