If you are out of shape and hate yourself for this, know that you are not alone. Obesity has become an epidemic in the United States. Adult obesity rate, according to the latest BRFSS data, is over 34% in seven states, over 30% in more than half of the states and over than 25% in 48 states.
Emerge of plastic surgery
Losing fat organically takes time. It requires patience and hardwork, which is why, most people opt for the shortcut – plastic surgery. Plastic surgeons assure them of spot fat reduction, which is impossible to achieve through workout and/or diet.
What is CoolSculpting
It is a fat removal procedure. Like every other plastic surgery procedure out there, it works like a charm for some people while others don’t see any marked improvement in their appearance. CoolSculpting is noninvasive. In rare cases, however, it can be semi invasive when the surgeon uses injection. Common CoolSculpting methods are all noninvasive and these methods involve the use of radiofrequency, laser and ultrasound.
Does CoolSculpting work?
Yes, it does. If the procedure is successful, fat will be reduced from specific areas in your body. Mostly areas that have higher propensity of fat deposition such as stomach, thigh and buttock. However, CoolSculpting doesn’t help in losing weight. It surgically or non-surgically removes fat from certain areas in body.
If you are paying to have CoolSculpting done on you, understand that this procedure reduces fat only to a certain extent. Most people who underwent CoolSculpting reported body fat has been reduced somewhere between 10 and 25%. Don’t expect CoolSculpting to remove 100% fat, have realistic expectation. Also, it takes time for this procedure to show visible effects. So don’t be squeamish.
Is CoolSculpting permanent
CoolSculpting is called fat-freezing because it freezes fat cells in the body. The frozen fat cells eventually die off and then fat is reduced.
Are the effects permanent?
The answer is yes and no. A Manhattan based plastic surgeon Jeannel Astarita explained “I really emphasize to my patients, yes it’s a permanent fat reduction technology, but only if you control your weight. If you gain weight, it will go somewhere.”
CoolSculpting reduces fat permanently. But it cannot prevent you from gaining weight. Later if you gain weight, fat will be deposited in other areas, but not in the area/s where the procedure was performed. Hence after CoolSculpting, you’d have to stay fit and work out a lot to maintain a lean physique. There’s no cut and dry answer as to whether CoolSculpting is permanent. It depends on the person undergoing the procedure. If they don’t maintain a physically active life afterwards, the effects of CoolSculpting will wear off and several areas in the body will begin depositing fat.
CoolSculpting and insurance
I know what a lot of you are thinking. Is CoolSculpting covered by insurance? I am sure this question has occurred in your mind. I will answer it, so be patient.
Once again, there’s no “yes” or “no” type answer to it. Normally, health insurance plans don’t cover CoolSculpting procedure. Most people pay the cost arising from this procedure from their own pockets. However, because CoolSculpting is a growing fad in the cosmetic industry and a lot of people are going for it, some medical spa are offering discounts to customers. An unbiased estimate indicates up to 20% cost of this procedure can be waived by the company offering it.
There are insurance options for medical spa owners, though. The plans are normally offered on a la carte basis, which means they are not titled as CoolSculpting insurance. Among these plans, the most popular one is liability coverage insurance. Liability coverage plans protect the spa owner in the event of an accident or injury of the patient as consequence of the procedure gone wrong. There are few other types of insurance that can offset the cost a spa owner might have to pay in the wake of an undesirable incident. Two such plans are malpractice insurance and property coverage insurance.
Malpractice insurance comes to your rescue when a patient takes you to court over a physical injury or being dissatisfied with the service. Property coverage insurance is like any other business insurance. It protects you from untoward incidents. Should anything happen to your place of business or the equipment you use get stolen or damaged, property coverage compensates you.
Cost of CoolSculpting
Understand that CoolSculpting is not a health necessity for you. It is an elective cosmetic procedure to enhance your appearance and for this reason, it is quite expensive. Also, as we’ve discussed already, medical spas that offer this service spend a lot of money insuring their clinics and equipment. Other than the two types of insurances mentioned in the previous paragraph, they also cover offsite services and their employees. Paying insurance premium monthly increases their operating expenditure, so they charge high for their services to counterbalance the increased operating cost.
There’s no fixed cost for CoolSculpting. The cost varies from one region to another. The final cost depends on several factors one of which is the number of applications. Most facilities charge on per hour basis. The standard cost is $750 per hour for small applicators. Applicators in this context means the device used for carrying out the procedure. If medium applicators are used, cost could be anywhere between $600 and $800. Large applicators typically cost between $1200 and $1500.
Cost depends on what part of your body requires the treatment. For example, if you are going to have CoolSculpting in lower abdominal area, a large applicator would be needed and the cost would be high.
Is one session enough?
Because CoolSculpting is expensive, many people cannot bear the recurring cost arising from having to undergo the procedure more than once. However, to have successful result, the patient might need to have up to 3 CoolSculpting treatment sessions in total.
Talk to your doctor about this beforehand if you don’t want to be left dissatisfied in the wake of this procedure. Besides, if you get to know well in advance how many sessions you’d going to be need, you can arrange enough money.
CoolSculpting risks
No medical procedure is without risk. Invasive procedures carry a statistically higher percentage of risk compared to noninvasive procedures. However, noninvasive procedures are not totally risk-free. CoolSculpting, a noninvasive cosmetic procedure can lead to skin infection, permanent skin damage and scarring. It can change fat-layers and cause chronic and lasting pain. CoolSculpting can also cause serious medical complications like paradoxical adipose hyperplasia.
Less severe side-effects that are way more common than the ones stated above include loss of sensation in the area where the procedure was done, redness, swelling, etc. Talk to your doctor about the risks and how likely these are to occur before you pay for the procedure.
Are you a candidate?
That’s not for you to decide. Only the doctor can decide whether or not the procedure will suit you. If the doctor feels that overall weight loss training regime will suit you better than losing fat in specific areas in the body, he’ll advise you to spend more time working out. He might also suggest invasive procedures such as liposuction or gastric bypass surgery.
Conclusion
Whether you will have CoolSculpting or not entirely depends on you. However, understand there are objective factors at play. If you have health issues, the doctor may advise you to sort these issues before having this procedure done. Same way, you might find the cost of the procedure to be high enough to back off. Or you might get fascinated by the idea of non-surgical fat removal but then get discouraged thinking of all the scary side-effects.
Hence, my advice would be spend enough time. Weigh all the pros and cons and then make a final decision with an open mind.
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