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*Treatment results may vary
Let me start by saying that in spite of the pain,...
Let me start by saying that in spite of the pain, I would still do this all over again, and will continue my treatments in the future. The MedSpa did warn me before I started that I may experience this kind of pain. It’s just that now I know I need a prescription.
I've been meaning to get lipo or something like it for years and years. Granted, I'm lazy and extremely sedentary but even when I lost a ton of weight a decade ago, I still had that pooch in my stomach. Also, I don't think I'm that fat but I don't like how my stomach sticks out in my clothes. So I got my mid abs, lower abs and inner thighs done. They used 4 large applicators on my stomach and the smaller ones on each thigh. The large ones took 45 min each, and the small ones took 35 min.
I am writing this 3 days after the procedure. I have a pretty high pain tolerance and pride myself on barely using anything beyond OTC painkillers after rhinoplasty and having wisdom teeth removed. But oh my god I am experiencing excruciating pain. I don't understand how so many other people say they barely feel any pain--because I'm feeling a LOT of it. That being said, I don’t regret getting this done at all. Now I just know I have to get a prescription.
Like most people say, the first 10 min are uncomfortable, but then you don't feel anything. Well I still felt a lot of cold and a little less hurting. In fact, I just fell asleep through each treatment. When they take the paddle off, it's complete torture--So you can feel the block of ice that is your fat cells clumped together. Then they massage it to break up the clumps of cells. Oh holy hell does that hurt. The technician said it's like massaging a sunburn, but I've never had a sunburn so I don't know what that feels like. The lower abs hurt the most; mid abs are only slightly less pain. And the thighs were much less pain since they were smaller applicators. The entire area is red. Also, one large applicator came off a little in the middle of the treatment, so that area had to be done again from the beginning… ouch! Today’s whole procedure took about 5 ½ hours, and they provided lunch.
Once the whole thing was over I was in a lot of pain, and it was nerve pain, not muscle pain. It felt like a weird combination of burning, tingling, numbness and hardness. I literally was holding my belly while I was walking around because I felt like it was so heavy--I looked like I was pregnant. It hurts more when you’re moving around and the fat is able to jiggle. That’s why they recommend some sort of compression. I know it sounds like torture, but believe me, the compression does help with the pain. And it definitely helps from hiding this from your coworkers. Had I been holding my belly at work, they would have all thought I was pregnant.
1 week later:
The thighs feel perfectly fine. That pain was gone in 2 days. I think that must be what people talk about when they say “oh I don’t feel that much pain, just a little discomfort.” The abdomen pain however, was still going strong 5 days later. I mean I was still feeling 90% of that god awful nerve pain for 5 days. I found out I am experiencing delayed onset pain, which I’m told is rare. Trying to sleep was a nightmare because I couldn’t find a comfortable position. Trying to hide my pain from my coworkers? That was even worse. I’m a pharmacist so I know that OTC NSAIDs like Ibuprofen or Naproxen won’t really help with nerve pain, but I was still hoping to get some relief.
Finally after spending all of Saturday inside because I could barely leave the bed (much less my apt) I called the Med Spa and they prescribed me Etodolac (a prescription NSAID) and Gabapentin (for nerve pain). I'm really happy with the attention I received. I left a voicemail and an email on Saturday night, and first thing Sunday morning, I got a call from the medical director and the owner. They're not even open on Sunday and they still called me. Both of them left their cell numbers to make sure I was okay.
Once I took those medications I was a whole new person. I finally got relief and I’d say the pain level was about 40% or less--enough to go out and hang with my friends. I still feel some tingling and numbness. Occasionally I get this weird itching feeling but because I’m still pretty numb everywhere, I can’t seem to scratch the itch properly.
Based on the pictures I’d say I’m still swollen, but at least the redness is gone. It was worse in the area of the mid abdomen that they had do over because the applicator came off. I don’t understand one thing: some of the staff said that everyone has this kind of pain, but others (including the doctor/medical director that wrote the prescription) said that this was rare and that I’m the first Coolsculpting patient that she’s had to write a prescription for. My friend said that she also had really bad pain which lasted 2-3 weeks, but I’m not sure it was as bad as mine.I’m really surprised that more people didn’t need a prescription.
I've been meaning to get lipo or something like it for years and years. Granted, I'm lazy and extremely sedentary but even when I lost a ton of weight a decade ago, I still had that pooch in my stomach. Also, I don't think I'm that fat but I don't like how my stomach sticks out in my clothes. So I got my mid abs, lower abs and inner thighs done. They used 4 large applicators on my stomach and the smaller ones on each thigh. The large ones took 45 min each, and the small ones took 35 min.
I am writing this 3 days after the procedure. I have a pretty high pain tolerance and pride myself on barely using anything beyond OTC painkillers after rhinoplasty and having wisdom teeth removed. But oh my god I am experiencing excruciating pain. I don't understand how so many other people say they barely feel any pain--because I'm feeling a LOT of it. That being said, I don’t regret getting this done at all. Now I just know I have to get a prescription.
Like most people say, the first 10 min are uncomfortable, but then you don't feel anything. Well I still felt a lot of cold and a little less hurting. In fact, I just fell asleep through each treatment. When they take the paddle off, it's complete torture--So you can feel the block of ice that is your fat cells clumped together. Then they massage it to break up the clumps of cells. Oh holy hell does that hurt. The technician said it's like massaging a sunburn, but I've never had a sunburn so I don't know what that feels like. The lower abs hurt the most; mid abs are only slightly less pain. And the thighs were much less pain since they were smaller applicators. The entire area is red. Also, one large applicator came off a little in the middle of the treatment, so that area had to be done again from the beginning… ouch! Today’s whole procedure took about 5 ½ hours, and they provided lunch.
Once the whole thing was over I was in a lot of pain, and it was nerve pain, not muscle pain. It felt like a weird combination of burning, tingling, numbness and hardness. I literally was holding my belly while I was walking around because I felt like it was so heavy--I looked like I was pregnant. It hurts more when you’re moving around and the fat is able to jiggle. That’s why they recommend some sort of compression. I know it sounds like torture, but believe me, the compression does help with the pain. And it definitely helps from hiding this from your coworkers. Had I been holding my belly at work, they would have all thought I was pregnant.
1 week later:
The thighs feel perfectly fine. That pain was gone in 2 days. I think that must be what people talk about when they say “oh I don’t feel that much pain, just a little discomfort.” The abdomen pain however, was still going strong 5 days later. I mean I was still feeling 90% of that god awful nerve pain for 5 days. I found out I am experiencing delayed onset pain, which I’m told is rare. Trying to sleep was a nightmare because I couldn’t find a comfortable position. Trying to hide my pain from my coworkers? That was even worse. I’m a pharmacist so I know that OTC NSAIDs like Ibuprofen or Naproxen won’t really help with nerve pain, but I was still hoping to get some relief.
Finally after spending all of Saturday inside because I could barely leave the bed (much less my apt) I called the Med Spa and they prescribed me Etodolac (a prescription NSAID) and Gabapentin (for nerve pain). I'm really happy with the attention I received. I left a voicemail and an email on Saturday night, and first thing Sunday morning, I got a call from the medical director and the owner. They're not even open on Sunday and they still called me. Both of them left their cell numbers to make sure I was okay.
Once I took those medications I was a whole new person. I finally got relief and I’d say the pain level was about 40% or less--enough to go out and hang with my friends. I still feel some tingling and numbness. Occasionally I get this weird itching feeling but because I’m still pretty numb everywhere, I can’t seem to scratch the itch properly.
Based on the pictures I’d say I’m still swollen, but at least the redness is gone. It was worse in the area of the mid abdomen that they had do over because the applicator came off. I don’t understand one thing: some of the staff said that everyone has this kind of pain, but others (including the doctor/medical director that wrote the prescription) said that this was rare and that I’m the first Coolsculpting patient that she’s had to write a prescription for. My friend said that she also had really bad pain which lasted 2-3 weeks, but I’m not sure it was as bad as mine.I’m really surprised that more people didn’t need a prescription.
Provider Review
Angie Vessey
Angie was extremely helpful and made me feel really comfortable the whole time. Also, I called after-hours and left a voicemail and an email on Saturday night because I was in so much pain and needed a prescription, and first thing Sunday morning I got a call from the medical director (they're not even open on Sundays). After speaking with the Dr, she called the prescriptions in right away. Both the Dr and the owner called throughout the day and gave me their cell numbers to make sure I was alright. Even on Monday, Angie called to make sure I was okay. I'm very pleased that they were very attentive to my needs.