CoolSculpting is a non-surgical treatment that painlessly freezes away unwanted bulges of fat. Here are five signs to know whether CoolSculpting might be right for you.
CoolSculpting is amazingly effective in eliminating discrete bulges of fat that you can pinch between your fingers. It can be great for love handles on a man, for example, or for the pinchable bulges of fat around a woman’s hips and lower abdomen. CoolSculpting can be used to trim bulges elsewhere on the body, too, such as the thighs, upper arms, and back.
What CoolSculpting can’t do is freeze away substantial and evenly spread layers of fat. A good rule of thumb is to consider how close you are to your ideal weight. If you’re within 30% of your target and have just a few more pounds to lose, you’re probably a good candidate. If you’re over that range, it’s best to keep going with your weight loss efforts until you get to the point where CoolSculpting can be used to fine-tune your contours. For broader areas of hard-to-lose fat that aren’t pinchable, liposuction may be a better solution.
Healthy eating and exercise habits are the best way to eliminate extra fat from your body. It can be frustrating, but unfortunately very common, to get close to your ideal weight with diet and exercise only to find stubborn pockets of fat that are tough to lose. They seem to resist all of your efforts at slimming. This is where CoolSculpting is so valuable – it’s a body shaping treatment that targets those diet- and exercise-resistant bulges with transformative precision.
The beauty of CoolSculpting is that it’s so easy. It doesn’t involve the downtime or discomfort of its main alternative: liposuction. After a CoolSculpting treatment, you walk out of the treatment center and continue with your normal day. Liposuction, on the other hand, requires a few days or a week of downtime for recovery, followed by a longer period with limits on your activity. If you’re not ready to invest that much time in your treatment or to endure that level of discomfort, CoolSculpting may be a better option for you.
CoolSculpting will eliminate a percentage of the fat cells in the treated area, and they’ll be gone forever. But the remaining fat cells can grow in size if you gain weight. If you put on pounds after CoolSculpting, you’ll still see some benefit from the treatment: the treated areas won’t gain as much volume as they otherwise would have. But you’ll lose some of the body contouring effects of your treatment. It’s best to consider CoolSculpting when you’ve found a comfortable eating and activity routine that enables you to maintain your weight without big swings.
The slimming effects of CoolSculpting take time. After a single treatment, some of the fat cells in the treated area are damaged by the low temperatures and your body starts to eliminate them with its natural metabolic processes. It typically takes a few weeks to see the change in your body, and up to four months to see the final results. If you’re looking for faster or more dramatic results, you might consider liposuction. If you’re willing to give it time, CoolSculpting is a wonderful option.
Montante Plastic Surgery & Aesthetics offers CoolSculpting under the supervision of a board-certified plastic surgeon. Contact our practice today at (804) 325-4795 or send an online request to schedule a consultation to learn what CoolSculpting can do for you.
