24-year-old Female Gets CoolSculpting on Stomach - Vancouver, BC

So it's been four weeks now and I'm basically completely blown away by how much of a difference I see. I would say this treatment was 100% worth it. I am so happy. I can't wait to see what the next 8 weeks bring. My "shelfie" is basically completely gone already.

I went in yesterday to have CoolSculpting done on four small areas on my stomach, focusing on the lower abdominal area. I'm 24 and have been going to the gym consistently for about five years now, which helped me keep off the 60lb I lost five and a half years ago. Through all of this I have always had a little pocket of fat on my lower abs that I cannot get rid of, it looks like someone just stapled my fat in right above my hips, like a little shelf that I (un)affectionately refer to as my "shelfie". During my consultation I was told that this was something CoolSculpting could probably get rid of so I thought it was worth a shot.

The procedure took about four and a half hours and was done at Pender Medi Spa in Vancouver, BC. The treatment is advertised as non-invasive, but that doesn't mean it is pleasant or comfortable. They suck your fat area up into these little applicators and the suction is very strong, it kind of takes your breath away. I found that as the hour went by for each treatment the area being treated kind of alternated between feeling very, very cold and numb. Once the hour is up the applicator is removed and you're left with this little stick of frozen butter basically that they then need to massage down. Because my areas kind of overlapped I found the massage part got more painful with each area because any overlapping bit of skin was tender to touch. Still, I wouldn't necessarily say that the whole procedure was painful, mostly it was just very uncomfortable which was about what I was expecting.

I had read a thread on this site before going in that discussed some of the pain people were dealing with post-treatment so I was somewhat prepared for that. My stomach became very, very tender to touch about five hours post-treatment, so tender that basically any movement hurt, but sitting or lying down was ok. I went and bought like a corset/girdle type thing as I had read that can help and it is definitely helpful for walking and such because it stops the skin from jiggling so much and hurting haha. My stomach was very swollen immediately after treatment and still is now the next morning. It is also still very painful, although I was able to sleep just fine because the pain really only comes with movement.

I'll continue to update as thing progress! Obviously I can't see results yet, but my six week follow up in on June 29 so hopefully I'll have some good progress photos to share by then.