If you’re like most Americans, you’ve been trying desperately to rid your body of stubborn pockets of fat for years with varying levels of success. If you’re in pretty good health and at or near your goal weight, CoolSculpting at Reflections Medical Spa in Cartersville, GA can help you achieve the contours you haven’t seen since high school. Today, we’re taking a closer look at this game-changing treatment, including how long you can expect your session to last.
How Long Does a CoolSculpting Session Last?
The duration of each coolsculpting treatment depends on how much excess fat is in the targeted area, how thick your skin is, how deep the fat is, the size of the areas being treated, and how many areas you are targeting in one session. The depth of the fat cells and the thickness of your skin affect the length of treatment because the device will need to get colder if your skin is thicker and your fat is farther from the surface of your skin.
The operating temperature of the device can range from 42 to 38 degrees depending on your unique situation. If the device operates at a colder temperature, your appointment time will last longer as the device needs longer to reach operating temperature. Your session will also take longer if you are trying to remove a larger volume of fat, you are treating regions with a larger surface area of skin or you are targeting two or three areas.
Can I Receive Treatment on My Lunch Break?
It can take between 35 and 60 minutes to target an area of your body. If you are targeting two small areas of your body, such as your underarms and the backs of your knees, you could come in during your lunch break without taking time off from work. If, however, you are trying to target two large areas of your body, such as your back and abdomen, you may need to take an hour off from work.
Is There Any Downtime After This Treatment?
This treatment is very quickly replacing liposuction as the gold standard for body contouring because there is no downtime whatsoever. Liposuction often takes three to four hours followed by a three-hour observation process to ensure that there are no side effects following general anesthesia.
Then, there is a one- to two-week recovery process that is so extensive you can’t consider going into work, and that’s just the start of healing. After this non-invasive treatment, you are free to return to work, school, or any regularly scheduled social activities.
However, you should make sure you eat a healthy snack and drink plenty of water after your treatment. A healthy snack will ensure that your blood sugar levels are stable. Combined with adequate hydration, your lymphatic system has the best possible chance to run at peak efficiency and you will see the final results of your treatment faster.
How Many Sessions Will I Need to See My Ideal Results?
The number of treatments you will need to see your ideal results depends on several factors which will be discussed more thoroughly during your initial consultation. For example, your body fat distribution affects how many sessions it will take for you to be satisfied with your results. If all of your excess fat is stored in your abdomen, you may need two or three sessions to achieve your final results.
Another factor that affects how many sessions you will need is the number of trouble areas you have. For instance, you may have deposits of excess fat on your inner and outer thighs, on your chest, and on your upper arms. If you only have time to treat one or two areas per session, you may need to attend two to three sessions to achieve your desired results if a single session per area will address your concerns.
What Results Can I Realistically Expect?
CoolSculpting can help you lose between 20 and 80% of the fat cells in your trouble region. It can safely and effectively remove up to 80% of localized fat cells in smaller regions of your body, such as your neck, chin, underarms, and the backs of your knees.
It can remove, on average, between 20 and 26% of localized fat cells from larger regions, such as your chest, abdomen, flanks, hips, buttocks, or back.
How Soon Will I See the Final Results of My Treatment?
How quickly you will see your final CoolSculpting results depends on several factors, including how much fat was in the targeted area and your lifestyle choices. Remember, a single treatment session removes approximately 26% of fat cells in larger regions of your body, like your chest or stomach.
If there is a larger deposit of fat in the targeted area, it will take longer to see the final results of your treatment. However, your lifestyle plays a larger role. Your lifestyle plays the most critical role in how quickly you can expect to see the final results of your treatment because it affects the efficiency of your lymphatic system.
Among other roles, your lymphatic system is responsible for flushing damaged cells from your body, including the white fat cells frozen to death during your treatment session. Usually, it takes six weeks to see your final results, but there are a few things you can do to speed this up:
Drinking Half a Gallon of Water Daily
One of the best things you can do for the efficiency of your lymphatic system is to ensure that you are hydrated. How much you need to drink to remain hydrated depends on several factors, including your height, weight, gender, overall health, how often you work out, and the types of foods that you consume.
The only way to know if you are hydrated is to check the color of your urine. It should be very pale if it is not translucent. If you’re unsure whether the color of your urine is normal, ask your primary care physician. If your urine is not at least very pale after drinking half a gallon of water, keep hydrating until your urine is very pale.
If you’re dehydrated, your body won’t flush out your dead fat cells as efficiently as it could if you were drinking enough.
Minimize Your Consumption of Processed Foods
Another critical step you can take to improve the efficiency of your lymphatic system and see the final results of your treatment faster is to minimize your consumption of processed foods. Processed foods contain simple sugars that slow down your lymphatic system drastically.
While you may usually drink a protein shake, eat a protein bar, or eat store-bought, heavily-processed cereal, try to eat only foods that come from the perimeter of the grocery store. For example, eat a tomato and mushroom omelet with a side of avocado or grapefruit for breakfast instead of cereal.
Have a handful of nuts or carrots as a snack instead of chips or pretzels. For lunch and dinner, eat a salad with lean protein, such as tuna or chicken. You don’t have to make these dietary changes forever, and you don’t have to forgo all treats. You just have to make them for the first four or five weeks after your treatment session to see your final results faster.
Go for a Walk
Another simple, effective way to kick your lymphatic system into high gear is to go for a walk. Walking is a great way to speed up the final results of your treatment session because it supports a strong, healthy cardiovascular system. In turn, a strong, healthy cardiovascular system supports an efficient lymphatic system.
We strongly recommend walking at a moderate pace for at least 2.5 hours a week in the month following your treatment. If you can’t squeeze 2.5 hours of moderately-paced walking into your weekly routine, try to walk vigorously for 75 minutes.
Even if you only have a 30-minute lunch break, you can go for a 15-minute brisk walk for five days per week. This can shave up to two weeks off of the time you must wait to see the final results of your treatment session.
Get a Lymphatic Massage
If life has you stressed, do your best to relax. Speeding up the final results of your treatment is the perfect excuse to get a professional massage. When looking for a masseuse, look for one who is certified to provide lymphatic massages, massages designed specifically to speed up a sluggish, over-taxed lymphatic system.
Am I a Good Candidate for This Treatment?
To discover if you are a good candidate for this treatment, it is crucial that you come in for an initial consultation. While virtually everyone is a good candidate for this treatment due to its non-invasive nature, there are a few circumstances under which this treatment is not ideal.
An initial consultation will reveal whether you have a medical condition that makes you a poor candidate for this treatment or you have goals that cannot be achieved with this treatment.
Medical Conditions That Preclude an Individual From This Treatment
The most common condition that precludes an individual from this treatment is Raynaud’s disease, sometimes known as Raynaud’s phenomenon. This condition is characterized by smaller arteries, such as the arteries in your fingers and toes, constricting excessively in response to the cold. This often results in tingling, numbness, or extremities turning blue.
Other common situations that preclude an individual from this treatment include pregnancy and breastfeeding. The FDA has tested neither the safety nor the efficacy of this treatment for women who are pregnant or nursing. Therefore, we cannot provide treatment to such women. If you are unsure if you are pregnant, take a test and confirm you are not pregnant before you consider treatment.
The Effect of Obesity on Candidacy for This Treatment
Another common medical condition that precludes an individual from this treatment is obesity. Obesity is a medical condition defined as the state of having a BMI (body mass index) greater than 29.9. In other words, to be a good candidate for treatment, you must have a BMI ranging from 18.5 to 29.9.
To calculate your BMI, divide your weight in pounds by the square of your height in inches and multiply the result by the conversion factor of 703. For example, let’s say you’re 6’2” and weigh 225 pounds. Square your height of 74 inches by multiplying 74 and 74 and getting 5,476 as your denominator. Your numerator will be 225 times 703, or 158,175. Dividing the numerator by the denominator, you get 28.9 which is overweight, not obese.
Learn More About Losing Stubborn Fat for Good Today
If you are sick and tired of bulging pockets of stubborn fat, CoolSculpting may be the ideal body contouring solution for you. To learn more about this revolutionary treatment, contact us now at Reflections Medical Spa in Cartersville, GA to schedule your initial consultation. We will review your health and aesthetic goals to create a custom plan for helping you achieve them.
