Given the relative ease and minor, temporary discomfort associated with CoolSculpting, you may be wondering if it’s an ideal alternative to liposuction. The answer depends on how much fat you have to lose, and where that fat is.
You may be wondering, as we were, where do the frozen fat cells go? That’s a great question! The manner in which CoolSculpting works specifically targets fat cells via calibrated temperatures. Contact with the cold temps causes the fat cells to crystallize. Over a period of two months, these crystallized cells die, which stimulates the immune system to send enzymes out that break down the dying fat cells so they can be easily and safely eliminated by the body.
CoolSculpting is an option for reducing minor accumulations of excess fat in the abdominal area. It is not suitable for larger deposits of fat, such as from obesity, weight gain during pregnancy, or patients who are more than 20 pounds overweight. Also, unlike liposuction, which can be done almost anywhere excess fat is a problem, CoolSculpting’s use is currently limited to the abdominal area.
Although at Ethos Spa we are excited about the possibility, at this time CoolSculpting is not an option to remove excess fat on or around the face (such as chubby cheeks or excess, “jiggle-prone” fat along the jawline). For those areas, liposuction remains the procedure of choice.
An interesting element of CoolSculpting is that once the targeted fat cells are destroyed, they don’t return. If you gain weight down the road, the excess pounds won’t be deposited in the treated areas—they’ll simply show up someplace else, such as your face, thighs, or backside.
