Frequently Asked Questions

Medical weight loss is a supervised program where a healthcare provider helps you lose weight safely and effectively. Instead of guessing your way through fad diets, you get a personalized plan built around your health history, body composition, and goals. It’s not a one-size-fits-all deal — it’s real support backed by science.

GLP-1s are a class of prescription medications that mimic a hormone your body naturally makes after eating. They help slow digestion, reduce appetite, and signal to your brain that you’re full. A lot of people find it way easier to stick to healthy habits when they’re not fighting constant hunger. Common GLP-1 medications include semaglutide and tirzepatide.

You might be a great fit if you’re dealing with obesity or you’re overweight and have a related health condition like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol. Our providers at Revive Medical Center will review your full health history to figure out if a GLP-1 is right for you.

Results vary from person to person, but clinical studies have shown that patients using GLP-1 medications alongside lifestyle changes can lose a significant amount of weight — sometimes 15% or more of their body weight. Consistency is key, and our team will be right there with you every step of the way.

Yes — when prescribed and monitored by a medical provider, GLP-1 medications are considered safe for most people. Like any medication, they can come with side effects. Nausea, fatigue, and some digestive discomfort are the most common ones, especially when you’re first starting out. These usually ease up as your body adjusts.

Not at all. Medication is just one tool we use. Your plan might include nutritional guidance, lifestyle coaching, or other treatments depending on what works best for you. We’ll build your program around your needs, not the other way around.

That depends on your goals and how your body responds to treatment. Some people reach their target weight in a few months, while others benefit from longer-term support. Medical weight loss isn’t a quick fix — it’s about building lasting habits that stick.

Coverage varies widely depending on your insurance plan. Some plans cover GLP-1 medications when they’re prescribed for certain conditions, while others don’t cover them at all. Our team can help you sort through your options and find an approach that fits your budget.

Getting started is simple. Just reach out to our team in Lawrenceville to schedule a consultation. We’ll sit down with you, go over your health history, and come up with a plan that’s tailored to you. You don’t have to figure this out alone — we’ve got you covered.

Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) is a naturally occurring hormone in the body that increases during pregnancy.

The HCG diet uses low doses of HCG in conjunction with a low-calorie (500 per day) diet to stabilize the body and trigger weight loss. It consists of two phases: the first involves around 23 days of low-calorie eating, and the second is about three weeks of no sugar or starch to balance the body’s systems. When monitored by a physician, the HCG diet has been shown to safely and effectively promote rapid weight loss.

Most people report losing around a pound a day, though some lose more. Weight loss can vary depending on your beginning weight and other individual factors.

Though 500 calories may seem extreme, patients report feeling less hungry due to HCG injections. Also, it has been theorized that this amount keeps the body in balance while allowing the HCG to remove extra fat stores in the body, resetting the hypothalamus gland that controls hormone production, sugar metabolism, and several other functions.

On the HCG diet, you will be able to eat certain fruits (apples, oranges, strawberries, grapefruit), nonstarchy vegetables (spinach, cucumbers, onions, radishes, celery, cabbage), lean meat (white meat poultry, white fish, lean red meat, shellfish), and certain fats. The specific mixture of foods has been designed to promote satiation and effective fat loss. For a more detailed breakdown, you should discuss the program with your physician.

Most experts recommend staying on the HCG diet for a minimum of 23 days and a maximum of 43 days. Following the diet’s plan for longer than the advised period could result in immunity.

Immunity involves a condition in which your body stops being affected by HCG. Symptoms of immunity include fatigue, hunger, weakness, and lightheadedness. Make sure to notify your doctor if you experience any of these symptoms. Open communication during this process helps you enjoy maximum benefits while maintaining excellent health.

When you start the HCG diet, the first two days ask that you load up on large amounts of high-fat foods (cheese, nuts, oils, cream, avocados). This process of consuming more fat, in the beginning, should leave you less hungry once the diet gets more restrictive. It also creates a foundation for your body to start burning fat stores.

A steroid injection combines a corticosteroid and a numbing agent delivered into the pained joint to reduce inflammation and discomfort. The most common sites for joint injections are spinal joints, sacroiliac, coccyx, hip, shoulder, elbow, hand, knee, ankle, and foot.

Anyone with painful, inflamed joints could potentially benefit from steroid injections, though most physicians try other conservative treatments before injections, such as physical therapy or increased periods of rest. Also, certain injections shouldn’t be used on anyone who is pregnant or has an infection or bleeding issue.

Physicians qualified to administer steroid injections include aestheticians, physiatrists, neurologists, radiologists, and surgeons.

The procedure generally lasts between 15 and 45 minutes. First, the physician administers a local anesthetic to numb the area and minimize discomfort. Next, the doctor uses a fluoroscope to direct a hollow needle into the skin around the designated joint. In some cases, contrast may be used to ensure proper needle location. You should feel pressure but no pain. Once the needle is in place, the corticosteroid-anesthetic medications get injected into the joint capsule after which the needle is removed.

Before approval for a steroid injection, the physician will thoroughly evaluate your medical history and previous issues with the joint. If you take blood-thinning agents or aspirin, you might be asked to discontinue use several days prior to the procedure.

After the injections, most patients can walk normally. Once you’ve been monitored for a short period, you should be able to leave the office, but you must have someone drive you home. Full activity can resume the following day, though soreness around the injection site is common and can be relieved with ice.

Most patients notice pain relief within a week, some as early as two days after the procedure. Depending on the severity of your condition, you could experience continued relief for several days or several months.

Steroid injections have few side effects, so most physicians consider them an effective nonsurgical treatment. Since the treatment involves a needle, however, risks include bleeding, infection, headache, allergic reaction, and in rare cases, nerve damage. Some experience temporary weight gain, hot flashes, mood swings, water retention, or insomnia resulting from the corticosteroid, though they usually go away within 7 to 10 days.

Trigger point therapy (or dry needling) involves solid filament needles inserted through the skin into the affected muscle to promote deep tissue release, improving pain and movement. It’s called “dry” because no solution gets injected into the area.

Trigger point therapy causes some discomfort, but it shouldn’t last long.

Trigger point therapy can cause soreness after treatment. Sometimes, the ache sets in hours after therapy or even the next day. Depending on the area and level of muscle pain prior to therapy, this soreness can vary, though most describe it as a hard workout at the gym.

Most professionals recommend at least two or three sessions but don’t perform more than five or six. These sessions usually occur once or twice per week.

PRP stands for platelet-rich plasma, a concentrated mix of blood rich with healing and growth elements. PRP injections have been shown to heal injured tissue, ease pain, and relieve certain injuries.

Chronic tendon or muscle injuries that haven’t healed with other treatments might find relief with a PRP injection. These ailments include tennis elbow, Achilles tendonitis, golfer’s elbow, plantar fasciitis, rotator cuff injuries, patellar, tendonitis, knee osteoarthritis, and UCL tears.

After the physician draws your blood, it gets put into a centrifuge to separate the PRP. It then gets transferred into a syringe and injected into the affected area. The process usually takes between 30 and 40 minutes.

With any injection, there is a risk of infection, though it is rare.

You might experience discomfort at the injection site, swelling, and minor bruising, and for at least a month, you should avoid the use of NSAIDS. You should reduce physical activity for a couple of weeks after the injection, but no longer (to promote healing).

A chiropractic adjustment uses targeted force in a specific direction applied to a painful or malfunctioning joint. It can eliminate nervous system interference, enhance spinal operation and improve overall health.

The chiropractor evaluates each patient individually, designing a treatment plan that fits a unique set of issues and goals.

Of course. Unfortunately, many who’ve had back surgery report that symptoms return months or years later. Continued chiropractic care can help prevent the need for future surgery and alleviate painful symptoms.

Along with spinal alignment issues, chiropractic care can alleviate a number of health problems, since it improves nervous system function. Most people seek chiropractic treatment for back and neck pain, headaches, joint and muscle aches, fatigue, allergies, digestion problems, and many more.

Absolutely. With a holistic approach to self-care, chiropractic adjustments have an excellent safety record.

Although some insurance carriers cover chiropractors, not all do. For details about your situation, feel free to call us and schedule a consultation. We’d be more than happy to evaluate your coverage.

Expectant mothers can benefit greatly from chiropractic care, and many find it to ease associated discomforts, including nausea, sciatica, reflux, headaches, muscle pain, and fatigue.

Manual spinal decompression involves a brief stretch and release of the spine to help reshape and rehydrate degenerated discs, relieving associated neck and back pain.

Safe for most patients, spinal decompression can be helpful when surgery and drugs have been ineffectual. Furthermore, it is not recommended for anyone who is pregnant or has advanced osteoporosis or extensive nerve damage.

Although it varies, most patients feel relief somewhere between 4 and 8 sessions.

Seeing a chiropractor after an auto accident can help you feel better faster. Not only can a chiropractor treat visible injuries, but ongoing treatment can reduce inflammation and scar tissue, restore range of motion, relieve pain, and improve the immune system for long-term healing.

Chiropractic care focuses on the musculoskeletal and nervous systems, treating issues like neck and back pain, joint dysfunction, headaches, and muscle pain. It also provides dietary and lifestyle counseling, seeking to spark a whole-body health transformation. Physical therapy, on the other hand, aims to restore strength, movement function, balance, and range of motion through rehabilitative exercises.

Traction therapy refers to any method that uses manual or mechanical force to separate lumbar vertebrae along the spine. Commonly, traction therapy uses cycles of traction and relaxation over a period of 20 to 60 minutes. Although spinal traction therapy may not be appropriate for everyone, it has been shown to alleviate symptoms associated with muscle spasms, headaches, neck and lower back pain, sciatica, herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, and spinal stenosis.

Moist heat, or superficial heat, is a physical therapy modality used to control pain, speed healing, increase range of motion, and relax muscles. It involves a hot pack placed on the painful area and left about 15 to 20 minutes. Considered one of the most relaxing types of physical therapy, moist heat therapy usually happens at the beginning of a session to loosen muscles and prepare them for exercise. The heat controls pain by blocking pain signals and calming muscle spasms, speeds healing by increasing circulation, and improves flexibility by relaxing muscles pre-stretch.

Physical therapists use electrical stimulation therapy to ease lower back pain, muscle weakness, tendonitis, bursitis, and poor muscle control. It involves applying electrical stimulation (via electrodes on the skin) to the affected area. Although some feel slightly uncomfortable, the treatment shouldn’t hurt, and many find electric stimulation therapy relaxing.

The point of an allergy test is to expose you to common allergens and observe the skin’s reaction. Depending on your concerns, you can have up to 40 substances applied at once. The skin or scratch test uses lancets that barely penetrate the surface of the skin and apply the allergen to see if it produces a response. The procedure isn’t painful but can cause itching or irritation at the application site.

Subcutaneous (SCIT) therapy is a unique approach to allergies in that it aims to treat the cause of allergies, not the symptoms. It uses a small amount of the allergen injected into the skin to introduce and familiarize your body with its makeup, diminishing the allergic response. Shown to effectively target asthma, SCIT patients report symptom relief within a few months. Though a complete round of treatments can last up to five years, many find their symptoms don’t return after this point.

Sublingual immunotherapy treats allergies without injections. Instead, the physician administers small doses of an allergen in tablet form under the tongue. Just like injections, this therapy builds tolerance and reduces symptoms by getting the body used to the irritant.

The most efficient way of dealing with food allergies is to avoid foods that cause symptoms. Although this process can be easy, depending on the allergy, staying away from certain foods can be tricky. The best way to practice food elimination is to know what’s in your food at all times. Read labels, talk to your physician often, and be careful when eating out, as trace amounts of the ingredient can show up in unexpected places.

Before food allergy testing, your physician will usually ask several questions about medical and family history. Although some doctors use the skin test to check food allergies, most use a blood test that looks for antibodies for a specific food. If these antibodies show up, it means the patient likely has an allergy or intolerance to that food. Although most people assume food allergies show up in the form of gastrointestinal discomfort, they can also present as skin irritations, face swelling, dizziness, or nasal congestion.

A Myers Cocktail combines several vitamins and minerals shown to aid recovery and promote overall health. It consists of magnesium and calcium to promote nerve and muscle health, vitamin C to protect against cell damage, and Vitamin B to aid metabolic conversion. Given as an injection, it delivers a concentrated dose of healing elements straight into your bloodstream, boosting your mood, metabolism, and helping you stay ahead of sickness and environmental toxins.

When injected, hydrogen peroxide has been shown to combat sinus infections, cold and flu viruses. With well-known antibiotic properties, it kills bacteria and aids your body’s natural defense mechanisms.

Immune boosters are dietary supplements designed to strengthen your immunity. They include vitamins and minerals like zinc, vitamins A, C, and E, and magnesium. Like other injectables, these boosters work better when they get straight into the bloodstream rather than absorbed in pill form.

Vitamin booster shots can quickly and effectively improve your focus, energy, metabolism, and immune system. When administered intravenously or intramuscularly, the high concentration of vitamins can bypass other systems and start working immediately. Also, when used this way, you get a week’s worth of vitamins in a single dose.

Vitamin C is an essential nutrient that helps the body build collagen, prevent cell damage, heal wounds, and produce brain neurotransmitters. Although it naturally occurs in citrus fruits, red and green peppers, strawberries, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts, when injected, it can treat vitamin deficiency and bolster immune health. When your body lacks vitamin C, you might lose teeth, heal slowly, feel tired, have swollen or bleeding gums, and experience joint pain. Though high doses of vitamin C have been used to treat cancer patients, many use it for weight loss and overall health improvement.