subject: Coolsculpting: What Prospective Patients Should Know [print this page] CoolSculpting is a unique procedure that allows clinics and plastic surgeons to give patients a non-invasive way to remove stubborn fat. If you've struggled with your weight, you probably know all about stubborn fat. It is those pockets of fatty tissue that won't go away no matter how much dieting and exercise you do. There are a variety of reasons why this occurs. The biggest reason, though, is purely because once fat cells have been created, you can never get rid of them naturally. You can only grow or shrink them. But shrunken fat cells are still fat cells, making it nearly impossible for someone who was once obese to get a firm, flat stomach. Procedures like this can bridge that impossibility. Here's what you should know.
Candidacy
Doctors will all have various criteria when it comes to determining who is an ideal candidate for CoolSculpting, as opposed to some other procedure. The basic criteria, however, is that you be very close to your ideal weight. Patients who are really ready for a procedure such as this should be within 15 pounds or so of where they would like to be. They should have a problem area of stubborn fat that isn't disappearing, no matter their efforts in diet or exercise.
The Benefits
One of the biggest benefits of CoolSculpting is that it is non-invasive. This means, essentially, that it is not surgery. This means a much quicker recovery process, much less risk, and much less pain (as in none). There is no need for anesthesia and many patients go straight back to work after finishing the treatment.
The Procedure
The procedure itself sounds strange to uninitiated ears, but it has been proven quite effective at eliminating fat cells and getting rid of stubborn fat pockets. It begins with a device that draws a bulge of stubborn fat in between cooling panels. This imparts a certain level of pressure, but there should not be any pain involved. The applicator will then begin extracting heat from the adipose tissue, cooling it and killing the fat cells within. Over time, your body will naturally begin flushing out these dead cells, flattening your problem area in a way that could have never been possible through natural exercise and diet changes.
Results
As with liposuction, the results you get from CoolSculpting should last forever. That's not to say you can never get fat again. While you cannot eliminate fat cells naturally, you can multiply existing ones through overeating and under-exercising them. With conscious attention to those aspects of your lifestyle, however, your problem area should never again be a problem.
