28, 125lbs 5'5" Athletic Coolsmooth on Abs and Coolsculpting on Flanks

Hi there,
I have had a really positive experience so far, and after being terrified by the intense experiences others have had on here I thought I would post about my positive one (so far)
Through exercise and diet I had gotten down to about 118 lbs and had a very muscular stomach that I was very proud of but I didn't like what the weight loss did to my chest. I am now back at my natural weight (125-128) and after about a year of reading about coolsculpting I went in for a consultation. I feel good and know that my stomach and flanks are in good shape but I want that last 5% to got to get into excellent territory. I am a performing artist and need to fit into leotards and such, even a little bit of pooch shows up in the costumes I usually wear. I want the muscular look that I had before without sacrificing my natural breast size. Anyhow thats how I ended up looking into this treatment.

I initially went to Artful Aesthetics in Montclair CA and was told I would need 10 cycles at $7000. I pondered this thinking that is a whole lot of money and cycles. I thought about it for a while and went to 77 Plastic Surgery for a second opinion. There they recommended only 3 for $1700. Much more manageable! I had never done any kind of "procedure" before so I was mostly concerned about the nerve pain that so many others experience. The woman who consulted with me and performed the procedure acknowledged that it does happen, she estimates about 15% of patients.
She said that she recommended that I have the coolsmooth applicator used on my abs since she hadn't had a single patient experience the nerve pain with it.

The procedure itself was easy. Yes, it was cold and uncomfortable for 10 minutes then the most irritating thing was staying still. I watched 30 rock and laughed way too hard, then got nervous that the laughter would dislodge the applicator and so I just read the news. The massage was weird but not horrible. I read tons of reviews and saw many with more negative responses so I felt prepared for the worst and had a really easy experience. As I thawed I actually felt a little sore (like old bruise feeling) no bruising, just a few little tiny hicky like marks. I went straight to work in a great mood.

Next two days were unremarkable, the expected numbness and odd jiggly feeling. I hadnt been exercising for about 2 months due to an injury so I did not begin exercise immediately. I did go on a 10 mile hike/jog on day 5 that didn't effect the feeling of the treated areas.

Day 3-7 I had minor twinges from time to time, nothing bad, I mostly worried when they happened because I was expecting the feeling to get worse for a while. There was a bit of soreness that would come and go but the ache/twinges never rose above a 1 or a 2 level of pain. Minor itching, not even annoying.

I am on day 13 now, looking the same but I know not to expect anything for at least another 2 weeks. Plus I am about a week away from starting my cycle and know that this is not the time to compare the before pictures (when I was ovulating and looking my natural best...)

I will update as I start to notice changes, or after 4 months if I don't notice anything.

I just hit the one month mark and know that this is the earliest possible day I could see any changes. I don't and I'm not too surprised. I do feel ready to see something! Never had any real pain. Still have some numbness in the flanks and the treated areas have a sort of watery bloated feeling. Maybe that's the numbness or the dead fat cells... I don't know. I think I'm still a little swollen, not by much but my skin also feels slightly looser. I need more time to see if it's working. I have a big life event in 6 weeks so hopefully I'll have some visible changes by then! Muscley belly, hurry up and get here!

I don't see much difference but I think I can feel the difference when I grab my belly and hips in terms of how much I can grab. I haven't done my follow up appointment but they will do the precise photos then and I will get to see from every angle if there have been changes. At this point I think I can tell that something has happened but its been so subtle. A second round might get me into a more visible territory.