CoolSculpting Risks and Costs
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 U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration 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 in a suction cup applicator. The device cools quickly and they stay 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.
Who Is It For?
Cryolipolysis isn't a way to lose weight. Your clinican might suggest it if you've tried diet and exercise and haven't been able to get rid of certain fat bulges.
You should avoid cryolipolysis if you have:
- Excess Loose skin
- Unrealistic expectations
- Cryoglobulinemia (a condition where abnormal proteins in your blood thicken in cold temperatures)
- Cold urticaria (a skin condition that causes hives on your skin when it gets cold)
- Paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria (a type of anemia that destroys your red blood cells when you're in cold temperatures)
Cryolipolysis can be used to help you kill fat cells in areas of your body such as:
- Under the chin and jawline
- Thighs
- Belly
- Back and sides
- Under the butt
- Along the bra line
- Upper arm
- Male chest
CoolSculpting Risks
You can get cryolipolysis done at Body Sculpt Clinic, 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. This is corrected with Vaser Liposuction.
CoolSculpting Effectiveness
Studies show that cryolipolysis is safe and effective. The risks are few and rare. There's no damage to your liver. Side effects are mild, too, and go away after a short time.
CoolSculpting Cost
Cryolipolysis is considered a cosmetic treatment. That means insurance or Medicare won’t cover it.
How much you’ll pay for cryolipolysis depends on several things:
- The body part you want to treat
- How many sessions you have
- The amount of volume needing to be treated
Cryolipolysis for the arms, for example, may take only one session per arm and would cost less per session than larger areas, such as the stomach or love handles. A cycle is $650 each and arms would require one on each side. There is discount for the more cycles you have.
CoolSculpting is a non surgical alternative to Liposuction.