Does CoolSculpting Run the Risk of Fat Returning but to Other Areas of the Body?

Once fat is removed from the body it does not return, however there are still remaining fat cells that can increase in size. Keeping up with good eating and exercise can reduce the chances of fat cell expansion. After CoolSculpting you may notice other areas that have not been treated as larger than they were, this is true as the areas that have been treated are now decreased in size.

Thank you for the question, Coolsculpting eliminates the fat cells within the treated area permanently through your bodies lymphatic system. It is important to follow the whole treatment to transformation treatment plan that will be laid out for you by your clinician.  Once the fat is destroyed and removed from the body it will not return to the area it has been removed.  However, should you gain weight you will gain it as you would have before Coolsculpting, but with a relative lesser amount of gain in the Coolsculpted areas (20-25% less to be precise), as that is the typical fat reduction in the treated area achieved by a Coolsculpting procedure.  This is beneficial because the areas treated with Coolsculpting typically are areas where people tend to gain the most fat or have the most stubborn fat.  Hope that helps,Dr. Paul Flashner

The cryolipolysis(TM) technology utilized by CoolSculpting freezes and kills fat cells, which the body then eliminates them over time. They cannot return. However, only 20 to 30% of fat cells can be killed in a single treatment. Multiple procedures may be necessary to obtain dramatic results. Because those fat cells no longer exist, they cannot return to the treated areas. However, that does not mean that you cannot get fat. If you do not maintain a healthy diet and exercise routine, the remaining fat cells can expand and cause problem areas. Technology can work wonders, but you must be willing to maintain your good results. Please consult a board-certified dermatologist to find out how to get the most from your CoolScupting procedure.

If you gain weight after Coolsculpting, you may find a disproportionate weight gain in the non-treated areas.  The treated areas will have a permanent fat cell reduction.  The existing cells can expand, but there are fewer of them.  Having said that, I recommend that you consider this body contouring procedure when your weight is stable as you will enjoy a long lasting result.

The fat cells that get "crystallized" with coolsculpting and then die and get wash out of your body do not return to other areas. If you gain weight other fat cells around your body can expand. This expansion is not from the fat cells that were treated.

Energy in = Energy Used + Energy Stored.  Zeltiq's CoolSculpting can reduce the fat volume in one area 20% at four months.  This is not as much as liposuction can remove.  If a person is somewhat overweight, but their weight is stable, that means that they are eating more calories than their body needs to use for energy and basl metabolic rate (the normal bodily functions such as heart beating, lungs breathing, etc.)  The excess calories are then stored as fat.  If one is stable, and then removes some fat whether with liposuction or Zeltiq's CoolSculpting, but the diet and exercise regimen don't change, then there still might be an abundance of calories consumed compared to those needed and there will be an increase in fat. That fat can be stored in the same cells that are still remaining in the sites that underwent the Zeltiq CoolSculpting and/or in other body sites.

Remember that cool sculpting permanently reduces the number of fat cells in the treated area. If you then gain weight, the remaining fat cells in the treated area, as well as fat cells in the rest of your body, will enlarge. Because you have fewer fat cells in the treated area, that area will not enlarge as much as if the area had never been treated. Therefore, the weight gain is less noticeable in the areas that have been treated. The same concept applies to "uneven" weight gain after liposuction. The extent of the unevenness will depend on the ratio of fat cells that were removed versus left behind. I hope that answers your question.

Once the treated fat cells are frozen they die and are naturally processed by the body.  They are eliminated by the body through waste.  Once the fat cells are gone, they are gone for good.  They do not return to the body in different areas.  By the age of 14, our bodies have the number of fat cells that we will have for life.  Our body basically loads and unloads them (gaining weight and losing weight).  Your body only produces more fat cells when you are morbidly obese, then they will multiply.  So with that being said the fat cells can not return to the body after being eliminated.

This is a frequently asked question.  And, the answer is no! The truth is that there are no studies which show that anyone gets heavier in untreated areas after experiencing CoolSculpting.  The CoolSculpting treatment permanently removes the destroyed fat cells from the body.  They will never return, not to the the treated areas or elsewhere in the body.  However, if the patient gains weight, post treatment, the new weight will be distributed in a new way.   The patient will gain more evenly.  If the majority of previous weight gain always presented in the abdomen, which has now been treated, you will find that new weight does not deposit so much in that area.  This can make it appear that other areas of the body have gotten bigger than they would have before. This only happens if the client gains a significant amount of weight.  But still, the added weight in other areas experienced with weight gain is only the existing cells getting larger, not new cells forming in those areas to replace what was removed by CoolSculpting. 

CoolSculpting technology safely delivers controlled cooling to gently and effectively target the fat cells underneath the skin. The treated fat cells are crystallized (frozen), then die. Over time, your body naturally processes the fat and eliminates these dead cells. In the weeks and months to follow, your body naturally processes and eliminates the treated fat cells. Once the fat cells are gone, they’re gone for good. However, that does not mean that you cannot get fat. If you do not maintain a healthy diet and exercise routine, the remaining fat cells can expand and cause problem areas. Technology can work wonders, but you must be willing to maintain your good results.