Does frost bite kill fat cells? (photo)

Thank you for your question. Sorry to hear that. Your underlying tissue is likely unaffected. Please ensure that you follow the instructions given to you by your doctor. Regards, 

It is likely you damaged your skin and will need wound care at this time, the fat is likely unaffected.  Best, Dr. Emer.

Your skin injury from the cold will need some time to declare any problems.You may turn out fine as your body heals. It is unsure if the cold will damage the deeper fat without damaging your skin.Keep up with your instructions from the doctors and hospital.

Dear pudding.0:

Frostbite is a cold injury to the layers of the skin and will injure the epidermis, dermis, fat and even cause skin
loss and changes in sensation from lack
of circulation or direct cold injury.

Thank you for sharing your photo. It appears that you have
cold injured the first layer of the skin and will not experience a fat loss
result. It is helpful but does not show
the “whole” picture of what happened or what can occur. For this reason, please
continue in your care with your primary care physician.

Please consider consultation with a Board Certified Plastic
Surgeon and Certified CoolSculpting Team to achieve your safe and effective
non-surgical fat loss results. All the best!

I am sorry for your problem.  Frost bite is thermal injury to the skin and has nothing to do with fat dissolving or coolsculpting.  Please have the proper wound care so that you don't have more injury to your skin and surrounding tissue. Best, Dr. Green

No, It appears your most likely only damaged your skin and therefore would not affect the underlying subcutaneous fat and tissue. Therefore, you would not have any fat loss from your attempts. The reason CoolSculpting works is because it goes deeper into the tissue while avoiding too much cooling in the skin, thus avoiding frost bite, but effectively treating the deeper fat layer. I would recommend you see a board certified dermatologist for appropriate care for your injury. 

You've likely only damaged your skin by the look of the photo.  Your underlying tissue/fat likely has little or no damage.  I recommend seeing your PCP, a dermatologist, or plastic surgeon about your injury to make sure you are caring for it appropriately.

Dear pudding.0,

Thank you for your clinical post and
photograph. Certainly an interesting if
not ill-fated attempt to replicate a very delicate process. CoolSculpting relies on significant body of
research and knowledge with suction coupled hypothermia whereby the superficial
areas of the skin is preserved with the delicate technique and the fat cells
are lowered to 5 degrees Celsius. This
generally avoids skin trauma and the fat cells undergo apoptosis. Without suction coupling and just placing
cool packs on the skin the fat will not be cooled as the body is excellent in
maintaining core temperature. Prolonged exposure of the skin cells to near
freezing temperatures does result in a hypothermy injury. The erythema that you’re experiencing is
likely not going to lead to a skin necrosis or death, but careful follow-up
with a local hospital and a physician will ensure that you’re being monitored
and cared for attentively.

If the area of skin involved resolves
completely there will be no long-term damage and unfortunately no long-term
damage to your fat cells.

My advice is that you undergo a
proper consultation and treatment at a certified CoolSculpting Centre.

I hope this information is of some
assistance and best of luck.

To find out more, please visit the
link below.

R. Stephen Mulholland, M.D.

Certified Plastic Surgeon

Yorkville, Toronto