Getting to and staying at your ideal weight and shape is hard enough at the best of times. But, thanks to COVID-19, the increased time at home (and near the kitchen) plus limited access to the gym has made it even more challenging for some to achieve their fitness and wellness goals. After a tough year, many are looking for more ways to augment their health regimens to look better, feel better and treat themselves.
Enter CoolSculpting®—a non-surgical body contouring treatment that helps target stubborn areas of fat with no downtime and long-lasting results, the perfect complement to existing health and fitness routines. “If you can squeeze it, we can freeze it,” says dermatologist Dr. Julia Carroll of Compass Dermatology in Toronto. “Research shows that excess body fat is top-of-mind for Canadians. We’re constantly seeking out health and fitness trends with proven results that will make us look and feel like our best selves.”
CoolSculpting® offers proven results and reduces stubborn fat without damaging the skin or surrounding tissues. CoolSculpting® delivers precisely controlled cooling to target the fat cells underneath the skin. Treated fat cells are frozen, destroyed, and then over time the body naturally processes the fat and eliminates these dead cells.
Dr. Julia Carroll, Compass Dermatology. Image courtesy of Allergan Aesthetics
The most popular areas for treatment, Dr. Carroll says, are stomach and ‘love handles’, inner and outer thighs, chin, back and arms. “In our practice we do a lot of CoolMini™ treatments, which is for the fat under the chin or double chin. Keeping in touch through video calls has led many people to spend several hours a day staring at their own camera reflections during meetings. This change has led to an uptick in interest in neck contouring at my clinic,” she adds. “Each area is reduced by as much as 25 percent with each treatment.”
CoolSculpting is a tried-and-true treatment among celebrities. Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar has been a fan of CoolSculpting® since she had her two children. Not only did pregnancy change her body, but she suddenly had less time to work out. “There are areas like inner thighs and flanks that develop fat over time,” she said. “And all the exercise in the world can’t get rid of those stubborn areas.”
Sarah saw results quickly, most notably in the way her clothes fit and how these changes made her feel. “What’s amazing is the way it works in tandem with exercise,” she said in an interview. “It gives you that extra motivating push to work harder. It’s not changing your whole body and I don’t feel I’m cheating my body. I’m helping dissolve a fat substance that I couldn’t do otherwise.”
Sarah Michelle Gellar. Image courtesy of Allergan Aesthetics
The treatments themselves typically take less than an hour with no downtime, but everyone’s different and it’s important to work with a trained professional to design a treatment plan that’s right for you. For Sarah, the treatment experience is “a great time to catch up on a book or get some time for myself.”
Many of Dr. Carroll’s patients also look forward to CoolSculpting® treatments. “We have lots of blankets, snacks, bubbly water and Netflix, so you’ve got 35 to 45 minutes of chill time–literally and figuratively,” she says. “With this year’s changes, people aren’t spending money on clothes or trips, so they’re diverting funds to things that make them feel like the best version of themselves. It’s an opportunity for self-care.”
The number of CoolSculpting® sessions required depends on the area being treated and the desired result. Changes may be noticeable in as early as three weeks after a CoolSculpting® treatment, but results may take up to three months to become visible. “That’s why it’s really important to see somebody who’s experienced in CoolSculpting® that can design the right program for you,” Dr. Carroll says. “Once you start on this journey, you want to see it through completion so that you get those great results that we know we can achieve with CoolSculpting®.”
To find out if CoolSculpting® is right for you, check out the clinic locator tool at coolsculpting.ca and book a consultation.