41 Yr Old Female, Mid and Lower Abs, Back Fat

I have always ate well and am fairly active but have ALWAYS had a pooch. Now at 41 it's even harder to lose fat than before. All of my weight is carried in my torso. I have great legs, good arms but my torso is like a fat tire. I finally decided to get some help to go along with the eating right/exercising. I signed up for the lower belly and the upper abs and the back fat right under my bra line. We opted to do it all in one day, as the center had two machines available and could cut back on the time it takes. It still took me 5 hours so it was a very long day.

I had my session yesterday. We started with the lower abdomen (belly) and the big suction. Yes, it was extremely uncomfortable but I was thinking it wasn't that bad. Sat there for an hour, numb and it was fine. It's when she took OFF the suction and had to massage out the area that really hurt. Tip: push your belly out when this happens... its strange, but it actually helps it hurt less. For 10 minutes after that I had ridiculous cramping (thawing out). My specialist said it reminded her of back labor. I advise getting up and moving around a bit. This cramping only lasted 10 minutes but it was tough. I actually wondered if I was going to be able to continue but like I said, after 10 minutes the cramping stopped. Then we did the upper ab using two smaller suctions, both an hour each. That wasn't so bad. Not awesome, not horrible. I was able to listen to my audiobook, zone out, eat some snacks, drink water... no problems. Then I took another quick break and did two sections on each side of my back, under my bra strap. Since she had two machines we did one on each side for an hour then again one on each side (a bit lower) for the last hour. By the last 10 minutes I was rearing to get out of there, especially when she took the one suction off, and it was starting to thaw out/ache while I was waiting for the other to finish. None of it is brutally horrible, but it's 5 hours of uncomfortable peppered with some painful achy/cramps. It's a long day.

Today I am very swollen, numbness with some pins and needles, feels like bruising... but not horrible. I'm not about to go out dancing, or anything else for that matter but I'm not really in pain. Since compression helps with swelling I plan on using spanx or some kind of tight capris tomorrow to help with the swelling on my belly. Not sure what to do about the upper swelling, other than icing it before bed. Also, I've been taking advil to help with the swelling. I can honestly say, as of right now, the worst part was when she was massaging after the suction comes off... (if you're getting ready to do coolsculpt remember to breathe through it. and don't suck your belly in, expand it out. )

I'm a little disheartened to see that some of the after pics on the website are from after the 2nd treatment because I will NOT be doing this again, haha. I'm also a bit concerned about the people talking about pain 4-6 days in as I was hoping I was past the worst part but I'm not going to make myself anxious over something that hasn't happened yet.

These pics were taken in the room right after the procedure. You can still see all the marker (she used a sharpie) and the redness from the suction.

I'm on day three and am dealing with serious swelling (as I'm was told I would). I've been icing before bed and in the morning and am wearing my tight yoga capri's for compression while I work today.

I'm also very bruised and still feel like I'm covered in one big bruise on the front of my torso and my back but again, it's not horrible, just uncomfortable. I find that when I move around it helps. My back (are they called my flanks?) is a bit sore but I'm also icing those areas too. The pins and needles have started to subside. I'm also drinking a lot of water -more than usual - to help flush toxins, etc. I ordered some spanx to wear for compression and hope that helps the swelling too.

I"m not surprised I'm swollen... I had the large applicator on my lower belly, two smaller on my upper abs and then my back fat near my bra line. It's a lot, over 5 hours of treatment. I've been wearing my high waisted tight yoga pants for compression and a camisole that's too small for upper body compression. Can't wait for my spanx to arrive haha. swelling seems to be going down a bit. Icing every night and morning + compression is helping. Just starting to get some itching, and a few shooting sharp pains here and there. Nothing to really complain about. I still feel uncomfortable, but not in pain. Still drinking a ton of water and eating well.