Cryolipolusis

What Is CoolSculpting?

CoolSculpting is the brand name for a fat-freezing method that aims to get rid of stubborn fat in certain parts of your body. The method is called cryolipolysis. The FDA approved it in 2010. Scientists came up with the idea for cryolipolysis by studying what happens to fat during frostbite. Fat freezes at a higher temperature than skin. The cryolipolysis device cools your fat to a temperature that destroys it while leaving your skin and other tissues unharmed.

CoolSculpting Procedure

Cryolipolysis isn’t surgery and doesn’t use needles. The device holds the part of your body your doctor wants to target between two paddles. The paddles cool quickly and your doctor leaves them in place for about 35 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes. During that time, the process destroys about 20%-25% of the fat cells in the area that’s targeted. The final results may not show up for a few months, but you may start to see some changes within a few weeks. Your immune system clears out the dead fat cells slowly over this time.

CoolSculpting Risks

You can get cryolipolysis done at your doctor’s office, and you don’t need to schedule recovery time afterward. It’s OK to drive yourself home from the appointment. There are a few side effects. During the process, you may feel a pulling or tugging on your skin and an intense cold. Afterward, you may feel sore, like you’ve been exercising. You may also swell a little. Rarely, cryolipolysis can cause mild or moderate pain afterward. You’re also at a slight risk of nerve pain. Sometimes your skin can look less smooth afterward. Less than 1% of people who get it done have a complication called paradoxical fat hyperplasia. When this happens, the number of fat cells in the area of treatment increase instead of decrease.

Keloids

Melasma

Viral and Bacterial infections