Lose the Love Handles with Coolsculpting FAQ

Coolsculpting love handles at Cosmetic Skin and Laser Center

Coolsculpting series – Part 1.

How Coolsculpting Treats the Stubborn Fat that Exercise and Diet Alone Can’t Spot Reduce.

What if you could lose those love handles… without resorting to a 1000-calorie-a-day diet or invasive plastic surgery?

It’s possible with Coolsculpting. For nearly a decade, we’ve helped clients in Traverse City and Petoskey banish bulges in just 35 minutes.

These claims are usually met with skepticism. Only 35 minutes? Really? And how on earth does it freeze fat so it goes away permanently?

We’ve got answers to these questions and more with our 3-part Coolsculpting series. Read on for everything you wanted to know about freezing fat and probably a few things you didn’t know you want to know, but help you decide whether Coolsculpting is right for you.

History, Safety, and Where Coolsculpting Works on Your Body

I’m a history buff. What’s the backstory on this fat freezing technique?

Two doctors affiliated with Harvard Medical School knew of a medical phenomenon where infants and children who frequently sucked on popsicles lost fat in their cheeks (and sometimes formed dimples). To add further weirdness to this, they’d also heard of a case of a woman who rode naked on a horse in cold weather and reported fat loss on her inner thighs.

From those strange cases, the doctors theorized that making fat cells cold, by applying freezing to them, could result in fat loss. In scientific terms, this is called cryolipolysis. Years of trial and error later, they uncovered that fat cells are highly sensitive to cold; more than our skin, muscles and other tissues.

They discovered a specific temperature that maximized the destruction of fat cells while leaving other tissue (our skin, muscles and nerves) unharmed, and thus, Coolsculpting technology was born.

Okay, I love the idea of freezing and killing my fat cells. But is it safe?

Coolsculpting is FDA-approved. With over one million Coolsculpting treatments performed worldwide, it is proven to be a safe and effective treatment for non-surgical fat reduction.

What areas respond best with Coolsculpting?

Anything you can easily squeeze, so that usually means front and side belly, back flanks, inner thighs and upper arms.
Coolsculpting is FDA-approved for the following eight areas:

  • abdomen
  • flanks
  • thighs
  • bra fat
  • back fat
  • under the chin
  • banana roll
  • and most recently the upper arms

How long does a Coolsculpting session take?

We’ll have you in and out in about 45 minutes—easy enough to fit into a weekday lunch hour (we won’t tell if you won’t!)

Is there any pain?

One a pain scale of one to ten, most people put it around a two. It’s been described as similar to the feel of sticking your hand in snow for a few minutes.

Pain-wise, it’s minimal, especially when you consider it’s non-invasive (no needles, no drugs, no inflammation, no downtime).
Some people even doze off and sneak in a 10-minute nap during their lunch break.

What about my butt and hips? Will Coolsculpting work on those areas?

Coolsculpting is ideal for fat that you can easily grab. Think “soft fat.”

Hips, outer thighs and butt fat are often more fibrous and harder to squeeze, so we prefer Smartlipo laser liposuction in that are
Any area you can easily squeeze (your belly, your back flanks, or your inner thighs) are all ideal body spots for Coolsculpting to work its magic.