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In Pain After Zeltiq - Los Angeles, CA

ORIGINAL POST

I chose to do Zeltiq in my abdominal area: one...

CMTinLALA
$2,800

I chose to do Zeltiq in my abdominal area: one small treatment on each lovehandle, a large treatment just below my belly button, and one medium treatment just above my belly button.

I did 4 straight hours of the treatment 6 days ago. I did not feel great pain during the procedures - the large attachment was uncomfortable for the first 8-10 minutes but that was it. I felt a bit sore and numb going home but I didn't really feel pain till the next day. I woke up and the treated areas were super-sensitive to the touch. I was so sensitive that I couldn't even rub a cloth on myself to clear off the marker the nurse used to mark where she put the applicators on me. Once I laid down or was standing straight, I was fine but, any movement in-between felt excruciatingly painful!

Now- six days later, the pain is still there but it is (thankfully) not as intense. The tissue below my skin where the large attachment was applied feels scarred. It is a bit discolored and hard- like an extremely tense muscle BUT I know that it is not the muscle because I can contract my abs w/o pain. The best way I can describe this pain overall is that it feels like when you weight train a part of your body that you haven't paid attention to in a while and you really overdo it. Every move you make over the next few days while your body is repairing itself hurts. This feels odd to me because the pain isn't coming from the muscle, it's coming from my skin and creasing or moving the flab that sits on top of my muscles. For example, I was fine doing crunches on the floor at the gym 2 days after treatment but I couldn't take jogging on the treadmill. By the way, putting on my gym shorts felt awful! Now, I can jog and do the exercises that make my flab jiggle. I still feel a little pain but it's tolerable.

Of course, it's too early to see any positive results. I hope to report some serious fat reduction after a few more weeks. Until then, I will continue to exercise and eat well and hope that this pain wasn't all for nothing. I just wanted to share my experience so far since it seems that mine has been very outside of the norm. Also, if anyone has had a similar experience please post and let me know what (if anything) helped to alleviate the pain.

I had to take it down a and From what I understand, my experience is highly unusual

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Good location. Nice and clean facility. Friendly and attentive staff. Staff also answered my MANY questions before the procedure and gave me post-treatment instruction. I am, unfortunately, one of those rare people experiencing pain after this procedure. I think that's due only to my body's response to the treatment, not some lack of care or expertise on their part.

Replies (11)

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February 17, 2011

Welcome to RealSelf, CMT. I'm glad to hear the pain has died down somewhat. Some other RealSelfers have also had pain during and after the procedure, so you're not alone. I hope it turns into great results for you. Please keep us posted!

February 21, 2011
I have the dane problems. I had the Zeltiq 4 past days and i still a lot of pain.
February 21, 2011
I had the exact same treatment and the exact same pain. I actually called my doc for some pain meds and they sounded really suprised that I was in so much pain. I had no problems with my sides, only the tummy. It is now 6 weeks post and I can not belive how WONDERFUL the results are. Takes about 4 weeks to really see results. My husband is amazed!!!
April 12, 2015
It's nice to hear someone with good results . I am 3 days post op and so far not so bad. I have swelling and now 8m starting to feel the sharp little pain but not to where I need strong pain meds. Thanks for sharing. .
June 17, 2011
I had the procedure done 7 days ago on my abdomen (large) and hips (2 smalls). My hips don't hurt but I get shooting pains in my abdominal area. It feels like nerve endings are shooting pain. I am still "numb" on my abdomen mostly and it is very sensitive to touch and is always warm/hot. I cannot wear anything with a waistband that is too tight. My sides are better, in that I have feeling, I can touch and put pressure on the area. I do have some numbness and tingling in the area below where I was treated (buttock area into the top of my thigh)which is strange. Immediately after the suction was taken off the area on the hip, the buttock/hip area below it started to BURN and get very hot to the touch. I was told that the vasculature was trying to get blood to the treated area. I'm going back to the doctor today for a follow up.
September 6, 2011
I had the same exact pain. I had it done twice on my abdominal area. The treatments were done 5 weeks apart. Very much pain for 10 days after each treatment.During procedure was painful first 15 min, but it was manageable after that. Did not have any bruising or scarring. I thought it all be worthy when I will see results. It's been 6 .5 months after the 1st treatment and about over 5 months after the 2nd treatment and unfortunately I did not see any fat reduction at all. People are commenting that my stomach even got bigger. Has it happen to anybody? I was dieting all this time.