I went to 3 different places in Orange County....all highly-rated as supposedly the top in OC as #1 in coolsculpting, and on Yelp as 5-stars. The first, felt like I was buying a car...was getting upsold, and did not like the fact they told me I needed to "buy today" to get a discount. The second, I questioned because the girls were chit-chatting at the front desk and when they did my consult, they recommended only TWO applicators for my stomach (vs. 4) that the place I went to for the first consult did. I questioned which applicator technique is the "right one"? I committed to going to the third place (Orange Twist). When I went, the determining factors for deciding to go with Orange Twist, were: a) the no-pressure sales pitch and b) the fact they also recommended 4 applicators on my stomach (vs. two), and clearly explained the reasons why. I also just had a better vibe overall with this place. In terms of price.....These places that do coolsculpting have to charge a minimum amount for the coolsculpting because they have to give a percentage "Back" to zeltique...in essence because each machine can only do "so many" sessions until they need to purchase a new "card" of sessions for the machine. So their mark-up is determined by this. Iniitally I thought you could negotiate and they had wide margins, but this is not necessarily the case. All three places came in "around" the same for the same # of areas. Although some places recommended "less" areas - which did not end-up being ideal, as the result would have been sub-optimal. I had arms (back of my arms - 2 areas), flanks (4 total areas - 2 on each side), and stomach (4 areas), so it was a LOT of money to commit to (roughly $9500) for all areas - and this was to do it 2x (two treatments), but they tell you that if you want 40% fat reduction it will take 2x. When I got the coolsculpting, I found the experience to be far more painful than I expected....and I have a high tolerance for pain. The reason I think it's so much more painful, is because it's an extended period of pain. It's not like going to get your lips done, or botox or fillers, or anything like that. You need to sit for 35 minutes with the applicator on each "section" of your body. Because OrangeTwist has FOUR machines, they can do MULTIPLE body parts at once. This is a MAJOR plus for making the entire process go faster, if you are doing multiple areas. The first 5 mins of the procedure are fine, the next 10....well NOT SO MUCH! It's painful! After the first 15 mins....it's smooth sailing...but if you are doing multiple areas of your body, it can get to the point (after a couple hours), where you are like "get me out of here". Orange Twist did give me 750 MG of ibuprofen and it really helped but when I went back for my second procedure the second time, I had my doctor pre-prescribe me a painkiller to help the pain. It's not excruciating but it is definietely uncomfortable. Had I done only 1-2 areas, I would not have needed anything....but for all the areas I did, I was there for 5 hours. You might wonder why it takes 5 hours? Because you need to massage each area every time you take the applicator off. This massage part (2-3 Minutes) is HUGELY important to the success of your results. It can literally influence a 65% BENEFIT in the difference of your results. And the WAY you massage the are is also super-important. The first time I went to Orange Twist, they did a "manual" (by hand) massage, and I still had amazing results (more on that later), but the BETTER WAY to massage (if you can find a doctor that offers this) is by massaging using the: Zimmer Z-Wave machine. Many doctors that do Coolsculpting know about the extra benefits of this machine. By reading through RealSelf Reviews on Coolsculpting between my first and second appointment, I came across a post by Grant Stevens, MD, who I noticed owns Orange Twist. Randomly when I went to Orange Twist the second time, I mentioned the fact I wanted to use the Z-Wave for the massage but was disappointed to learn that Orange Twist OC did not offer it for massage (I had contacted Dr. Stevens via Facebook and he told me that). I was surprised to learn that Orange Twist OC DOES in fact have the Z-Wave. :) This was awesome and they DID use it on me for my second treatment (3 days ago) and the thing I have noticed is that there is far less pain than the first time and FAR less swelling!! So I def. recommend asking for them to use this for the MASSAGE if you go to Orange Twist. A couple more notes on the procedure. They do have wi-fi..you are very comfortable with blankets and pillows, and you do have TV to watch, and they provide food and water to eat, because if you do a lot of "areas" like me, you are burning a zillion calories while the fat is "freezing" and you get really hungry! THE RESULTS: OMG!! My stomach is flat as a board. My boyfriend was like "are you sucking in?" I said "NO!" -- UNBELIEVABLE - IT REALLY WORKS!!
For the last 20 years, I have been 30+ lbs. overweight. After 2 kids (5 & 7), I had gained another 30 lbs. because I ignored myself to take care of my precious boys. Well, being 65 lbs over weight was preventing me from being the best Mom I could be. So, in May, 2015, I made the decision and commitment to finally lose the weight. Over the last 11 months, I lost 54 lbs. I am 12 lbs. away from my ultimate goal weight. As I lost the weight, the inches came off but I was left with several fatty pocket areas that were not going away with normal diet and exercise. So, I decided on Coolsculpting because it was non-evasive and proclaimed itself as a "No Down Time Procedure". I purchased a 12 treatment package because I had many problem areas. After reading all the reviews I was very nervous about the potential pain. I decided to do the treatments in waves, I started with the Flanks (love handles), which is 4 treated areas on 2/11/16. The actual procedure was not painful, it was like a quick pressure and pinch and then the area went numb. It took 2 hours (you have 2 suctions on you at one time, and then you do the other 2 in the 2nd hour. The 2 minute post procedure massage did not hurt at all. When you're ready to leave, the treated areas are still numb and you don't feel any pain. The nurse sent me home with a nerve pain killer just because I might experience pain around the 3-5 days out and that would be over the weekend. I did have slight bruising and swelling and I experienced the typical pain that is reported, I felt the aching, burning and tingling pain. It wasn't unbearable, Tylenol usually took the edge off. I didn't want to take the strong pain killer because it was supposed to make me drowsy and I still had to take care of the kids. The pain was very noticeable when I slept because I am a side sleeper and also when I walked because my hip movement would aggravate it. By day 7, the pain was gone. On 2/23/16, I went in for the upper and lower abdomen treatment (4 treated areas). This time I was ready for the potential side effect pain, so I bought Arnica cream for the bruising and burning and Cortaid for the itching. The procedure was easy again, the procedure pain was less this time. I think it was because there was pure fat it suctioned up and it didn't affect the muscle tissue. The post pain was slightly less and the arnica cream and Cortaid made all the difference, I think I took Tylenol twice over the next 5 days. By day 7, all the pain was gone . Then on 3/31/16, I went in for the final 4 treated areas (the upper back fat and the inner thighs). The pain wasn't much this time either. The body positioning for the inner thighs was uncomfortable, so they put a lot of pillows under my legs to keep them elevated. The thighs probably hurt the most, the cold strip they apply before the suction was the most uncomfortable. I had some bruising and swelling in both areas this time and since I was unable to apply the arnica cream and Cortaid to the upper back areas too well, I took one of those nerve pills on the 3rd day because the pain and itching was going to keep me from sleeping. By the next day, the pain and burning were easy to tolerate. By day 4, the pain was gone and the bruising was almost gone. On my last procedure visit, 3/31/16, they compared a before and after picture to see the progress. The after picture was 7 weeks post flanks and 5 weeks post upper and lower abdomen. I can see a difference and I can't wait to see the final results.