CoolSculpting®

CoolSculpting® is commonly used to treat those areas of the body that easily accumulate fat – waist (love handles), hips, upper and lower abdomen, bra line and mid-back. The technical name for the body contouring method used by Zeltiq is cryolipolysis, the cooling of the adipose tissue just above the freezing point to induce lipolysis, damaging fat cells but without damaging other tissues. The body then “thinks” the fat has been melted and starts to eliminate it over time by the natural metabolic process.

Research has shown that fat cells respond to extreme cold. This means that they are more vulnerable to cooling than any surrounding tissues. Therefore, they can be selectively eliminated with no pain involved. When cooled just above the freezing point, fat turns from liquid to solid and over the next few weeks after the treatment, that cooled fat will start the apoptosis process, which leads to a release of inflammatory mediators such as cytokines.

Within the next months, these inflammatory cells gradually digest the fat cells. The lipids resulting from those cells are then metabolized like any other food fat – they are transported by the lymphatic system and then processed out of the body. As this happens, the circumference shrinks around the treated body areas.

CoolSculpting® is a great procedure to treat the following areas: abdomen, flanks (love handles), thighs, back fat, male chest. During your consultation, our staff will be able to determine your treatment plan based on your goals.

The body sculpting process can only begin after recommendation from the clinic. The healthcare professional will analyze the patient’s profile and medical history to specify the treatment areas and number of treatments required.

Every patient has a different body and only a certified clinician can tailor a plan that best fits your requirements. It only takes one consultation visit to the office to outline your goals and identify the problem areas. There are different applicators that come with the CoolSculpting® machine and each is used for a specific treatment plan that can produce the desired results.

For some patients the CoolSculpting® plan is customized and they may require treatment with different applicators. For example if you want to get rid of fat from the inner thigh area and also the muffin top then you need treatment with multiple applicators. There are also CoolSculpting® machines that can target different areas of the body simultaneously.

One of the major benefits of CoolSculpting® is that the fat cells are destroyed forever and absorbed by the body. This means they do not return or multiply as the patient gains weight. There are several other benefits CoolSculpting® has over other methods of fat loss:

• There is no down-time so patient does not need to take time off from work.
• The results of the treatment are natural and continue to develop as weeks pass following the session.
• It is also recommended to those who have achieved their target weight or have a normal BMI but need to get rid of stubborn fat in certain areas.
• There is no risk of weight gain and the results last for a long time because the fat cells are permanently destroyed and eliminated from the body.
• There is no risk of skin dimpling because the fat cells are destroyed evenly across the treatment area.
• The skin barrier is not broken therefore the risk of complications like scarring and infection is reduced.
• No anesthesia or medications are required.
• There are very few adverse reactions reported with this treatment and no allergic reactions
• Complications and side-effect severity are lower than those associated with invasive procedures like liposuction.
• The procedure helps in achieving a slimmer and well-toned body and boosts the self-confidence of the patient. Best results are achieved when the treatment is coupled with weight loss through a healthy diet plan and regular exercise.

After the patient schedules an appointment at the clinic, they meet the healthcare professional for a consultation session. The person conducting the session could be a doctor or a healthcare professional specialized in the CoolSculpting® procedure. The clinician takes the time to holistically discuss the details of the approach being used to reshape the patient’s body. The body is analyzed from a number of angles and then specific areas are focused on to figure out how to eliminate the fat.

Before the procedure begins, the patient is weighed, and photographs of the treatment areas are taken for medical evidence. Since the fat is supposed to reduce in the weeks following the treatment the photos are used as a base-line that the healthcare professional refers to for comparison during follow-up session and post-treatment. It is easy for the brain to forget something it does not see every day and seeing a side-by-side comparison helps notice the visible changes. The treatment plan is mapped out on the ‘Before’ photographs to identify the area to be treated. The healthcare professional identifies where they are going to be placing the cooling device to contour the body.

During the treatment a gel pad and applicator is placed on the treatment area. The applicator controls the cooling effect and brings the fat down to a low temperature. Patients are free to read, use their phones or even take a nap while the procedure is being performed.

The length of CoolSculpting® treatments will vary depending on the number of areas being treated during one visit. CoolSculpting®’s latest technology can treat a patient in 35-60 minutes, some patients have more than one treatment during the same office visit. The patient and CoolSculpting® nurse specialist may also schedule additional treatments or office visits in order to meet your goals.

A single session of CoolSculpting® takes up to one hour to treat each area as it works in small hand-sized portions at a time. Each love handle is considered a separate area and the lower abdomen is often broken down into two to three regions. Therefore, it is possible to have more than one area treated in a single clinic visit. However, it should be noted that more areas to be treated will make the procedural time longer.

Since the process can only eliminate up to 20% of the fat in a single sitting it will take some time for heavier patients to achieve their desired body shape. The fat cells are frozen and destroyed slowly so you should patiently wait for the results to manifest themselves. It is possible to schedule secondary sessions as early as 8 weeks after your treatment. One thing to be mentioned here is that the timelines of the results are different for each patient.

It really depends on how many areas (upper/lower abdomen, love handles, thighs, upper/lower back, male chest) you want treated. If you exercise regularly and only have one problem area, then you’ll most likely only need a one 35 minute CoolSculpting® treatment. Larger areas take one hour to treat. If you would like to have both flanks (love handles) and your lower abdomen sculpted, you will require 4 areas to be treated. The number of treatments is based on each person’s unique body shape and can be done in single day.

After the first session, the treated area will appear to be smoother and toned which continues to improve over the course of six months. The majority of the frozen fat cells will naturally leave the body within two months of the procedure and in some cases, it can happen as early as four weeks.

It is common knowledge that the results of cosmetic fat loss treatments such as liposuction are instant. While non-invasive procedures are generally quick and take not more than an hour, the results are slower to be evident and take a few weeks before appearing. The full effect, however, is only visible after 3 to 4 months and it is likely that multiple sessions will be required to achieve the goal.

CoolSculpting® is not a weight loss solution for people who are obese. Good candidates have noticeable bulges in certain areas they’d like to get rid of. Our staff will determine if treatment is right for you during a one-on-one consultation. In our experience, the ideal individual for this procedure is within 10-25 pounds of their goal body weight. Anyone who has “pinchable” fat is a candidate for CoolSculpting®, to see if you are a candidate, just try and “pinch an inch” of fat anywhere you’d like it to disappear (belly, love handles (flanks), upper or lower back, thighs, arms, banana roll, male chest), if you can, you are most likely a candidate for CoolSculpting®! To be sure, please call us and come in for a free consultation. When treating “non-pinchable” fat, we would typically use the Vanquish® device to eliminate the fat. Instead of using “cold” to kill the fat cells, we use “heat” to kill them. We find this procedure gives our patients better results.

Since 2010 CoolSculpting® has been FDA-cleared as safe for use in reducing fat deposits. However, the system was approved over a year earlier for cooling skin and other tissues to reduce damage and discomfort during laser and other dermatologic procedures. The CoolSculpting® system is based on technology that has been FDA-approved and in use since at least 1990, and a number of studies have been conducted to ensure that the procedure:

• Does not harm the skin in treated area.
• Does not harm the nerves in treated area.
• Does not change the structure or sensitivity of nerves in treated area.
• Does not raise the level of cholesterol and fat in the blood.
• And of course you avoid any of the potential complications of surgery, plus you have no downtime, no scars, and you see visible results.

A 2014 clinical trial, the results of which were published in Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology showed very promising outcomes. The subcutaneous fat was reduced in the treatment area by up to 25 percent. Since then more than 5,000 patients have participated in successful CoolSculpting® clinical trials and 7,000,000 number of treatments have been performed worldwide.

CoolSculpting® has the highest rate of patient satisfaction amongst all other noninvasive body-contouring treatments. The trademark equipment has also won the New Beauty Award for Best Overall Fat Fighter for three years running. Even though the technology is fairly new it has impressed the medical and aesthetic community.

Glenmore Healthcare is the leading weight loss and body shaping clinic in Calgary, and was the first CoolSculpting® Certified Practice in Alberta.

Side-effects vary with each case but slight discomfort post-treatment is fairly common. Patients also experience redness, swelling and numbness in the treated area but disappear naturally after some time. The likelihood of experiencing this side effect increases if the treatment area is large. However, this is also an indication of favorable results and the effects are only temporary. They last anywhere from a few days up to 4 weeks at most and they are very mild, so you can go about your activities.

Most people do not experience any downtime. The typical CoolSculpting® patient is able to resume normal routine immediately after treatment.

Absolutely! Why wouldn’t you want a licensed nurse with advanced training to do your procedure?! We want to make sure you get the best experience and treatment possible, so we only allow licensed nurses to do our CoolSculpting® procedures.

Nurses have advanced healthcare training, always ask if a nurse is performing the procedure. We don’t cut costs by allowing non-nurses to perform medical procedures, ensuring you have the safest Coolsculpting® experience. At Glenmore Healthcare only qualified nurses perform all CoolSculpting® and injection treatments.

A consultation is the first step for a CoolSculpting® treatment process. The consultation will be in a private room with a Certified CoolSculpting® clinician in which the patient is provided all the information about the CoolSculpting® treatment. During the consultation, CoolSculpting® “before and after photos” of our other patients will be shown and then it will be discussed if the patient is a good candidate. Next the clinician will work on the best treatment plan based on budget, schedule and ultimate goals.

When people lose weight through gym and exercise their fat cells shrink but they expand again after weight gain. This means the number of fat cells remains unchanged. With CoolSculpting® the fat cells are gone for good resulting in a lasting effect.

To have a general idea of whether the CoolSculpting® procedure is painful or not, it is important to first know how the procedure is carried out. During the procedure, patients lay down and a CoolSculpting® applicator is placed on the targeted area where the fatty tissue and skin are sucked into the applicator. After the suction has ensured that the targeted tissue is firmly positioned in the applicator, the CoolSculpting® machine decreases the temperature to a freezing point.

The freezing of the skin is not as intense as most people might think. It feels like putting an ice pack on the targeted area. All in all, the treatment can easily be tolerated. It is rare for patients to complain about feeling pain during the procedure. The most common side effect is redness of the skin after the procedure. This coloration usually disappears after a few days. Patients may also experience bruising in the treatment area. CoolSculpting® is regarded as a safe and pain-free non-invasive procedure for the removal of fat and is a very reliable procedure with long lasting results for the patient.

Yes, once the fat cells are destroyed they cannot grow back. If you want to maintain your new body shape, it’s important that you continue to eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly. In the event that you do gain weight in the future, the treated areas will continue to show permanent results, and often the weight will reappear in different areas. Please keep in mind that research has shown that with weight gain, as fat cells grow they can sometime split, resulting in new fat cells being created, however this would happen with or without CoolSculpting® and the end result will still be fewer fat cells in the treated areas.

Since CoolSculpting® is a non-invasive procedure and it takes time for the body to remove the dead fat cells, the final results don’t appear until between three and ten weeks post treatment. It’s normal for the skin to naturally contract in areas where fat is lost. In some cases, you may experience excess skin droopiness or elasticity in treated areas, in which case skin tightening procedures may be appropriate. Glenmore Healthcare is the first weight loss clinic in Calgary to offer several different treatments such as Radio Frequency skin tightening in these situations.

Absoultely! We’ve had many men have Coolsculpting® done on their: upper and lower abs, muffin top, and even gynecomastia (fat in chest area).

Absolutely, you can expect to see 20-25% of the remaining fat to be lost with each treatment. The secondary treatment can be started in as little as 4 weeks, although we recommend waiting at least 6-8 weeks in order for the initial results to be more visible. Since each body is unique, this allows us to best target the remaining fat.

CoolSculpting® is really very different than liposuction. CoolSculpting® is not meant for obese or morbidly obese individuals. If you are more than 30lbs overweight, a physician directed weight loss program is your first step. CoolSculpting® is for eliminating problem fat areas, not for weight loss. If you are obese or morbidly obese, liposuction is a very effective method of fat reduction because the fat is physically removed from the body. Some of the drawbacks to liposuction are that it is a very invasive procedure, which typically involves the loss of more blood than fat, requires anesthesia, surgical incisions which usually result in permanent scars, and several months of recovery time is not uncommon. As an alternative to liposuction, Freezing the Fat with CoolSculpting® does not have any of these drawbacks and is why patients in the Calgary area may find Glenmore Healthcare the ideal place to have this procedure performed.

CoolSculpting® is not FDA-approved to treat cellulite. If you are concerned about cellulite, Glenmore Healthcare is the first weight-loss clinic in Calgary to offer the Exilis treatment, which is FDA approved for this purpose. For more information and some before & after photos of cellulite treatments, please visit our “treating cellulite” webpage.

The cost for a CoolSculpting® procedure varies depending on several factors. Some of these factors include the number of treatments required, areas of concern, and the patient’s ultimate goals. The average cost for such treatment ranges between $650-$4,000 depending on the number of areas to be treated (with the price greatly reduced the more areas you treat.) The CoolSculpting® nurse specialist creates a customized treatment plan that is specifically tailored to the patient’s body, budget, and goals. Give the clinic a call today to see if we have any CoolSculpting special deals!