Ladies - Anybody curious about CoolSculpting?

Ok, a little note to shed some light for those who are wondering how someone could compete and say they are not overweight, yet still want to have cosmetic procedures done - here's some explanation...

When I competed in that figure competition (it was the Western Regional Bodybuilding Competition, Figure class), it was the culmination of four years of working with a trainer nearly every day. I would wake up in the morning and spend 50 minutes on the stair climber, then go to work, then go to my trainer after work and spend an hour doing weights with him, and then home to another 45 minutes of either the stair climber or dance practice. I literally had no life. I was on a very strict diet, which my trainer reviewed with me constantly and adjusted as the competition drew near. I lost so much weight that sleeping was uncomfortable because there was hardly any padding on my hips and I lost my period for about six months because my body fat was so low.

I did it to prove to myself I could do it, but after it was over, I was so burnt out that I really lost my motivation to diet for a long time, so I gained a lot of weight. Then I slowly started working my way back down, over the next few years, until I was back in my healthy range. Since then, I have lost more weight, and now I actually exercise because I enjoy it and if I go a couple of days without working out I miss it. I also went veggie for four years, but then I was diagnosed with collagenous colitis, and went gluten free and had to start eating meat again for variety.

Long story short, unless you are an athlete by profession, or work in the fitness industry, or are a professional dancer, it is very difficult to garner your time, energy and willpower to maintain such an extreme level of fitness for a lengthy period of time.

While I also belly danced, during the same time frame, and I was paid to do so, I did not consider myself a professional. I danced at a couple of restaurants, one on a regular basis for a while, and at a few events, and I was very involved in the dance community as my best friend is a professional (she travels the world teaching and performing - I hardly get to see her any more), but I had a full time job in computers and couldn't dedicate myself to dance like the other girls, although I would have loved to!!

Anyway, believe me, I know many girls who you would swear are just naturally drop dead gorgeous, but 9 out of 10 have had some kind of "work" done. So, I and my friends are no strangers to surgery and other procedures, and that is why I am so willing to talk about it. I believe, you can't take it (money) with you, but you can use some of it to improve your self image and feel good about yourself - and that means feeling happy in your skin, now, and for years to come, instead of feeling dis-satisfied or worse, unhappy!

Ok, there is my rant about procedures and surgery and why people choose to go that route even when they are fit and look good by most people's standards.

If you can relate, and continue to be interested in hearing about my experience with CoolSculpting, then please continue to follow. This thread is for anybody who would like to know what the experience is like and how the results turn out, not for debate on whether cosmetic procedures are good or bad.

Rant over - the updates will continue tomorrow...

reply to post by antonia


I didn't mean to sound like I was being judgemental or implying that OP was being lazy, I'm sorry if it sounded that way! Yesterday was a day of putting my foot in my mouth and not engaging the proper language channels so I spent a good few hours making caveman type sounds and bashing on my keyboard

I have thought about it some more.
OP, I understand if you don't want to say, since it's not polite to discuss money; but I was wondering how much it is costing you per session? There are no price guides online.
I wouldn't consider it for myself, but it's certainly interesting all the same.

reply to post by Lulzaroonie

No, I don't mind - I think I said it in the first post, in fact.

My medispa has a special going for the month of December, $450 per area if you buy 3 or more areas. I bought 4 total, so it was a grand total of $1800.

Update: The tush is not nearly as sore as my tummy, so that's good! I was wondering how sitting in office chairs was going to feel, but it will not be a problem. My tummy is still sore but much less than yesterday, although it doesn't help when my doggies jump on me!

I did wake up to a little surprise this morning, however, I got hives on my left hip, not where the area was suctioned, but where my underwear goes across. They put a gel pad over each area before placing the nozzle. I think some of the gel must have dripped down the side of my undies and dried, so I was unaware. I shower in the mornings and sleep in my undies, so the dried gel was against my skin while I slept last night, and caused the hives. That's my theory, anyway. I showered and then took my allergy pill, when I got up, and it's not too itchy.

So the moral of this story is... If you, Dear Reader, ever have this procedure done, go home and have a quick rinse off in the shower, and put on fresh clothing after the treatment, even if your clothes feel dry.

Day 3: I worked out on the stair climber for 45 minutes yesterday evening and again this morning. Working out somehow made me more sore, even though I didn't do any abdominal exercises. Then I went home and cleaned house and now I am feeling a bit wiped out. So, to summarize, still sore, actually more sore now. The hives on my hip are still bad and have not diminished. I picked up some Cortizone 10 cream and it helps a lot with the itching from the hives.

Day 4:

The hives have not diminished, and actually have spread a little further into the area on my lower tummy that was suctioned. I'm starting to wonder if it could be "cold urticaria" but I still think it was probably just a reaction to the gel, since they didn't start in any of the areas that were directly treated. Anyway, the Cortisone 10 is keeping the itching under control.

I am still very, very sore and tender in both upper and lower tummy areas. Hardly any soreness in the tush, which is funny because I feared that area would be worse. The upper tummy is still the most sore, particularly the area over my ribs, but lower is also very sore, whenever it is jostled or bumped by my dogs, it zings me. I did the stair climber another 45 minutes this morning, this time it didn't seem to make it worse. Every now and then I feel a little nerve twinge zap me, but so far those are few and far between.

I can sneeze and cough without it hurting now.

Lessons Learned: The claims of "no pain" you see in some of the ads, for this procedure, are completely bogus. My Medispa never tried to claim that, though. All the techs at my Medispa have had it done during their test period, while they were deciding whether or not to start providing the procedures, so they know the score and didn't try to sugar coat it.

Time to watch the game...

reply to post by gwynnhwyfar


My skin breaks out in horrid red bumps when I get my brows waxed, I can't imagine what that gel would do to me

Well, Guess i'll stay ugly lol.

reply to post by antonia


You look fine to me. Ah, the beauty of the anonymous internet... It is good to us all!

Day 5:

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night to visit the restroom, as I always do, but when I went back to bed, I had a heck of a time falling back asleep. No matter how I turned, I kept getting the nerve twinges shooting through my lower left side of my tummy. I finally figured out that gentle pressure helped and managed to get comfortable enough with a pillow under my side that I fell back asleep. During the day, I had similar twinges, but work is plenty engaging enough to keep me distracted, so it was not a problem. I decided to sleep in my pressure garment tonight, to see if it helps. So, I put it on when I got home and got into my jammies. We'll see how it goes.

It hurts the most when walking, which jars it, and when anything bumps or brushes against my tummy. Poor dogs don't know why I keep squawking as they jostle for position with me on the sofa!

reply to post by antonia


Also, the more you say such things, the more you reinforce them to your subconscious. Stop it!!!

You aren't the slightest bit ugly. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. You are friendly and kind. I love yoga too, and I bet you are much more skillfull than I am, since I rarely get the chance to practice regularly, with my current schedule (I eat up most of my time on cardio). That means you are able to relax into the poses and breathe and flow. That is the essense of dance and the essense of life, and beautiful and perfect.

Day 6: Too much weirdness at work. I'll post a status update tomorrow. Hard to see right now thanks to aural migraine (work related not procedure related).

Ok, it has subsided, and now I can see to write.

I had a very weird day at work, which caused other stress, but regarding the procedure... I continue to be sore and with the nerve jolty-shocky feelings. I took Advil around noon to alleviate them, it helped but did not remove them completely. I woke up again last night and had a long time to fall back asleep, and while the pressure garment may have helped my abdominal pain, it also came with its own issues - the bra strap connector turned and dug into the front of my shoulders which drove me nuts in-and-of-itself! I disconnected it in the wee hours (3:30 am) and tried to settle in. I had fitful sleep the rest of the night.

I started to see some changes this morning, visually, as the swelling is starting to go down.

Night all!
Gwynn

Day 7: FINALLY, a night without pain! Yay! Last night, I still woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep for hours, but it wasn't due to pain. When the alarm finally went off for my hubby, I gave up on getting any more sleep and went to the gym for another 45 minutes on the stair climber. I had just enough time afterwards to pick up coffee and get home in time to start work. I work from home a couple of days a week, on my current schedule.

Once I got home, then my littlest dog wanted to sit in my lap while I worked, and she kept pushing on my tummy while she got settled, and kept jumpingoff to go investigate noises and things, so my tummy started hurting again almost immediately. Regardless, I am very grateful for the night off from pain, last night.

Day 10: Well, it has been a couple of days without posting, but it doesn't look like anyone is beating down the door, so I don't feel too bad.

The soreness comes and goes, but at least I can sleep at night. Anything that touches my tummy from the inside or outside still hurts (i.e. I feel it when I have just eaten a meal, or if I need to use the restroom, or leaning over to shave my legs, etc) but I am distracted from it most of the time. The hives are much better, not completely gone, but just pink now, not dark red, and no longer raised and super itchy.

I have hardly noticed any pain or itching from the tush areas, it has all been focused on the tummy, both upper and lower.

I haven't really noticed much in the way of change in the treated areas, so far, although they LOOK perfectly normal, they still feel swollen. That's about it, for now. I'll check back in if anything changes.

Day 20 (or thereabouts):

No more pain and the itching comes and goes but is fairly mild. I am starting to see results! My hubby commented on it first - he could see the change in my tummy area and said it was looking good.

I had a thickening or stiffness of the flesh in the center of the treated area of my upper tummy that lasted for 5-6 days. It was the area that had been the most sore. I have just been kneading and massaging it and it has almost gone away now. I think perhaps the tech did not do the after treatment "massage" in that area as thoroughly. She was a different tech from the one who did the "after massage" on all my other areas. At any rate, it seems to have broken up now and is probably in the process of being reabsorbed.

One Month:

I had my one month follow-up photos last Tuesday and its looking pretty good! All pain and itching is gone. The area that had felt "thick" last time I posted is gone and smooth and supple as usual now. Considering there are two more months to go to my final results, I am quite pleased at the progress so far!

I'd be quite interested to see any photos before and after, if you feel comfortable with putting them up?

Thanks for this thread, it has been very interesting to read.

That said, all that i keep seeing is pain pain and more pain. My daughter gets hives from cold urticuria and i wouldn't wish it on anyone when it gets bad.

Soreness, pain etc....if i wasn't competing i think i'd rather stick to exercise which you know for a fact will work.

As you'll know already, a good workout doesn't need to take up your whole life, and you'll know enough about nutrition to be able to maintain a good body.

I just think it's a lot of money for a lot of pain and the hope of results. Lets face it, how many claims like this have turned out either false or dangerous? Freezing your body is not good.

But again, thank you for the info, it's always good to know what is out there on the market these days.

CX.

Originally posted by Lulzaroonie
I'd be quite interested to see any photos before and after, if you feel comfortable with putting them up?

I'll think about it when I get the final ones - right now it's too early.

CoolSculpting is very good idea to remove fat. I think it's better for surgery and i am also done it from Dubai. Dr. Sanjay Parashar is the Cosmetic and Plastic surgeon. He open has own clinic as Cocoona Day Surgical Center. There all types of surgical and non surgical treatment were done in professional manner and very reasonable cost. I'm also done there Weight loss treatment.