Is CoolSculpting effective?

When you first hear about CoolSculpting, it’s not entirely unreasonable to be skeptic. In fact, most people downright think it’s a scam. And, in all honesty, it makes sense why people would have a hard time believing it, because it does sound farfetched. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t real. CoolSculpting is actually quite incredible. Not only does it get rid of fat, but it does in a way that is safe and effective. Since we at the NIMA Institute are dedicated to education, we want to make sure our clients know exactly what the treatments we offer are. So, let’s explain exactly how CoolSculpting works and how to tell if it’s working.

How does CoolSculpting work?

CoolSculpting is based on a very interesting fact about fat cell; they have a much warmer freezing temperature than basically any other cell around them. This means that while a particular temperature will kill fat cells, it will leave skin and muscle cells alone. That is the driving force behind CoolSculpting. That is why it’s always referred to as a way to “freeze fat.” Because you are doing exactly that. You are freezing away fat. The process consists of exposing a chosen area, called the target area, to the temperature that kills fat. When the area is exposed to the cold for long enough, it kills the fat cells, but leaves the other tissue more-or-less untouched.

But we can’t explain how CoolSculpting works without also touching on how a CoolSculpting session works. These sessions are not terribly complicated but explaining them will help give you a better idea of how this process works.

A CoolSculpting session always begins with the CoolSculpting technician placing a protective pad over the target area. This is a very important step, because even thought CoolSculpting is considered to be very safe and is even one of the few weight loss treatments approved by the Food and Drug Administration, it is still good to have this little piece of added protection. After everything is prepped and ready, the technician will place the CoolSculpting applicator in place on your target area and then they will turn it on. The applicator will stay in place for a predetermined period of time, generally ranging from 15 to 45 minutes. During that time, you may notice a cold feeling (of course), but you may also notice a pinching and tugging feeling. That feeling will eventually go away as the target area will start to numb. That numbing sensation is totally normal and will eventually fade a little while after the session is over. Also, during this time there isn’t anything that you have to do. You can just sit back and relax. Once the time is up, the technician will remove the pad and the applicator. Then they will briefly message the target area. This helps break up the frozen cells and gets the body’s attention, so that it knows that there are dead cells to get rid of.

This is where we get to what is one of the biggest draws of CoolSculpting. When each of your sessions are over, you can go back to your life. There isn’t any requirement for recovery time. Because CoolSculpting isn’t intrusive and works as safely as it does, there is no down time associated with it. When your session is done, you can go back to work, back to running errands, or back to whatever you were doing before.

While CoolSculpting is safe and doesn’t require any downtime, you may see some side effects of the treatment. These are usually very mild. They tend to be things like redness, swelling, or even bruising in the target area. As you can see, these aren’t very serious. Plus, they tend to fade fairly quickly.

How do I know if it’s working?

Now that we’ve covered how CoolSculpting does what it does, let’s talk about how you can know that it is working.

The first thing to know is that CoolSculpting doesn’t have an immediate effect. It takes time. Your body is always trying to balance several different functions. This means that getting rid of dead cells isn’t always a priority. So, it may take a little while for the body to get rid of the cells that the CoolSculpting has killed. At first, it may not seem like the treatment is working, as you won’t see an immediate result. In fact, it can take anywhere from a few weeks to four months for you to see any real result from your treatments. The amount of time it takes depends on where the CoolSculpting is done (for example, under the chin may be a lot faster than the thighs), how many sessions you did, and how much fat is in the area.

Unfortunately, there is no way to know if it’s working until the result start to show. But CoolSculpting does work for most people. There are a few people who either can’t or shouldn’t get CoolSculpting done. The ones who can’t are those who have been diagnosed with obesity. CoolSculpting is specifically designed for people who are just about to their desired weight, but just need a little bit of help getting rid of those last pockets of stubborn fat that don’t go away no matter how much dieting and exercise they do. It will not work if there is too much fat. The people who should not get CoolSculpting are those who have any sort of condition that makes them susceptible to the cold. If you’re not sure if you can or should get CoolSculpting done, you should talk to your doctor. They will be able to help you figure out if it’s the right choice for you.

So, is CoolSculpting effective? You bet it is! It just may be a little while before you get to see how effective it is. But if you’re patient you will see some really incredible results. If you’re ready to start freezing away the fat, then you should set up your free consultation with us here at the NIMA Institute. It’s the first step in getting rid of that stubborn fat.