A lot of people are very curious about CoolSculpting by Zeltiq. Who would have thought that with CoolSculpting, all you need is a freezing temperature to eliminate fat cells from our body. The technology is so precise that only the fat cells are affected; no other cells or body parts are affected by the cooling. This means, there will be less fat cells in our body in which fats can be stored.
Medical technology has indeed advanced so much so that what was deemed difficult in the past, is now easy. The premise behind CoolSculpting is what we ultimately want, which is to lose fat. People often think that achieving weight loss and maintaining their weight at a healthy level is the same as fat loss. It isn’t. With weight loss, it simply means that the size of your body’s fat cells is smaller; the number of fat cells remains the same. And considering that our body hasn’t been made new fat cells after five years of age, CoolSculpting helps get rid of those excess fat cells once and for all.
I believe in balance. So while I exercise and watch my diet in order to maintain a healthy weight, I want to remove the bulges of stubborn fat around my tummy, which—contrary to popular belief—spot exercise cannot remove. I do want to look better when I wear my rash guard on the beach, which as you know is a really unforgiving, form fitting piece of garment, I decided that it’s time to get CoolSculpting done for myself.
CoolSculpting—the process
First, we marked the areas on my body that needs treatment. I’m not very fond of the bulges on my love handles, so that’s got to go. I also wanted to get rid of the bulges on my tummy.
For my CoolSculpting treatment, I used Zeltiq’s latest applicator, CoolAdvantage, for my right love handle and CoolCurve+ for my left love handle. The CoolAdvantage applicator reduces treatment time to 35 mins instead of the usual 1 hr. A CoolGel is placed on the treatment areas once the markings are made so as to protect the skin during treatment.
Once the applicator is placed on my right love handle, my clinic assistant turned on the CoolSculpting machine, which firmly sucks in the area that needs treatment into the applicator. The feeling is like a clamp, compressing on my body fat. The cooling then begins and the area starts to feel numb.
Once I am seated down comfortably, my clinic assistant Mandy then applies the CoolCurve+ applicator on my left love handle and turns on the suction. We call the use of two CoolSculpting devices at the same time, DualSculpting. It reduces the time needed for the treatment by half. For instance, a patient would have to spend 2 hrs for two applications (one applicator each time) if only one CoolSculpting machine is available. But with two CoolSculpting machines, doctors can treat two areas at one go, which means patients only spend 1 hr for two applications.
After 35 mins, Mandy removed the CoolAdvantage applicator and massaged the area for about 2 mins. The massage breaks down the frozen fat cells further and this aids in the elimination process. The CoolAdvantage applicator is then placed on my right abdomen, and the whole process starts again.
I was so comfortable that I dozed off.
The first CoolCurve+ cycle and second CoolAdvantage cycle ended at around the same time. I was quite refreshed by then from the short break. Mandy massaged the areas once more. The skin has turned red and felt a bit tender to touch. But that would subside and go away with time. Once Mandy was done with the massage, she applied the CoolFit applicator on my left abdomen.
It takes about three months to see the result. Until then, I will keep everyone posted of my progress. Till the next post, treat yourself well and keep smiling!
To recap, here are the CoolSculpting applicators used today:
1. Left abdominal: CoolFit
2. Right abdominal: CoolAdvantage
3. Left love handle: CoolCurve+
4. Right love handle: CoolAdvantage
Total time spent: About 2 hrs which covered four areas
Do visit Dr. Terence Tan's blog to find out more about his entire weight loss journey and pick up some weight loss tips!