Matthew M. Dunham, MD

Cold urticaria is a condition where your immune system responds in an abnormal way to a cold stimulus.  Symptoms are usually mild, and include a skin rash at site of the cold stimulus.  Symptoms can worsen depending on how cold the stimulus is and for how long your are exposed to the cold.  Some people can have more serious allergic-like reactions that can impede breathing.  For this reason, I do not recommend Coolscupting for patient's with these conditions.  If you are going to go forward with the treatment, I would take Benadryl before and after to limit the effects.  There are other non-surgical fat reduction procedures that do not rely on cold to disrupt the fat cells.  I would look into these procedures before proceeding.  I hope this helps. 

Dr. Dunham

This is one of the more common questions asked at our practice.  After about the age of 18, your body does not make new fat cells.  When you gain weight, you do not create or gain more fat cells.  The fat cells you have just get bigger.   When an area is treated with Coolscupting, the fat in that region is broken down and removed by your body's own immune and repair systems.  From then on, that area will have a thinner layer of fat beneath the skin.  If you gain weight, the treated areas will remain thinner in relation to the untreated regions.  You will not, however, preferentially gain weight in untreated areas.  It may just appear that way.  

I can think of no reason why you could not have Coolsculpting in the area of a mole.  Treatment does not affect the color or appearance of your skin.  Likewise, the presence of a mole or other skin discoloration would not affect how much fat you loose in that area.  If you have an ongoing rash or skin breakdown in the region to be treated, I would certainly recommend you wait until that area has healed.  If you are concerned that the mole is something more serious, I would recommend you have it evaluated by your primary care physician or a dermatologist.  MD.  

You definitely won't see optimal results in the first month.  It usually takes 2-3 months for your body to resorb the fat cells that were disrupted during the procedure.  I would wait at least another month before you decide if the procedure met your expectations.  People who are close to normal weight are usually great candidates as the treated areas are usually more noticeable.  Best wishes.  MD.  

Good question Matt.  What you are referring to is paradoxical adipose hyperplasia (PAH), and is an unusual  situation in which adipose tissue actually increases at treatment sites.  The reported incidence of this condition is only 0.005%, making this an exceedingly rare event.  This condition is treatable through liposuction.  I would not let this very rare complication dissuade you from considering Coolsculpting as it is a very safe and effective option for non-surgical fat reduction.