Mesotherapy is a technique, developed in France decades ago, that involves injecting hormones, enzymes, plant extracts, vitamins, asthma medications and other chemicals — none of them approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for this purpose — into various layers of the skin.

The idea, said Dr. Lionel Bissoon, a doctor of osteopathic medicine in New York, is that some of these chemicals, like phosphatidylcholine, can melt away cellulite, the lumpy deposits of fat that accumulate on the buttocks and thighs. The procedure involves many injections per treatment, with three to 10 treatments needed. The cost, which is not covered by insurance, can run to thousands of dollars.

There’s lots of hype about mesotherapy but so little solid research that mesotherapy should be considered an unproven technique.

“Competent physicians would never — and should never — use anything that has not been proved in standardized clinical testing,” added Dr. Richard Ehrlichman, a spokesman for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and a private practitioner in Wellesley.

Last year, Dr. Alan Matarasso, a plastic surgeon and clinical professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine reported in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery on a few studies that hint at an improvement in the appearance of cellulite. But so far, he said, “we have nothing, no matter what you read, to permanently take care of cellulite.”

The chief side effects reported so far are minor — bruising, localized infections and redness — and there have been few reports of complications so far, said Dr. Ricardo Rodriguez, head of plastic surgery at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center.

Still, this one seems a no brainer: Save your money, at least until there’s better data.