CoolSculpting is the brand name for a fat-freezing method that aims to get rid of stubborn fat in certain parts of your body. The method is called cryolipolysis. The FDA approved it in 2010.
Scientists came up with the idea for cryolipolysis by studying what happens to fat during frostbite. Fat freezes at a higher temperature than skin. The cryolipolysis device cools your fat to a temperature that destroys it while leaving your skin and other tissues unharmed.
Cryolipolysis isn’t surgery and doesn’t use needles. The device holds the part of your body your doctor wants to target between two paddles. The paddles cool quickly and your doctor leaves them in place for about 35 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes. During that time, the process destroys about 20%-25% of the fat cells in the area that’s targeted.
The final results may not show up for a few months, but you may start to see some changes within a few weeks. Your immune system clears out the dead fat cells slowly over this time.
