CoolSculpting on Abdomen Only - Westborough, MA

I had the procedure done 5 days ago on my abdominal area. I am 5' and weigh about 125 pounds. I am near my ideal weight, but have always had excess fat on my abdomen no matter how much weight I lost. I am your standard apple shape, so thought CoolSculpting would help get rid at least some excess fat. The area around my belly button measures 32.5".

I had the large applicator placed across my belly area. It barely fit, but the technician was able to make it worth. Had it not worked, I would've had to have 2 small applicators done at twice the price for twice as long. Needless to say, I'm glad we made it work!

The process itself was uncomfortable. The pre-application gel is really cold and the initial suction does hurt. It does get better after 10-15 minutes, but it's hardly relaxing. I don't know if the sizing and the fact that *all* of my fat had to be sucked was part of my discomfort (vs having more fat overall and less of it being sucked in...). The last 10 minutes of procedure I was counting down the seconds. I couldn't move at all either to prevent knocking the machine off and the half laying back position was starting to feel achy.

I made it through the 1 hour though. The machine was taken off and the area looked red but not bruised. The technician quickly rubbed the area down. Others describe this as a massage, but for me it felt like the rubbed it for about a 1 minute, maybe less. It may have been more than a rub, but since the area was numb I didn't feel as much pressure. I was glad though it didn't last long because that part does hurt. The sensation was like an intense burn/sting. I did spend about 5 minutes post procedure getting used to the weird sensations before I left the clinic.


Other review mention that the massage is essential to break up of fat, but is that proven or just anecdotal?

On day 1 I felt numb, and cold to the touch. I wasn't in pain, but it definitely felt weird. I went to the gym on Day 2 (elliptical only) and felt no discomfort.

These past few days I've felt tingling, some burning and soreness. I've also had some swelling but not excessive so that I cannot wear my regular clothes. It's uncomfortable but not painful enough that I feel the need to medicate. The soreness feel as if it's a muscle soreness but I feel nothing when I move, though I feel the need to move cautiously.

I've read that the intense pain that others have experienced starts around day 5. I'm hoping that because I've felt relatively little so far, I'll be lucky enough to not be in excruciating pain in the next few days. Just in case, I've bought a compression garment and some pain cream. I did buy a muscle cream with menthol (the icy creams vs the icy/hot creams) and I put a little to test. I do not recommend this! it doesn't do much to alleviate discomfort. I thought that adding a cooling effect would feel nice, this doesn't haha.

I hope to update in the next few days and clear the ten day mark with no pain. We'll see.

I woke up last night with pain but took some aleve and was able to go back to sleep. Day 6 has been really uncomfortable. Shooting pains across the lower part of my belly and a stinging/burning sensation. I also continue to feel bloated.

It feels better if I do light activity. Staying still and laying down make it feel worse. I did one hour on the elliptical and it actually alleviated the pain for that hour. I'm wearing a compression garment right now and it's providing a little relief but not much.

I'm waiting until closer to bed time to take any more pain medication.

I hope it doesn't get worse in the coming days! It's not ideal at the moment but tolerable.

I hardly slept last night because of the pain. It's not enough to have me crying, but uncomfortable enough that I'm miserable. Icing the area, per many other reviewers' suggestion, only helps a little bit. It seems to tamper the stinging sensations but after a bit it makes the burning sensations worse. I can't tell if the lidocaine cream is helping but the compression garment is making a difference. I was able to sleep a little more with it, but its a bit too tight to sleep in comfortably. The pain killers right before bed didn't do as much as I needed them to do. I woke up at 2am, again at 4am, and was in and out for the next three hours after that.

I am now at work trying to ignore the deep belly burning sensations. I feel like I'm jinxing myself by talking about the pain ... I don't think I could do 2 weeks of this.

The pain is really much worse at night/laying down than during the day.