CoolSculpting: Stories

I'm a male in my early 30's, over 6' tall, and 230 pounds who tried CoolSculpting yesterday. I exercise 4-5 days per week, but I still have that typical tire around the middle that won't go away. I chose CoolSculpting because it is non-invasive and it kills fat cells without heating them, which seems safer than other procedures. Also, the reports of severe pain were fairly uncommon (supposedly 1 in 2000). I will keep a record of my experience up to date here, and I plan to post clinical before/after pictures after my followup appointment in four months.

I went into my consult with an idea of what I wanted, which was to use the large (8") applicator on each side from my navel over toward each love handle, aligning in the middle. I was open to other options, but this targets most of the area that I want to reduce. I can imagine going back for another large applicator below the belly button, and maybe a small applicator on each love handle.

Day 1: Once I was in the chair, they wanted me to lie kind of flat, but I wanted to sit up so I could feed a good chunk of fat into the vacuum. They raised the chair, supported me with pillows, and then placed the gel pad on one side, and started the suction. It felt like somebody with cold hands squeezing my belly and not letting go for an hour. I would describe it as very uncomfortable but not painful. I distracted myself by watching a movie on an iPad that they provided. After it was done, an assistant massaged the area, and that was painful for about two minutes. The whole procedure was repeated on the other side. The area was somewhat red and numb and yet painful to touch for a few hours afterward. I wore a compression garment for the rest of the day. I did not go back to work, but I had a good night's sleep.

Day 2: This morning, the area looks slightly swollen and the color is almost back to normal. It feels kind of numb and warm, and only a little bit sensitive to touch. I'm headed back to work.