31 Year Old, 2 Kids Trying Sculpsure on my Tummy/flanks. Portland, OR

So I am a mother of two, not trying to look like a supermodel, but definitely doing something for myself to make me feel better (hopefully) when I look in the mirror. Right now, if I don't engage my core, I look 6 months pregnant. I workout frequently and eat pretty well. So I knew that I needed to do something other than letting Mother Nature take its course.

I chose Sculpsure after reading reviews here on this site. I also looked into Coolsculpting and Laser Lipo. Lipo was out, it was going to cost over $7k. Coolsculpting would have been comparable in price, but ultimately, I was scared off by all the negative reviews of the after-pain weeks later, post-treatment, that I just don't want to deal with when I have two young kids running around. Sculpsure is also fairly new to the market as of last year, no downtime, and positive results that I have seen.

So I got this treatment done today. I'll describe it in the best way possible and update every couple weeks with results. I came in for my initial consultation and added extended time in case I was going to do the treatment (I had done a lot of research so I was pretty set on doing this). They started off by taking "before" pictures and then marked with a colored pencil the areas of my stomach that needed to be treated. This would help determine how many of those squares you would need to fill that space. On my stomach, I needed 3 on the bottom and 1 on top, and 2 squares on either side of my flanks. Keep in mind each square applicator used runs you $400. And every 4 squares is 25 min (fast!). So my total time was 50 min, broken into two segments. Once we decided it was a go, the doctor strapped on my stomach squares, locked in the applicators for each square and turned on the machine. What I didn't know going into this treatment was how painful it is! Oh.my.gosh. I nearly grabbed the woman by her hand and squeezed it so tight as if I were in labor! And then just like that the pain was gone. You basically go in intense pain cycles for 21 min. The first 4 minutes is just a warmup. The doctor was kind enough to give me a candle to smell during the most painful parts. After the 25 min were up, it was time to move to my flanks. I rolled over and they strapped the next set of squares on and started up the machine. I thought the first set was painful, no. It was not. THIS was painful!! The doctor didn't tell me until we started this round that most of her patients report the sides as being more painful. Just great. I literally couldn't talk. I just scrolled through Pinterest and responded to emails until the agony was through. But once it's done, no pain. If I didn't have a cold right now, I would be working out! I literally feel as if I didn't get this done a few hours ago, and the pain is a distant memory. The doctor said I'll probably look a little bloated for a few days, but that's normal. So now it's a waiting game, results will start to be seen hopefully starting at 6 weeks, but not fully until 12 weeks. Crossing my fingers I'll look just 3 months pregnant instead! In the meantime, I got to keep that candle. :)

I'll post photos every couple weeks to track progress! My initial photos are both me engaging my core and not engaging (6 month pregger look). So no after photos yet since I just started today.

I was hesitant to post pictures, because you can't really tell a difference yet, but I did anyway just to have record! I am sucking in (contracting abs).
So even though I haven't really noticed anything - I wasn't expecting to yet anyway (so I'm not disappointed). But good news, I lost almost two pounds! I didn't go into this wanting to lose any weight at all, so this is a bonus. I have kept up my workouts and healthy eating habits.
Pain post treatment? Yes. I had some soreness in my flanks for at least 11 days. It wasn't bad, felt like I had a workout. But it definitely was noticeable. Did not need to take any meds or restrict any movements. This was also the same areas that were my most painful during treatment.
Ugh the massaging! Your supposed to massage the treated areas 5-10 min twice a day. That's just annoying and hard to do. Not to mention how weird it feels massaging and rolling around my fat.
I'll report back in two weeks (4 weeks post treatment), or if I notice anything new until then!

I think I've been noticing a little bit of difference! It's certainly not drastic, and maybe not even worth measuring, but a slight improvement. And that makes me happy. Happy that I spent nearly $3K? Not sure yet. $500? Yes. But it's only week 4. Hoping for more improvement in the next several weeks.