When CoolSculpting hit the market in 2010, it sounded almost too good to be true. Freeze away stubborn fat bulges without surgery or downtime and all you have to do is sit there for an hour? Yet here we are eight years later, and CoolSculpting seems to be soaring in popularity among patients and cosmetic practices all around.
For the most part, CoolSculpting has a good safety record. The majority of patients experience mild side effects such as redness, tingling, and numbness, which go away after a few days. If it is too uncomfortable your doctor can call in a prescription for a nerve blocker which doesn’t interfere with your mental state. The more serious yet rare complication is called paradoxical adipose hyperplasia (PAH).
What is paradoxical adipose hyperplasia and why does it sometimes happen after CoolSculpting?
The technology behind CoolSculpting, cryolipolysis, is designed to chill tissue to the point where fat cells crystalize, disintegrate, and leave the body as waste, helping a treated area marginally slim down.
Usually, this is exactly what happens. In very few cases, however, the fat in the treated area expands and hardens into an unnaturally shaped lump in response to the extreme cold.
This is called paradoxical (abnormal) adipose (fat) hyperplasia (unusual increase in a structure), or PAH for short. Instead of gradually shrinking, the bulge after CoolSculpting actually gets bigger and usually becomes firmer than surrounding tissues, sometimes having a “stick of butter” appearance that resembles the shape of the CoolSculpting applicator.
This is such a rare side adverse reaction that Coolsculpting is definatley worth looking into and experiencing as it has helped millions get rid of stubborn fat bulges. Contact your Amerejuve Certified Coolsculpting technician and schedule a consult today!