The hips, the sides of the body between the waist and the top of the outer thigh, are on BTL's list of areas for the large EMsculpt NEO applicator. In our practice they are a course we run, often with the buttocks. The US clearances name the flanks and the thighs and not the hips, and we say so. The applicator is strapped over the side of the hip and makes the muscle beneath it contract while synchronised radiofrequency heats the layer over it. Four sessions, back to your day after each, at Chelsea Clinic from £100 per session with the course price in writing at a free consultation.
What it does on the hips
Under the side of the hip sits the gluteus medius, the muscle that steadies the pelvis with every step, with a layer of fat over it that thickens with age and weight. The large applicator sits over it and the HIFEM pulses contract it in strong, rapid bursts through the session while the radiofrequency heats the fat layer. The aim is that the muscle thickens and the heated fat clears over the following weeks, so the side of the hip firms and the line from the waist to the thigh smooths. Both hips are treated in the same course.
Hip dips
The hollow between the hip bone and the top of the thigh, the hip dip, is set by the shape of the pelvis and the muscle over it. Building the gluteus medius under the hollow is what people ask EMsculpt NEO to do there, and the applicator sits over that muscle. No study has measured hip dips with EMsculpt NEO, and we say so rather than promise a result. The clinician looks at the shape of your hip at the free consultation and tells you plainly what muscle can change and what bone cannot.
What the evidence covers
BTL lists the hips for the large applicator, and the thighs and the flanks either side of the hip are cleared in the US. The inner thigh measured 27% less fat and 23% more muscle in a 2022 study, and the flanks 29% less fat and 27% thicker obliques in a 2024 study. The hips themselves have no published measurement, so those figures stand for the mechanism, not for the hip. The full guide sets out every series.
Who it suits
In our experience it suits someone with soft sides below the waist who trains, and someone treating the flanks or the outer thighs who wants the hip between them finished in the same course. It also suits someone asking about hip dips with a clear picture of what muscle can and cannot do. A thick layer you can pinch on the hip is also CoolSculpting's area, which we offer, and the clinician says at the consultation which fits or whether both do. Metal in the hip, a hip replacement, pregnancy and the rest of the list the clinician checks rule it out.
Not sure you are suitable? Ask the clinician, it is free
The course and the result
Four sessions about a week apart, 30 minutes each, back to your day, the side of the hip sore for a day or two as after a hard session. In our experience the first change shows two to four weeks after the last session, the result is judged at three months, and in our experience a single session every three to six months keeps the tone. The sessions page sets out the course.
Price
From £100 per session, the course for your hips in writing at your free consultation, with a price match on any comparable written quote and finance through Humm, subject to status. The prices page shows how a quote is built.
Book a free consultation
Call Chelsea Clinic on 0207 043 1107 or use the form below. The clinician looks at your hips and tells you plainly whether EMsculpt NEO, CoolSculpting or both is the right plan. The full EMsculpt NEO guide covers the rest.
