CoolSculpting: Stories

After much research, I decided to give Zeltiq Coolscultpting a try. I desperately wanted to get rid of my lovehandles and I wanted a procedure that was fairly painless and non-invasive, so Coolsculpting seemed perfect. Add in a 50% off groupon coupon, and I was sold!

A little background on me.... I'm 6'4", early 30s, 195lbs. I have had an issue with my lovehandles for a very long time, and no amount of sweat and tears could make them go away! About 13 years ago, I lost over 50 lbs (I used to be a bit chubby), but gained 20 lbs back in muscle (a good thing!). I have kept the bad weight off, and I work out 4-5 times a week, lift weights, regularly run races, eat healthy, etc. But even when I was at my lowest weight and I looked emaciated, my lovehandles were still there.

The procedure itself was fine. The pain wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be based on others’ review. The quick massage afterwards hurt the most (pain and burning), but really not that bad given that it was less than a minute.

Post procedure, my lovehandles were somewhat numb for over 3 weeks, but the pain was minimal. In fact, I would say that the pain was barely noticeable. The numbness was not very annoying, and on a scale of 1-10 (10 being bad), I would rate the annoyance only a 2. On pain, I would rate it a 1. Yes, the level of pain I felt was that low! It was much lower than I had expected based on what others have said, and I am happy about that!

Overall, I am somewhat pleased with the results. After almost 2 months (50 days), I have noticed a slight difference (see pics), but I was expecting a more dramatic change. I’ll update my review at the 90 day mark, so hopefully I’ll see even more improvement. Is it worth it? I’m not sure. For $800, I’ll say yes. For $1500, probably not. Then again, maybe I’ll need second treatment to see optimal results. Hopefully I can find another discount out there!

So, 3 months post procedure and I definitely can see some results, but like I said in my review, they were not as dramatic as I had hoped. Fortunately for me, I found another groupon so I will be doing the procedure again next month.

Additionally, if anyone is wondering, I weigh the exact same amount today as I did 3 months ago, so I don't believe that any of the fat loss was due to weight loss from exercise or dieting.

So, as I mentioned earlier, I found a groupon and decided to do the love handles again and also this time my small pooch of a belly. I did the belly two days ago, and will re-do my love handles in three weeks. Coolsculpting in the ab area definitely hurt more than the love handles, primarily because there is just more fat to suck up into the machine! But overall, the procedure was not too painful. The day after, my stomach was a little sore (kind of like doing situps) and a little numb, but overall not bad at all. Today is day 2, and most of pain has gone away. I'll update everyone next week if the pain situation drastically changes. Many reviews mention the pain/ bee stings that happen roughly a week after the procedure. Like I said in my earlier posts, I felt almost no pain after doing my love handles, so I hoping for the same with my belly area!

So I had my tummy area done, and the experience in the week or two following was definitely worse than with the love handle areas, but honestly, not by much. I had some of the bee sting feelings that many have mentioned (between days 5 - 10). Yes, sometimes I would get that weird feeling, and usually I would just grab the roll of fat and squeeze and that would make the odd feeling go away :) Overall, the pain was minimal and the bee sting feel was really only a slight annoyance. It didn't affect my day to day activities at all.

I'm getting my love handles done again tomorrow and I'm very excited. I'll post those pictures in a few months. I'm also updating the cost to include the two sessions for my love handles, since the pictures will ultimately reflect what I spent in total.

I've posted a pic now that it's been a little over 2 months post my second love handle procedure. Honestly, I'm disappointed in the results. Although I can see slight improvement, overall there doesn't seem to be much difference than after the first procedure. Additionally, this second time around, I also had a procedure done on my lower abs. I took no pictures, but it barely looks like any change happened. I went to a different doctor this second time around and the front desk assistant did the procedure on me. Everything felt the same as the first time, so I can't believe that the doctor's office had anything to do with the results (although maybe I'm wrong). Also, I still exercise regularly and have weighed the same for the past 6 months, so I definitely did not gain any fat over the time period.

I'll post updated pics in a few months -- I know sometimes it takes longer than 2 months to see results. But honestly, for the amount of money it costs, I would have expected better results. If I had paid full price, Zeltiq would have cost me over $3K for just the love handles alone! For that price, it would have definitely not been worth it.