CoolSculpting: Stories

My body type: Slim and overall I have a fast metabolism. However, the extra fat I have I carry in my tummy and chest. 112.5 lbs.

I got CoolSculpting done on my abdomen and love handles (a total of three treatment areas). I wanted to get it done on my upper tummy, on that roll caused by my bra wires, but the technician talked me out of it because she thought the treatments we were doing would smooth out that area as well. So that was nice of her to save me some money – and we’ll see how it turns out. She said if I still want that area done in a couple months, I can come in and they’ll do the treatment “at cost.”

I’d like to say upfront that I’ve done a lot of research on this and I’m prepared for the ups, downs and in betweens. A little discomfort, swelling, and temporary weight gain are small prices to pay (in my opinion) for a flatter tummy. So what if I’m a little bloated for a month in the winter? I’ll survive (and so will my boyfriend, who will be the one hearing me whine about it)…

So with that said, here begins my diary.

I paid: $600 (per area) x 3 = $1,800 total

My experience during the procedure:

As I suspected, I’m a good candidate for this. A good candidate has grabbable fat. I mean, a handful. If you don’t have anything you can really grab off your body (can’t really be mixed in with muscle) than there isn’t anything for the machine to suck in, and therefore this treatment isn’t for you. Luckily for me (or unluckily, depending on how you look at it), I’ve got a handful of grabbable fat on each love handle and on my abdomen. So the machine had no problems.

The office I went to had comfy pillows to lean on (which is a MUST because you’re sitting in an awkward position for 45 minutes on each side with love handles). And the actual procedure isn’t bad, just a little uncomfortable. But the massage after is painful, as other people have described on this site. But for me, the worst part was the ten minutes after the massage of each area. The technician describes this part as being like an ice cream head ache (brain freeze), extremely painful but extremely temporary. I think that’s an accurate description. I guess this is the part where your fat begins to thaw from the freeze (ew!) I went from nauseous to terrible pain (like HORRIBLE cramping) to no discomfort at all in ten minutes (for each area). I was at the treatment office from 6 pm to 10 pm, but it was pleasant because they brought me dinner, chatted with me and I watched Netflix on an iPad that was provided for me during the treatment. I also downed a glass of wine with my dinner, which helped with the discomfort for obvious reasons.

(01.29.2013) - Day 1 (day after the treatment):

How I feel:
I slept fine last night – didn’t wake up with any discomfort. I’m a little sore this morning but it’s not interrupting my routine for the day (at my desk job). Honestly, I’m less sore than I would be had I done a bunch of sit-ups the night before. So this is totally bearable. I do feel a bit of a tingling/ iching sensation. I’m also fairly numb in the areas I was treated. I’ve sort of massaged my tummy a bit, and it aches but doesn’t really hurt. The skin is sensitive. But like I said, it’s totally bearable. Thus far, it seems like I have it easy compared to some people.

I don’t work out regularly, so I don’t have plans to work out today. But I do plan to try to work out later this week because it’s supposed to be helpful for this process. I’ll let you know how that goes.

How I look:
Slightly swollen in the areas I had the treatment done. It’s not noticeable to the point that anyone but me would see it. I probably wouldn’t go trolling around in a binki right now (not an issue because it’s mid-winter, but you know what I mean)… A little redness. No bruising yet (knock on wood). I didn’t even try to put on my jeans (I’m assuming they’d still fit?) and opted for comfy cotton pants instead (thank god for a casual office environment!)

My weight this morning: 113.5. I gained a pound, but it’s hard to tell if that’s from the procedure or just normal weight fluctuation.

(02.11.2013) - Day 14:

I was going to update this review sooner but I didn't have much to update. The days following the treatment I experienced a little more swelling and tenderness and numbness. But it was nothing terrible. No bruising.

Today, two weeks post treatment, ALMOST all my swelling has gone done. My sides and tummy are still somewhat numb, but I have no pain or discomfort at all. I'm back to my normal weight and look pretty much like I did before I did the treatment. No results to report yet - just pretty much back to my normal self (except with more numbness, obviously).

It's been three weeks and two days since I got the procedure. No discomfort, almost no numbness, and no noticeable result yet. But I did post some Before photos for your enjoyment.

Swelling has been completely gone for a while now, as is all numbness. I see any results yet (that I can notice) but I'm optimistic about the future. It's only been a month, after all. Hoping that over the next few weeks I'll see a flatter tummy (and smaller love handles).

5 weeks & 4 days post-treatment:

I've lost a pound or two since I got the treatment done just from eating a little better, so it's hard to know what to attribute this too, but I thiiinnkkk I may finally be starting so see some results. It's very fait, and hard to be sure, but my tummy seems a little bit flatter and my love handles seen a little bit smaller. Nothing significant, yet, but it gives me hope.

I took a few really crumby photos of my tummy today so I'll try to upload them at some point and you can be the judge whether there's any difference.

RealSelf deleted all my photos! :( Booooo. And I've conveniently removed them all from my computer so that people don't stumble on all these photos of my tummy. Sooo I no longer have photos to document my progress. BUT you're not missing all that much, because there really hasn't been a lot of progress.

I think my tummy might be a tiny, tiny bit flatter. But my love handles are exactly the same (as far as I can tell from memory).

I'm going to a followup appointment tomorrow to take some followup photos and PERHAPS get another treatment done (PERHAPS) so I'll update after that and hopefully I can track down the before photos to share with you guys...

I went back into the doctor to take some "after" photos. (I posted them so you guys can see.) My abs seem to have flattened out a bit (yay!) but unfortunately, there's no noticeable difference in my flanks. So I had my flanks treated a second time. I'll update with more photos in a month when I might start seeing a difference. I'm tempted to get my abs done again to flatten them out even more, but I think I'll wait to spend the money (and they look fairly flat now so I'm less concerned about them).

Overall, fairly happy with how my abs look (they may also still be improving because it has only been two months post treatment). Not so pleased with the fact that my sides don't seem to have been affected by the machine at all. I really hope this second treatment does the trick!