The Philippine Online Chronicles

A slimmer waist, more shapely legs, and more toned arms—who would not want to have them, right? With the pressure to keep a slim figure these days, men and women alike have resulted into all sorts of means and measures to easily achieve the perfect body: slimming teas and pills, good ol’ fashioned exercise and diet, and, of course, cosmetic surgery. Surgical techniques such as liposuction have been the popular choice. However, since liposuction is an invasive procedure that requires surgery, it puts the person undergoing liposuction at risk. Since then, both experts and people who want to lose weight have been looking for other alternatives.

Cryo- what?

Screencap from Cryolipolysis Review

Then comes cryolipolysis. Cryolipolysis created much buzz when Oprah featured the procedure on her show and remarked, “Women may be slimming down their love handles in one afternoon without a single incision.” Surely, who would not want to lose all the fat without going under the knife?

Also known as Coolsculpting procedure, cryolipolysis is a non-invasive treatment (meaning there is no surgery involved) that helps sculpt problem areas by freezing fat deposits. Developed and discovered by Dr. Dieter Manstein and Dr. R. Rox Anderson at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, cryolipolysis is based on the finding that fat cells undergo spontaneous cell death when it freezes in a temperature that is below the normal body temperature but above the freezing point.

How it is done

Cryolipolysis is ideal if you are in relatively good shape but has some areas of fat bulges that you cannot seem to get rid off. The procedure works by targeting problem areas such as love handles, back, stomach, or bottom. Through cryolipolysis, your body can be “chiseled” to give it a more desirable shape. After determining one’s preferred body part, a cooling device is pressed against the skin, making it cold enough to freeze the fat cells in that area. Your body then reacts via an inflammatory response (it gets swollen), slowly digesting frozen cells over several months. Finally, your body excrete these cells naturally.

Think of it as shooting your fat cells with a freeze gun until they shrink and completely and naturally disappear.

Does it work?

According to a study by Coleman and his colleagues, in ten out of ten subjects who were tested, 20.4% normalized fat layer reduction occurred at 2 months and 25.5% at 6 months after the treatment.

So far, there are no conclusive reports that give exact fat layer reduction have been accounted for. Most press releases only give percentages and estimations. But looking at the data, let us say if you have 100 cm of fat, that means you lose an average of 20 to 25 cm every two months. Some even report as much as 22% reduction after a single treatment!

Advantages

Because cryolipolysis requires no surgery, it means that there will be no anesthesia, no pre-operation preparations, and a decreased risk of infection for the patient. Cryolipolysis is also an outpatient procedure, so patients do not need recovery time and can go back to work or do their usual exercise routine the same day they had cyrolipolysis.

Reports also claim that it will contour the body smoothly. There will be no visible lumps, bumps, cuts, or scars. The results, too, will be long lasting. Additionally, no increase in the blood lipids or blood pressure was observed.

It’s also approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Authority. Bear in mind though that cryolipolysis is approved for dermatological surgery and not fat reduction. The use of Zeltiq, the apparatus used for cryolipolysis, is off label. This means that doctors may prescribe the use of Zeltiq for fat reduction even if it is not its intended use.

Side effects

Naturally, like all medical procedures, cryolipolysis is not without its side effects. One of the most common post-treatment side effects are erythema or the redness of the skin due to exposure to high cold temperature. Hypoesthesia or the reduced sensation on the skin when touched are also common, followed by tingling sensations in the skin, edema, brusing, and blanching or temporary whitening of the skin.

Compared to liposuction, the side effects of cryolipolysis are less severe and are not as risky, with cyrolipolysis being a non-surgical procedure to start with.

Cryolipolysis in the Philippines

So far, only two cosmetic centers offer the procedure. Skincare Solutions calls the procedure Cryo*E, with CryoElectrophoresis and Cryolipolysis falling into the category. For the price of PHP18,000, patients will undergo twelve 30-minute sessions of cryolipolysis. The patient can choose to have it every other day or once a week.

Marie France, on the other hand, calls their procedure CryoSculpt. For more information on their cryolipolysis procedure, you can call 894-BODY (2639).

Is it worth your while?

There has been an ongoing debate over the merits of cryolipolysis over liposuction. Some say that calling liposuction risky is a misnomer. It is true though as liposuction has been used for decades now. In the hands of a trained surgeon, liposuction can be a safe and easy procedure.

Cryolipolysis on the other hand is not designed to reduce large deposits of fat unlike liposuction. Rather, the treatment has been shown to be more effective for trouble spots rather than reducing weight altogether.

In the end, anyone should always focus on losing weight the healthy way. Cosmetic surgery and dermatologic procedures should only be a last resort and not the first consideration when it comes to weight loss. Also, it doesn’t mean that fat will not return once one has undergone any of these treatments. A healthy diet and regular exercise should also be practiced to keep your curves, or else, you may just have wasted your money for nothing. Remember, losing weight is not a piece of cake.

Lose weight by Alan Cleaver, c/o Flickr. Some rights reserved.