3 myths about CoolSculpting – cleared up

On the subject of Coolsculpting there are always sceptics who doubt this highly effective method. Often the reasons are myths circulating on the internet. For example, that you achieve the same effect by sweating, or that the fat cells come back anyway. An experienced doctor can quickly expose these rumours as false; here we clear up the 3 most persistent myths for you.

1.    ‘Fat cells come back again’

False. We have a fixed number of fat cells in our body, which is determined in our early years and unchangeable from then on. Except, of course, with invasive liposuction or non-invasive Coolsculpting. When we gain or lose weight these existing fat cells become smaller or larger, but their number does not increase or decrease as a result.  

With Coolsculpting the excess fat cells in the area are treated with extreme cold and thereby die off. These dead fat cells cannot recover or re-form. This means that the result of Coolsculpting is permanent and that there will be lastingly fewer fat cells in the treated zone. Of course it is essential for the result that the ideal weight is also maintained after the treatment.

2.    ‘A diet achieves the same effects’

Yes and no. Of course, with the right lifestyle, exercise and a healthy diet you can achieve satisfying results in losing weight. Coolsculpting, however, is in principle not about losing weight. Quite the opposite: the prerequisite for a successful treatment is already a good lifestyle and a weight in the normal range. Because it is not a method for losing weight, but for getting rid of fat in particularly stubborn problem areas that will not disappear even with diet and exercise. A perfect example of this are saddlebags in women. With a diet, fat can never be broken down in a targeted way at one part of the body.

3.    ‘You can also lose weight by sweating’

False. It may feel as though sweating alone makes you lose several kilos – in the sauna, for instance, or during hot yoga – but the ‘success’ is short-lived. Because here the body only loses water, which we take in again afterwards by drinking. Fat is not ‘sweated out’ here.  With Coolsculpting, by contrast, the fat is ‘frozen away’ with extreme heat. By cooling the areas down, fat cells die off and are then transported away by the body in a natural way.