Coolsculpting, or Zeltiq, has been on the Doctors show, Rachel Ray, and Dr. Oz. This is a technology that actually sounded almost strange at first. Interestingly, when liposuction was first described by a french plastic surgeon the reaction was the same.
Physicians have known for some time that patients that suffer from frostbite may not actually injure their skin, but end up losing fat cells afterwards. The science of using coolsculpting technology for our Ann Arbor patients utilizes this phenomena to our advantage. Essentially, the skin is treated with a cooling mechanism that chills the fat cells more than the surface skin tissue. This triggers a signal in the fat cell, called apoptosis, that tells the fat cell to die. Voila! The fat is slowly absorbed by your body over the following ninety days. Very “cool” indeed!
In our Ann Arbor plastic surgery practice, we have never embraced any gizmo technology. My concern was that the various devices never lived up to their promises. Fraxel and coolsculpting, by Zeltiq, are the only two high technology minimal down time devices I have confidence in. Of course, only time will tell but already 35,000 patients in Europe have had the treatment, and we may have exceeded that number in the U.S. within the next few months.
In Ann Arbor, Coolsculpting by Zeltiq should be able in the next 4-6 weeks. We will be placing patients on a waitlist. The treatment takes one hour and you can return to work and normal activities that day. However, you will start to get sore three days after the treatment as the treatment starts to work!!
Insider tips for Coolscupting in Michigan:
1. Only certain patients are candidates for Coolsculpting in Ann Arbor. Typically, you should be within 30 pounds of ideal body weight or have any area to be treated that can be easily pinched that is less 2..5 to 3 inches.
2. You should consult with a practioner that offers all fat removal treatments including liposuction, laser lipo/Smart lipo, and Zeltiq Coolsculpting. This will allow you to get a frank opinion of what procedure is the best for your body type.
3. Early non-responders to Zeltiq Coolscupting in Michigan were patients whose body type was not appropriate for this procedure. Make sure your practioner is not just a one trick pony and this is the only technology they can offer.
