The cosmetic industry has advanced quite a bit over the year. Ways to regain a balanced figure are no longer as hard as they used to be. Liposuction and breast augmentation are the two most common cosmetic procedures in the US. There’s an even better method nowadays. The CoolScultping® allows for a minimally invasive technique that eliminates fat cells using cold. It uses suction cups that suck the targeted area before cooling it down. The cold then causes a process of self-destruction of the cells by apoptosis which destroys about 25% of the fat cells.
Want to learn more? Keep reading the article by Dr. Francesco de Boccard.
The treatment and removal of fat is a major issue for the cosmetic industry and today represents a multi-billion dollar market. Although liposuction remains the most popular cosmetic procedure in the United States after breast augmentation with more than 220,000 procedures performed in 2015 (an increase of 5% compared to 2014), it remains an invasive surgical procedure, with the risks that this implies and side effects that can be significant.
CoolSculpTing: a cost-effective alternative to surgical liposuction
For some time now, an innovative method invented in California by the firm Zeltiq® has been enjoying growing success: CoolSculpting®, a minimally invasive technique that allows fat cells to be eliminated from various parts of the body by cold.
With more than two million procedures carried out to date worldwide and a turnover increase of almost 50% in 2015, the success of Zeltiq® has led to the appearance of a number of more or less serious copies, particularly of Asian origin, grouped under the generic term of medical cryo lipolysis, the effectiveness of which has yet to be proven. CoolSculpting® has been the subject of hundreds of tests and remains to this day the only technique duly approved by the FDA, the American drug regulatory authority unanimously recognized as the most stringent in the world.
The course of a CoolSculpting® session
The CoolScultping® treatment uses applicators of various shapes and sizes, adapted to the patient’s morphology and to the area to be treated. They are equipped with suction cups to suck in the targeted bulge before cooling it down. The type of applicator and its positioning will have been carefully defined with your doctor during a preliminary consultation, according to the needs and objectives of the patient.
The application time for each applicator varies between 35 and 75 minutes depending on the type of applicator used. The device cools the fat cells while sparing the surrounding skin tissue. The cold causes a process of self-destruction of the cells by apoptosis or programmed cell death, destroying about 25% of the fat cells in the treated area. At the end of the procedure, the patient goes home without any social exclusion and can immediately resume his or her normal life. The side effects of the treatment, which largely resolve after about a week, are erythema of the skin, moderate oedema and small haematomas. Numbness of the treated skin may occur and last for up to 3 weeks, but there is no real discomfort. The macrophages in our body will then gradually remove the remains of the dead cells over a period of about 90 days. The final result of the treatment can only be assessed after about 3 months.
Provided that the indication is correctly established by the doctor, CoolSculpting® is, therefore, an ideal solution for patients who wish to refine their figure without resorting to surgery, while enjoying comparable results. Unlike liposuction, CoolSculpting® requires no anaesthesia and no social withdrawal or compression garments. It is also much more cost-effective for similar results. It is perfectly in line with the current trend of minimally invasive treatments popularised by aesthetic medicine.
CoolSculpting®: not for all indications
Please note that the result of a CoolSculpting® treatment will only be satisfactory if the indications are properly defined during the consultation. For example, a problem of excess skin laxity or deep intra-abdominal fat cannot be treated by this method. In these cases or for patients who wish to lose weight and change their eating habits in a sustainable way, we recommend the services of our nutritionist, Patrick Leconte, a specialist in Chrononutrition®.
Chrononutrition® is not a diet
Chrononutrition® is a method of nutrition based on our body’s biological clock, which allows any individual (man, woman, child or elderly person) to regain a balanced figure, whether it is a question of slimming or gaining volume, by considering that all food is beneficial if consumed at the right time. Chrononutrition® is therefore not a diet (with the “yo-yo” effects that often follow). It is not restrictive and does not involve any deprivation. All foods are allowed, as long as they are eaten in the right quantity and at the right time. You can continue to eat chips, chocolate, cheese, butter – but only if you keep to the right times and quantities. The programme will also be adapted for patients with cholesterol, diabetes, etc. Approved by the IREN (European Nutrition Research Institute), Chrononutrition® is not only a means of controlling one’s figure and weight but also of controlling cholesterol metabolism and non-insulin-dependent diabetes.
Chrononutrition® induces a dietary rebalancing that allows you to lose weight or gain weight, depending on the objective set. By eliminating bad eating habits, Chrononutrition® allows us to improve the health and quality of life of our patients in a sustainable way.
Upcoming news
A new technique is becoming increasingly popular: Ultherapy®. A technique that uses ultrasound to restore skin tone and elasticity. The technique has been approved by the US FDA for treatments on the face and décolletage, but studies are currently underway to validate the results for other indications, including the stomach, arms and inner thighs.
Surgery as a last resort
Surgery as a last resort In the case of significant weight loss associated with significant skin laxity, surgery can be used to perfect the result by eliminating excess skin through abdominoplasty or, in the most serious cases, a body lift.
