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POSTED UNDER CoolSculpting REVIEWS

CoolSculpting in Adelaide, Australia - Australia, AU

ORIGINAL POST

This is a relatively new treatment in Adelaide. I...

Adelaide2013March 4, 2013
$2,000

This is a relatively new treatment in Adelaide. I am 49 years 5' 9" and weigh 65.5 kilos. I have always been relatively thin but recently noticed a tummy pooch that did not improve no matter how many tummy cruches I did. A well known clinic in Adelaide got this machine 12 months ago so I decided to give it a try. They charge pretty hefty at $1000 per site. The doctor advised that I would need 2 x 1 hour sessions on my tummy (2hrs all up). Interestingly she also advised that they would use the small unit side ways on my tummy, this she said was due to the way my tummy bulge was positioned, she said you could grab more sideways than straight across.She said she had it done on her upper abdomen and it was now completely flat, she also said she started to notice results beginning at 1 month with best result at 4months. I asked her about pain, and she said there would be none, no side effects!!!

Anyway, on the day they weighed, measured and took pictures. Then applied the very cold gel pad and sucked me up in that machine. It shocked me at first, then went numb, I noticed that during the last 5 minutes or so there were like little bursts of twinges, this happened on both sides. When they removed the machine I had the stick of butter as others had described (only mine ran sideways down my abdomen), she gently massaged this down. I was very red and had bruising in 2 areas like a mirror image of each other on both sides of my belly button. I was very numb but no real pain, I was wearing jeans and this did not bother me. She did not tell me to do any massage and gave no after care instructions, just made an appointment to see me in 3 months.

The next day I was very sore and numb. But bearable. During the next few days the pain increased, it kind of felt like a burning abrasion and sometimes it would tingle with knife like pains. I am not one to take pain killers so just put up with it. I had trouble sitting in certain positions and sometimes the pain would just grab me. About day 6 I had a bad night sleeping but since then it has gradually improved.

I noticed my tummy appeared to be swollen and my weight has jumped up by about 1 kilo. I am now at day 13 and still a fair bit numb and now only occasionally do I notice little needle like stinging, but the abrasion feeling is still there. Now comes the wait to see the results hopefully. I do feel that the clinic neglected to truly explain the after effects, I don't believe I'd be the only one to experience this sort of pain. Thankfully I have a strong tolerance to pain and soldier on as I don't have time to deal with it as I own a demanding restaurant and need to be on my feet for long hours! Will let you know if I notice anything soon .......

Adelaide2013's provider

Epiclinic

Adelaide2013 ratings

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Doctor's bedside manner
Answered my questions
After care follow-up
Time spent with me
Phone or email responsiveness
Staff professionalism & courtesy
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I am updating this review to simply say that this treatment did not suit me. Others may have more success. I am dong this in all fairness to Doctor Molton, who, although the treatment was done a long time ago, has now genuinely tried to follow up to find out what happened. Good points to his practice for this. It is my choice not to go any further with this.

Replies (9)

christyb
March 6, 2013
Hi Adelaide, it sounds like you have had a tough time post procedure! I think if you are continuing to experience that much pain that you need to take painkillers you should see a doctor. Perhaps it maybe better to speak to a doctor too just to confirm any advice that was given to you by the place you went to, so that the side effects and symptoms can be confirmed as normal by your doctor. If you are gaining waight it may just be due to swelling, however it may alsso be as a result of an infection. Unfortunatley what the experts forget to fully tell you is that this treatment is not the best thing for everyone. As dumb as it might sound, your body may not react well to these procedures, thus you need to look into the issue before deciding whether to go to your next appointment. I am not trying to put you off, or scare you, in fact it would appear to me that on how you have described yourself, you do not need this procedure drastically. Unfortunatley, with age comes weight gain, and thats ok because it seems it hasnt hit you badly. You need to consider the long term gain this is going to have for you, think about the fact that you are approaching your 50s and that daily exercise and a strict diet in order to maintain these results may not be worth all of the efforet and money you put in, considering you were experiencing severe discomfort after the procedure was performed the first time. I thought I would give you some feedback, because it seems that you were somewhat missinformed in realtion to the side effects, but are otherwise a good looking and lovely person. Whatever you decide to do from here, bedt of luck with your tummy in the future!
Adelaide2013
March 7, 2013
Hi Christyb, well good news as now post 16 days there is no pain, just mildly numb, all swelling has gone. And just to explain why I did it, although I am nearly 50 I am told I look early 30's thanks to good genes (my mother is in her 70's and looks like in her 40's) and neither of us have had plastic surgery). Hence I was assessed as a good subject for this as I exercise well due to weight lifting and walk a lot. I do not believe in diets just healthy lifestyle eating, ours is mostly Mediterranean, a lot of fish (as I own a fish restaurant). I do believe that the process does injure the muscles of the stomach wall which would lead to this kind of discomfort. I hope that I did not make is sound debilitating, as it was not, I was able to continue with my normal daily duties which can include 10 hours on my feet at the restaurant. And I never think of taking pain killers for pain, I am lucky to have never had a headache so have never relied on them so naturally do not reach for them when there is pain. I assume this could be a good thing as it is better to feel and know what your body is going through than to cover it up, but as I said it not interrupt my daily functions. Anyway, now I just have to wait and see .... I only intended to have the one treatment, so lets see how much I get out of it. Thank you for your comments!! :)
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molton
March 11, 2015

Hi Dr Michael Molton here. Sorry I just have to reply to this 'expert' opinion. Can I ask what qualifications you have, or better still perhaps provide details of your registration with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency. If you are a registered medical practitioner or you are a medical scientist please accept my apology.

If you cannot, let me explain what processes medical practitioners are required to comply with according to 'Good Medical Practice - A guide for doctors in Australia, Medical Board of Australia, AHPRA.

Better still visit the AHPRA website. Next, visit the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards where you will find epiclinic listed as being an accredited healthcare facility.

FYI, in order to acquire accreditation and registration with these organisations (and our competition does not appear to be) you will realise the commitment that is required to assess, examine and treat patients in any cosmetic procedure, if you are committed to quality assurance and best practice.

Finally ask yourself why epiclinic has seen 17421 patients in the last ten years, with one third of these patients returning on a regular basis.

Do you think the Adelaide public is that gullible? Who are you really?

Adelaide2013
March 14, 2015
Dr Molton, you are being very defensive, this is a genuine patient's experience. No other motive which you insinuate, this is just a review on a service you offer, not your entire practice!! And the final outcome is ................ simply don't bother it does not work! Thankfully no damage done after the discomfort experience, other than a pain in the wallet and lack of patient follow up!
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molton
March 11, 2015

Isn't it amazing how these comments arise. Hi Dr Michael Molton here. Epiclinic was the first clinic 3 years ago to introduce Coolsculpting to Adelaide. Epiclinic is an accredited healthcare facility committed to best practice and quality assurance. If we weren't committed to these principles we would not be endorsed by the largest independent overseer of healthcare practices, including government and private hospitals nationwide in Australia. Epiclinic has performed in excess of one thousand Coolsculpting treatments and our satisfaction rating is almost 100%. Our staff have attended credentialing conferences, recently returning from the Zeltiq factory in Pleasanton , California.

Unfortunately the types of comments seen here come from persons who have ulterior motives. I challenge those people who purport to be patients to engage on this website with myself and I am confident that I will reveal the real reasons for the comments laid down.

Coolsculpting throughout the world has just passed the one million mark. The demand at epiclinic has become so great we have had to purchase a second machine to accommodate demand.

Does that sound like the one thousand treatments performed so far are 'low satisfaction rate'?

Epiclinic offers a complimentary consultation to assess patient suitability. Yesterday a turned away two patients who were unsuitable due to obesity and poor lifestyle choices.

I welcome any genuine feedback. And finally, why do we keep seeing and treating patients for extra areas if they weren't satisfied with their original treatment.

You decide.

epiclinic
March 14, 2015
Please contact epiclinic and I will personally investigate why you were not followed up. I fully appreciate your concerns. I do believe however that some responsibility lies with the consumer when it comes to advsising the provider of dissatisfaction or when the time comes around for follow up. The provider cannot help without being informed. This should be done, for the consumer's benefit to have the situation remedied before using anonymous criticism in open forums like this one. I agree, if the consumer has attempted to bring matters of concern to the provider, and the consumer has been ignored or fobbed off, then this forum is an appropriate place for discourse. In this case I do not believe there is intended maliciousness, however if the consumer has notified the provider in most cases bona fide organisations would want to reverse those concerns in favour of the consumer. If you contact me, I can check what you were told, what printed information you were provided, what post procedure instructions were given, patient's measurements, weight and photographs, sms reminders for followup and future appointments missed/or attended are all documented. In some cases, patients move, change email details, phone numbers within the three month period. Non-attendance for three month reviews is common, but we do make efforts to track patients down to attend. Some we can reach, some we cannot. I am not suggesting this is the case here, but I reiterate respectfully, some of the responsibility lies with the patient to return or call the office at the follow up time, which is advised to the patient, to occur at 3 months. I regret that the follow up process has gone astray in your case but it is not too late to evaluate your concerns which I will personally attend to.
lianau
March 14, 2015
Dr Molton, Further to the Patient Follow Up, I had to take this day to think about what happened that time, now a fair while ago (took you a long time to answer this review), yes I do remember the 3 month appointment being made, and I deliberately did not attend, thinking you would probably call to find out why .... Why did I not attend? Simply because I was cross with myself for wasting this money and being left with a sore tummy on what I felt was a 'Snake oil treatment', if your office had called me, I would have let you know, I was too embarrassed about the whole situation so decided to let it all go, just as you did. Just interested, what happened to the other two thirds of your patients who do not come back on a regular basis? Just an observation.
epiclinic
March 15, 2015
Yes I can certainly empathise with buyer's remorse. I have tracked back through patient records relying on your dates provided here and I believe I have identified your case. I see there is one patient, you are correct, who did not attend for follow. I see that admin was unsuccessful in reaching that patient. Please call the office when you have time so that I can review you personally. In regards to your question about the 'other two thirds', many people do not require ongoing treatments. It is not uncommon for patients to attnd for our procedures like Coolsculpting and do not need further treatment, a good number are preparing for a special event, daughter's wedding, reunions, visiting overseas relatives they haven"t seen for years, all wanting to look their best. In summary, I understand what you hve said, I understand the buyers remorse, even the anger. I do not agree with all that you have said, but it is my job to listen when vulnerable patients feel disappointed enough to go to the lengths you have. That is why I would really like to ensure we have done all we can to provide you with every opportunity to resolve your concerns. Finally, I certainly understamd your concerns about 'snake oil' treatments. Every procedure that epiclinic takes on board must have the necessary scientific evidence of efficacy. Coolsculpting was developed by Harvard Medical School, and developed over seven years before being marketed. There have been a few attempts to copy the technology unsuccessfully, The process was invented by the same scientific team who invented laser hair removal. The medical and surgical literature clearly shows it works, and we know how it works. I encourage all patients to evaluate the many scientif papers written on this topic. If you did not get the result expected I want to know why, so please, call the office.
Adelaide2013
March 18, 2015
Thank you for your response, but as this is so long ago, I am simply not interested in following up any further. Obviously, this treatment was not for me, and even if I came in, nothing will change that. I was miffed at the time that you did not call when you would have noticed I was a 'no show', but that is my way of testing the concern of a business. Right or wrong, I did not let you know I did not feel well after the treatment and this is how I found this site, googling the burning abrasion feeling sensation I was getting. But as I said, I am ok now, and there would be nothing you could do for me after this time. Thanks anyway.
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