I tried Cool Sculpting- Here’s What Happened…
I have never been happy with my jawline. People would show me candid photos of myself with my profile exposed and I would instantly get a pit and say to myself, “do I really look like that?”. There are many things about myself that I adore, physically and internally. But unfortunately, the parts about myself that cause self doubt and embarrassment tend to stick on more predominately. Since I can remember, I have been on the pursuit of beauty treatments to help me mask this insecurity or abolish it completely.
Cool Sculpting is not marketed as a weight loss procedure, but rather spot reduction of stubborn fat. It is a patented machine that claims to reduce fat cells by 1/3 and usually takes 2–3 sessions to work effectively. It works by using sub zero temperatures attached to paddles and suctioned onto the area of concern. The paddles are left on for about 45 minutes. It is supposed to be painless, non invasive, and an effective solution to those with a healthy lifestyle that just need that last bit of fat frozen away. Following the removal of the paddles, the technician will come in and massage the area for 1–2 minutes to break up the fat cells. Over the course of 3–4 weeks, the fat cells are metabolized by the body and naturally expelled.
I initially went in for a consultation and had some concerns about the safety of the procedure. The nurse was friendly and assured me she had never seen complications before and she had even had Cool Sculpting done on herself. Being the person I am, I was of coarse looking for the horror stories online trying to convince myself to not do it. Some people had mentioned risks of paradoxical adipose hyperplasia which is an extremely long name for fat cells basically hardening together and enlarging. This requires liposuction to remove which would be additional thousands of dollars on top of an already pricey procedure. I also saw one account of a girl who experienced burns from the machine, but upon further digging it seemed as though her technician did not properly protect her skin from the paddle and the machine was a knock off brand.
Despite my hesitations, I decided to bite the bullet and try it. I knew deep down I would always wonder what it would be like and overall, it was a safe way to experiment with fat reduction. I chose to treat my chin area. The nurse recommended one session with two paddles and I would do one side of my chin for 45 minutes and repeat on the other. I paid $1,200.00 ($600.00 per paddle). Looking back, was it an epic waste of money? Yes, yes it was. But we’ll get into that…
My appointment was in the morning and because there is no recovery time needed, I went right from my appointment to my summer nannying job. The nurse put the first paddle on the left side of my chin/jaw area and it suctioned on immediately. I was slightly disappointed that proper “before” pictures were not taken and we just jumped right into the fun. The positioning of the machine was very awkward and my instincts were to try to get it off my face, but of coarse I resisted. For the first 3–4 minutes, I felt like my neck was broken. I almost called the nurse back in to ask for a pillow of some sort because my neck felt extremely strained and uncomfortable. After a few minutes, the area went numb and my neck pain subsided. It was a very strange sensation. I held my phone up above my head because the paddle prevented me from looking down and the 45 minutes passed along. After the time was up, the nurse came in and removed the paddle. She started to massage the area and I became a little nervous, as most people had said this was extremely painful. At first- I felt like a rock star. I quickly realized that I was only able to handle the massage because the area was still numb, and once that wore off I was in for the longest two minutes of my life. It was an extremely unusual feeling. Because the area was so cold- having someone vigorously massage felt like my skin was burning. My saving grace was that it did not last long and before I knew it, we were onto the other side. The right side was exactly like the left and just like that it was over.
Following the procedure, I was slightly swollen and my skin was a bit red but otherwise I felt fine. It took a few days to regain total feeling of my chin as the numbness lingered longer than I thought it would. Over the next few weeks, I religiously took pictures of my side profile, hoping I would wake up with a chiseled jaw line that could cut glass. Unfortunately, I did not attain the results I had hoped for. My jaw line looked the same, not even a slight improvement.
Looking back, I am more disappointed with the med spa I chose rather than the Cool Sculpting treatment as a whole. I was confidently told I would get great results with one treatment. I have a sinking suspicion that they tell clients this because if they were truthful about how much it would really cost- many people would be horrified. It is better for them to make a few bucks off of you than be honest and have you walk away. I may have had much better results if I went back, but I can’t imagine spending a few thousand dollars on this procedure knowing what I know now.
It is also important for people to know that Cool Sculpting is most appropriate for smaller areas, and tackling larger areas can be riskier and pricier. It was also much more painful than I had anticipated and overall, very uncomfortable. Am I glad I did it? Yes. Like I mentioned before, I would always wonder what it would be like.
Moving forward, my chin is still an insecurity. There are many treatments and procedures out there that aim to target the double chin such as Kybella, jawline filler, and liposuction. Many plastic surgeons and aesthetic nurses recommend the straightforward route of liposuction. Although it is pricier, it is guaranteed to work rather than putting a slightly smaller check toward procedures with poor results. Maybe I will consider this in the future and finally live a double chin- free life. Until then, me and my extra fat cells will just have to get along.
