How Does Non-Invasive Fat Reduction aka CoolSculpting Work?

You want to lose a bit of fat here and a bunch there. It would make your whole world better, including how those jeans fit and how those photos turn out. You're not alone. According to the Boston Medical Center, about 45 million Americans diet each year. Of those, half go on fad diets.

But there are a few things about diets to consider. They take time and willpower, and often the weight comes back. Also, you can't spot reduce when dieting.

Enter CoolSculpting. It gets fast results, and you can spot-reduce fat. Wow!

But exactly how does CoolSculpting work, you ask?

To answer your questions, we've put together some basics on CoolSculpting. Keep reading to find out how it works and what to expect. When you're done, you'll be ready to give this fabulous spot-reducer a go yourself.

CoolSculpting Basics

CoolSculpting basically freezes fat just under the skin in specific locations to make the fat cells disintegrate/die. Its technical name is cryolipolysis. "Cryo" comes from the Latin word "kryo," which means freezing.

Cryolipolysis has been around a while. Legend has it that someone noticed that kids that ate a lot of ice pops had thinner cheeks.

Whether true or not, someone realized that fat disintegrates (dies) faster in the cold than skin. It's also more sensitive to the cold.

And in 2010, CoolSculpting came on the scene in the United States to freeze and spot-reduce fat. It used freezing paddles and quickly became known as a fast and easy way to get rid of fat around the bra areas and hips. Love handles bye-bye with this nonsurgical alternative to liposuction.

Today, CoolSculpting lovers can use the treatment in quite a few areas, including under the chin, the back, thighs, and stomach, in addition to the love handles and other torso areas.

How Does CoolSculpting Work Exactly?

The way this nonsurgical, noninvasive treatment works is that a CoolSculpting "cooling paddle" suctions in skin and fat in a certain area and freezes/crystallizes the fat. The fat cells break down and die. The skin and other tissue in the area aren't damaged by the cold like fat is so they should be fine.

The dead fat cells and debris are excreted through the liver and out of your body. It takes a few weeks for the dead fat cells to start getting shipped out of your body, and they're usually all out after three months. That's when you see the complete results.

Some say it takes up to six months to see full results. These results are usually still going strong after the half-year mark.

If there is a lot of fat, you may need a few CoolSculpting treatment sessions.

What Is the Treatment Session Like?

To start, the practitioner puts the CoolSculpting paddles on the area to be treated. There are four sizes of paddles.

The paddles suction up the skin and underlying fat like a vacuum cleaner. Then, they start the cold freeze. The practitioner leaves them on for the session and you can relax.

The length of CoolSculpting treatment sessions varies by how much fat is being treated. The more fat or the more areas being treated, the longer the time of the treatment session. Usually, the treatment is 45 minutes to an hour and can last up to four hours.

During the session, the cold numbs the area being treated as it freezes. There is some discomfort but generally, it's quite relaxed.

You can bring something to read or a device to use while the treatment is happening. Or you can take a nap.

After the treatment, you can walk out. Since it's noninvasive and nonsurgical, there's no downtime.

What Can I Expect After the Session?

You may feel a bit of soreness in the treated area. Some say it feels like sore muscles from a tough workout. A few people experience tingling, cramps, and stinging.

Some people do have some skin redness, discoloration, or bruising but these go away fairly fast as do the other side effects mentioned. Usually, none of these side effects lasts longer than a month.

Typically, you'll come in for a couple of treatments and then be done. For larger amounts of fat, you may need more sessions.

You should start to see results after a few weeks. Expect full results after three to six months.

Who Is CoolSculpting Ideal For?

CoolSculpting works best for spot targeting small and specific areas of fat. Fat under the chin is a great example of a good reason to use CoolSculpting.

CoolSculpting isn't ideal for getting rid of a very large amount of fat or overall body fat. It really is great for sport target reduction.

It works best if your skin bounces back quickly and you have the right thickness of underlying tissue. Ask your practitioner if you're an ideal candidate.

How Well Does CoolSculpting Work?

CoolSculpting typically gets rid of about 20 to 25 percent of the fat under the skin area that is treated. You can start to see and appreciate the results after a few weeks, with full results continuing to come in up to a half a year.

Once the fat cells are killed off and out of the body, they are gone. They can't come back. But if you gain fat again from taking in more calories than you burn, it might get stored back in the treated area.

If you want to keep the area fat-free to the level you get from the treatment, maintain a healthy, balanced diet and exercise so that you don't gain more fat.

You're Ready to Go

Now that you have the skinny on how those fat spots can get skinny thanks to CoolSculpting, you're ready to give it a whirl. Do you have an area you'd like to spot reduce? Start there.

Give us a call if you have any questions or to set up a consultation for Coolsculpting in Chennai. And if you have friends asking, "How does CoolSculpting work?" bring them along too.