Why do doctors dislike "home CoolSculpting" ice pack self treatment?

Question

A few days ago I asked about a self treatment with an ice packs. The answers were, "Don't do it, it's dangerous, it's not effective, and cannot kill the fat cells." Re:efficiency, The tech was invented after "popsicle panniculitis", kids who loved popsicles, lost cheek fat. It seems like ice does kill subcutaneous fat. YouTube is full of hundreds of videos with testimonials of people who claim they lost 1-5 inches in circumference. You can see the results in the video, are they all fake ? Thanks

Peter Lee, MD, FACS · Answer

Cool sculpting is a safe and effective way to lose unwanted fat cell via a patented and thoroughly researched method that has been FDA approved.  It has built in fail safes to ensure the appropriate freezing of unwanted fat, while limiting unwanted damage to skin and nerves.  Do it your self treatments are dangerous and unpredictable because there is no way to regulate the temperature precisely and in the appropriate time frame.  Therefore one runs the risk of damaged skin, nerve and muscle cells when one tries a home applied method.

Janet Allenby, DO · Answer

Hello, Thank you for your question. Unfortunately “at home CoolSculpting” is not an effective treatment. The procedure at a doctors office has several different safety measures to ensure that the skin isn’t damaged during the process. It is measuring the skin temperature throughout the entire procedure and if the temperature drops below a certain level the treatment will end. The patented gel pads also protect skin! The application also ensures a specific treatment area is targeted, this can’t be achieved with ice packs at home. Overall the risks are not worth it.

David L. Kaufman, MD FACS · Answer

The cold temperatures used during CoolSculpting are precisely controlled, and applied using a specialized tool.Further, the tools and techniques used during the process ensure that only the unwanted fat cells are destroyed, without causing harm to any surrounding tissues. Attempting to recreate aCoolSculpting treatment using ice at home is more likely to result in injury to your skin than in actual fat loss. Precision, predictability of results, and assurance of safety are just a few of the reasons why doctors only recommend actual CoolSculpting instead of at-home methods.

Kimberly Butterwick, MD · Answer

While the idea of CoolSculpting may have been inspired by noticing the diminishment of fat in the cheeks of children who ate popsicles, the CoolSculpting system does more than apply ice to fatty areas. CoolSculpting by Zeltiq lowers the temperature of the fat enough to send it into a slow-death cycle, but does not freeze or damage the skin or other organs. The applicators constantly monitor the temperature of the skin to be sure that it will not be damaged.  Also, remember that popsicles deliver cold temperatures to the inside mucosa, close to the deep fat. It is not possible to get the same results through the outside thicker skin and fat layers.
Applying ice directly to your skin could create long-term skin sensitivity, and may even cause freezer burn on the skin. And yes, it would be possible to develop frostbite if you applied the ice packs for too long. No physician can back a technique that has so much potential for harm. Also, ice packs cannot sculpt the body in the way that the CoolSculpting handles can. Even if you didn’t damage your skin, you could end up with oddly misshapen results. Please find a board-certified dermatologist to administer your CoolSculpting to get a beautifully contoured shape without risking damage to your skin.

Mark Berkowitz, MD · Answer

aguy38. Thank you for your question.  The danger of home ice pack treatments is you take the risk of not only reducing Subcutaneous fat  but simulateneoulsy destroying the skin.  Necrotic, dead skin,  is a major medical problem.   Coolsculpting is safe as it does not harm the skin but directly goes after the fat.

Steven Bailey, MD · Answer

Cool Sculpting is a revolutionary method of non-surgical fat cell reduction. It is well researched and has several protective mechanisms built in to protect the skin while targeting fat cells. Using DIY home regimens can be dangerous because the temperature is not precisely controlled and no mechanisms are built in to protect the skin. If a non-surgical fat reduction is your desire I recommend that you consult with a provider in your area that you feel comfortable with and learn about all of the SAFE options that are available.

Hadley Claire King, MD, FAAD · Answer

I can understand the impetus behind the growing trend of DIY CoolSculpting, after all, the CoolSculpting technology was inspired by a bunch of kids sucking on popsicles. And who wouldn’t want a cheap alternative to a relatively expensive cosmetic treatment.
But, you would never believe that DIY liposuction is a good idea, even though a sharp straw and a vacuum is a lot cheaper than plastic surgery. Likewise,  it is a major misconception to believe DIY coolsculpting is safe or that  ice packs can deliver the same benefit of CoolSculpting.  
Essentially, the principle behind CoolSculpting is simple: freeze fat. But the delivery mechanism of CoolSculpting is not simple. The patented technology is quite advanced. 
First of all, CoolSculpting provides precisely controlled cooling. This cooling is specifically calibrated to be cold enough to freeze fat cells, but not too cold to cause thermal injuries to skin and surrounding tissue.
Secondly, CoolSculpting uses a vacuum mechanism to isolate the treatment area, to draw up subcutaneous fat cells to the surface, and to apply a precise amount of cooling those fat cells.
CoolSculpting machines and handpieces are designed to prevent injury, from the gel pads that protect the skin to numerous built in safety mechanisms.
CoolSculpting has been clinically proven to work. DIY coolsculpting has no scientific research to indicate it works. It simply has traction on the internet. But so does the cinnamon challenge. A lot of people maybe doing it, but that doesn’t make it any less stupid.

Shamim Shakibai, MD · Answer

CoolSculpting is a safe way to freeze the fat cells and has thermal detecting on the inside of the applicators. When undergoing a CoolSculpting treatment, a gel pad is placed over the skin to prevent frostbite. Using a DIY at home technique could possibly cause tissue damage and the ice would not be able to keep a consistent temperature in order to have the same outcome.

Jennifer Harrington, MD · Answer

Thank you for your question. CoolSculpting® works by targeting and cooling the unwanted fat cells at a precise, consistent temperature and for a precise amount of time. This allows the device to destroy underlying fat cells without harming your skin or other surrounding tissue. There is no way to recreate this effect using ice packs placed on the surface of your skin. In fact, this can lead to frostbite and other complications and is therefore not recommended.

Martin Everhard, MD, PhD, FACS · Answer

The issue with using ice packs directly on your skin, even if there is something in between, is that there is no way to regulate the temperature on your skin. Thus, it’s possible to actually get frostbite from this method. CoolSculpting®, on the other hand, is able to target the underlying fat cells without harming the surrounding tissue and is therefore a much safer and more effective option.

Why do doctors dislike "home CoolSculpting" ice pack self treatment?

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