What is CoolSculpting Like?

What is CoolSculpting like? Like most medical procedures, or anything eaten, worn, watched, heard, and the many things in-between, customers and patients will ask the technicians at Self Care LA...

by Bharat Kothakota , MD MPH

What is CoolSculpting like?

Like most medical procedures, or anything eaten, worn, watched, heard, and the many things in-between, customers and patients will ask the technicians at Self Care LA one frequent question: what is CoolSculpting like? This is an understandable question, seeing as CoolSculpting isn't the household name that procedures like liposuction or diet plans such as the Atkins Diet have been for many years in the United States for those trying to put their lifestyle choices on a 180 degree rollercoaster ride to a better and healthier life. Let's take a look at this question and how it can be answered in a few relative ways, including how it works and what it will feel like in the literal sense.

Hmm, this sounds familiar…

Does CoolSculpting sound oddly familiar? Maybe you briefly read a periodical about it while in the lobby at the dentist or passed the word by on a tabloid at the grocery checkout line? Perhaps the headline ran as "Celebrities use CoolSculpting to lose unwanted cellulite" or something similar. Whatever the case may be, you are aware of its existence (at least now you are), and willing to listen to some of recent discoveries in fat-loss and how the doctors at Self Care LA can change your life for the better in a few short weeks of treatment.

What is CoolSculpting, really?

It should be noted, before there is any confusion about the matter, that CoolSculpting is strictly a fat-loss procedure and not a weight-loss procedure. While this may sound confusing-generally fat and weight go hand-in-hand-it is just to let patients know that while your body may contour for the better, the weight (mass) your body has will have to be lost through dieting or exercise; in fact, dieting and exercise are CoolSculpting's two best friends and any patient that includes all three in their lives will be thankful. Fat cells are the enemy in this procedure, as every CoolSculpting technician will inform you, and reassure you. CoolSculpting is based on the discovery that fatty tissue can be terminally damaged.

Now down to brass tacks to cut out the fat:

Also called Cryolipolysis, CoolSculpting is also a non-invasive treatment, but instead uses cold temperatures to permanently destroy some the fat cells in your body. These cooling temperatures, however, never get low enough to a point that would cause any sort of harm to a patient's skin, nerves, blood vessels, or muscle tissue. In laymen's terms: CoolScupting is the practice of freezing the fat out of/off of your body.

How is it performed?

As previously mentioned, CoolSculpting is a non-invasive procedure. What this means is that, unlike liposuction or something else that would have to cut into your skin, you will not much pain (if any) and you will not be put under the influence of anesthesia or any other sort of drug. The advisors, doctors, and technicians at Self Care LA have all deemed this treatment as very low-risk. With that being said, however, it should be noted that if you have any sort of condition, allergy, or fear that pertains to sensitivity to cold temperatures on the skin, to make it known at your initial consultation, so that your treatment can be mapped-out accordingly.

After your initial meeting with our doctors, you'll schedule your first CoolSculpting appointment, and what follows is generally how each visit will be conducted; a specialist will instruct a patient to get comfortable for the duration of the procedure, settling into the chair with a book, iPad, or whatever. A CoolSculpting gel pad and applicator, which resembles a glowing vacuum of some kind (straight out of Star Trek) is then attached to the targeted area of fat for about forty-five minutes to about an hour or hour and a half.

The combined efforts of the applicator's vacuum to draw in the fatty tissue and use of cool (if not, cold) temperatures to begin freezing the fat cells inside is how the procedure is essentially performed. Once, frozen, the fat cells will wither away and die, never to return, although if your body isn't taken care of, new fat cells could possible come and take the deceased's place.

And just a reminder for those of you with short attention spans: appointments usually take up to the better portion of an hour-depending on what parts of the body and how much work you want done during that session-so, make sure to bring a book to read, a device to play a game or watch a movie, or are ready to take a nap and catch up on your favorite reality show "sleep".

The Ideal Candidates

CoolSculpting has become a procedure that many people and celebrities rely on to help them maintain the sculpted looks of their body, in-between exercise and clean living. While the procedure can help those with unwanted rolls and cellulite, it may be harder to start to see results, as the ideal CoolSculpting patient is only a few workouts and few months away from achieve their body goals. Speak with your Self Care LA physician for more information and recommendations on a plan.

Time and Results

Each CoolSculpting session lasts only about an hour, but some of the swelling and numbness will tend to linger for a few days, with full side effects subsiding a week or two after the treatment. While it is okay to workout out like normal and to continuing eating properly, your next treatment shouldn't be scheduled until your body is ready. Self Care LA cares most about its patient's well-being, first and foremost.

One thing to consider is the results of the previous treatment. Not only should you wait for the full results to decide to get another treatment, having the full results first can make your next treatment the most effective; it makes sense that you should wait until all the dead fat cells from the first CoolSculpting treatment are completely gone, so that the next treatment can reach and kill as many new fat cells as possible. Old and already dead fat cells need to be gone so that the next "layer" of your fat cells can be exposed and treated. With that in mind, the results rely completely on your goals and your mental standing with those goals. If the upkeep of your body continues and you're able to focus on your life, drink plenty of water, eat cleanly and appropriate, and get exercise in four to five times a week, your ideal body will be within your grasp.

So, to sum up the answer to the original question: CoolSculpting is like a cool breeze that wakes you up, changes your direction and pushes you.

CoolSculpting with Self Care LA

At Self Care LA, we carry the full range of different CoolSculpting applicators specially designed to target specific areas of the body while catering to different body shapes, and cooling the fat away in the process of it all. Contact us to schedule your consolation today; talk to our technicians and physicians about how what kind of results CoolSculpting can give you on your body. Our doctors are highly trained to help you achieve your body goals with CoolSculpting on the best areas for your individual body, but above all else, they care about your safety, health, and your goals.