CoolSculpting Procedure – Non-Invasive Fat Reduction Treatment
CoolSculpting is a non-invasive fat reduction treatment designed to reduce diet and exercise-resistant pockets of fat under the skin for the purpose of slimming and reshaping the body. Some of the favorite targets are the abdomen, flanks (“love handles”), under the chin, inside and outside the thighs, underneath the buttocks (“banana roll”), bra fat, back fat, and inner arms.
The principle behind CoolSculpting came from an insightful observation by two scientists at Harvard University several years ago. Dr. Dieter Manstein and Dr. Rox Anderson noted that some children who ate popsicles got dimples in their cheeks. They came to realize that that the popsicles were freezing and eliminating small pockets of fat cells. The insight that fat freezes at a higher temperature than the surrounding tissues and skin led them to the idea that is possible to use cold to selectively target only the fat cells – without damaging the other structures. Thus was born the technique of cryolipolysis, the proven science behind CoolSculpting.
The CoolSculpting procedure safely delivers precisely controlled cooling to gently and effectively target the fat cells underneath the skin. Treated fat cells are crystalized (frozen), then die. Over time (2-3 months), your body naturally processes the fat and eliminates these dead cells, leaving a more sculpted you. Since adults do not make new fat cells, the cells that are eliminated are gone forever. Untreated areas will have no change in fat cell distribution. Freezing the fat is a much less traumatic technique than destroying fat with heat, ultrasound, or liposuction.
While the earlier technology was associated with moderate discomfort, the newer machines are very tolerable. There are no needles, anesthesia or invasion of the body. The cold applicator is essentially strapped on to the treatment site. The greatest discomfort of the procedure is not from the machine, but from the doctor or technician performing a two-minute massage of the treated area at the conclusion of a treatment. There is no downtime. The day after a procedure, one may feel sore, as if they had a hard workout. This diminishes progressively over the next several days to a few weeks. For the average person, one may return to work and daily routines immediately.
More than one session may be required to treat a given area, e.g., the stomach or flanks. The average duration of treatment of a given site is 35-45 minutes. After all the desired sites have been treated, a second round of treatments to these areas may be needed in 2-3 months.
CoolSculpting at Cedars Sinai
For more information on CoolSculpting and too see if you if the procedure is right for you, please contact Cedars Sinai dermatologist Dr. Brian Mekelburg at (310) 659-9075. We offer the safe and clean environment with the latest CoolSculpting technologies and procedures.
