How Exactly Does CoolSculpting Work?

You’ve probably seen the billboards and the online ads advertising something called CoolSculpting. It may have left you wondering what CoolSculpting even is. A quick Google search will reveal to you that it is using cold to kill stubborn fat cells, but that doesn’t tell you much about how that even works. After all, if cold kills fat cells, why are there things like hot yoga? Well, let’s talk about it.

What is CoolSculpting?

First, let’s give a slightly more detailed definition of CoolSculpting. It is a way to permanently eliminate unwanted fat utilizing the power of a process called cryolipolysis (which is just a way of saying using intense cold).

CoolSculpting is mainly used to help get rid of stubborn fat. This is fat that doesn’t seem to go away no matter what you do. No matter how much dieting and exercising you do, that little pocket of fat won’t go away. That’s because stubborn fat usually develops in childhood or your teen years and is unlikely to change in adulthood. Everyone has stubborn fat in different places in their bodies. Some have it in areas that don’t show or bother them, others it is a prominent issue on their minds. So, it’s not uncommon for them to turn to weight-loss procedures, like CoolSculpting.

The main appeal of CoolSculpting isn’t just that it kills fat cells (as it does wonderfully) but is the fact that it manages to kill the cells without destroying or damaging any of the surrounding tissue, like skin cells. This is what makes CoolSculpting stand out from your average, everyday weight-loss surgery. Those usually cause some real damage to the muscles surrounding your target areas. This damage does heal, but it takes time. With CoolSculpting, you don’t have to worry about that at all!

These aren’t just snake oil type claims either. Not only does CoolSculpting work, but researchers developed it from Harvard. They started to create the theory after reading studies that were looking at patients who had just eaten some popsicles. Since the introduction of the procedure, CoolSculpting has been studied several times, pretty much every one of these studies has concluded with exciting results. On top of that, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved it as a safe, effective, and viable weight-loss procedure.

Science backs up CoolSculpting, but what is the actual science behind it?

How does CoolSculpting work?

So, what is it about the cold that gets rid of fat cells? It is all based on freezing points. It doesn’t take as low of a temperature to kill fat cells as it does skin cells. In other words, skin cells freeze at a colder temperature than fat cells. The freezing point of fat cells kills them but leaves skin and other cells virtually untouched.

It starts with a technician placing a gel pad and the CoolSculpting applicator on your target area. Each gel pad (which is there to help protect your skin) and applicator comes in different sizes and shapes depending on the target area. Then the carefully controlled cooling begins.

Initially, the applicator will feel cold on your skin, not terribly, but noticeably. With the gel pads in place the cold won’t be a problem; it may even be refreshing. Then the area will start to numb, and you won’t feel a thing. You can just sit back, relax, and let the treatment do its work. Once the applicator has done its job, one of our technicians will remove it and massage your target area. This helps break up the frozen fat cells. The whole process can take a few weeks to take full effect. This is because the dead fat cells need to dissolve.

CoolSculpting is an outpatient procedure. So, you don’t have to worry about asking for time off from work or anything like that. You can just schedule your sessions for when you have some free time. There is no anesthesia, so you don’t have to worry about how you are going to get home at the end of your session. After each session there is no need for recovery time, you can just go on with your day.

Each person is different, every body is unique and has stubborn fat in different places in different quantities. So, it is hard to say how many sessions you will need and how long those sessions will last. However, that is what our CoolSculpting experts here at the NIMA Institute are for! Our experts will give you a good estimate during your free consultation for how long it will take for you to get rid of that unwanted fat.

It is important to know that like with any procedure, there may be some minor side effects. There can be a little bit of swelling, bruising, or redness in your target area. However, there are not any very serious side effects that have been reported in connection with CoolSculpting.

CoolSculpting is designed to help those who are already near their desired weight, but just can’t seem to lose that last little pocket of stubborn fat. So, if you are in the beginning of your weight-loss journey this may not be the procedure for you. That being said, CoolSculpting is designed to work on most fatty areas. A good way to judge if a fatty area can be CoolSculpted is by pinching. Basically, if there is enough fat to pinch, you can probably freeze it away.

So, now that you know how CoolSculpting works, why not set up your free consultation with the experts at the NIMA Institute? We will help walk you through the procedure in even more detail, so that you can feel confident in it. Plus, we will help you design your customized treatment, setting up your treatments to fit your busy schedule. Give us a call, email, or check out the CoolSculpting page on our website. We want to help you love every view of you!