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BEWARE! CoolSculpting Ruined My Abdomen-Cont’d
First, **I do not recommend this procedure to anyone.** The risk of PAH (Paradoxical Adipose Hyperplasia) is not worth taking.
I am flummoxed at the doctors (answering queries on this site) who are still insisting that PAH is a “rare” side effect. Recent studies show it’s alarmingly more common than previously thought: 1 in 138 patients (look up the article from Wolters Kluwer Health on the subject). I am one of those unlucky patients. Despite vigorous exercise, weight loss and clean eating I am toning up everywhere **except** where I received the CoolSculpting treatment. My abdomen is now impervious to improvement; it’s bigger, lumpier and has a hard ridge of protruding fat right up the middle.
If you are undeterred, make sure to meet the doctor in charge of the practice/center where CoolScuplting is offered. I went to a Dr.’s office to get my treatment but inexplicably never met her. My consultation and treatments were done by her employees. (I have since met with another doctor who let me know that based on what my goals were, CoolSculpting wasn’t a good idea).
You should know the pain and numbness you may experience after a CoolSculpting session can last for weeks. In my case, it was very painful for a week after. It was so uncomfortable it was difficult to sleep. The numbness persisted for a month. It’s literally like touching your skin and it feels like a frozen stick of butter.
If you get CoolSculpting on your abdomen you may also experience constipation/inability to have a BM. Again, I have seen doctors on this site say that doesn’t happen. I am shocked because it is most assuredly is a real side effect. After each CoolSculpting session on my abdomen my bowel movements slowed significantly. And by slowed I mean I went from going regularly (at least 2x a day) to not being able to go for a few days.
Another potential side effect is skin darkening/hyperpigmentation where the cold touches your skin. After my second session I was left with four dark patches on my abdomen (2 upper and 2 lower). I thought maybe it was a “freeze burn” which would dissipate over time, but the discoloration persists nine months later.
In summation, I’m out $4800 and in worse condition than when I started. I consulted with another doctor this week who quoted $8100 to fix the PAH with liposuction. YMMV, but I wish for all the world I had never done this.
BEWARE! Coolsculpting Ruined My Abdomen
Provider Review
I should start by saying that I never got to consult or receive any of my treatments from Dr. Levine. I’m still not sure why. So my ratings are really for Dr. Levine’s staff, since I never met her. I originally came to her office for a consultation on SculpSure. The employee (tech?) I met with instead suggested CoolSculpting (because I had “more to grab” on my abdomen). I wish I had not agreed because one comes with a risk of PAH (CoolSculpting) while the other does not. That should be discussed up front because it is not as rare a side effect as originally believed. I had two sessions of CoolSculpting with two different techs from Dr. Levine’s office (the employee who did my first treatment has since left the office). All the employees are very nice; during my first treatment the employee even stayed in the room most of the time to gauge my comfort so she had a great bedside manner. It’s also a nice office. Alas, I can’t give a stellar review because I never met Dr. Levine nor was I apprised of the real side effects: pain and numbness (that took weeks to subside) and the potential to look worse after treatment. Alas, I did not get a good result from CoolSculpting. Months later my abdomen is darker (hyperpigmentation), bigger, misshapen with a hard ridge in the middle (PAH, Paradoxical Adipose Hyperplasia). Now I’m told my only option to rectify it is liposuction.