Have you been considering getting Coolsculpting?

It’s a bit embarrassing talking about your fat and areas of your body that you don’t like.  Despite that, I thought I would share my own experience with this procedure.  It’s hard to write this, but here goes!

The Truth is:

In my sixties, I’m pretty okay with how my skin looks overall.  Of course, each year, the signs of aging are creeping up on me, more and more.  I know at some point I’ll have to give up the ship, but I don’t intend to go down without a fight.  It can get a little distressing when you add it all up.

For me, the most obvious signs of aging into my 60’s are:  I have found it’s definitely harder to lose weight; I need more botox in my face; my lips are thinning; my nose is getting longer; and the sun spots on my hands, face, chest and arms seem to be spreading and darkening.  But there is one area, that became a constant source of self-criticism.

What has bothered me most:

Of course, while nobody likes being a chubba-wubba (I’m working on that), if I had to say what has bothered me the most these past few years, it would be my neck.  It just got thicker and thicker.  I lost that nice jawline I once had.  Of course, partially this was weight-related for me.  Menopause and the loss of estrogen doesn’t help either.

Like many people, my neck issues had a genetic component too.  My mother spent the last 40 years of her life wearing turtlenecks, scarves and covering up her neck in pictures with her hand.  We would kid her about it, but now, Mom if you were still here, I’d tell you, “I feel your pain.  It’s no joke.”

If you are blessed to have good genes, aging will inevitably catch up to you one way or another.  As we age, we lose collagen.  Our skin thins and we lose muscle tone, even in our faces.  Even bone loss can contribute to a saggy face and jowls.   For many, the effects of aging can cause a lack of definition in the jaw line and even a double chin.  While I planned to get serious and take the weight off as I entered my 60’s, I became utterly depressed about my neck and decided to try Coolsculpting in 2023.

In the first picture here, you can see my double chin peaking out, next to the device attached to the rest of my neck.  The area right under the chin is difficult for the machine to suck up.  It’s too small of an area to place the device and there’s not enough tissue to grab.  Still, this image gives you an idea of why my neck bothered me.

How painful is CoolSculpting:

Maybe you can see from my expression, that I’m starting to feel the effects from the procedure.  Being sucked up into a vice was a very odd sensation and somewhat claustrophobic feeling for me.  I wanted to pull away, but you need to stay perfectly still for 30-40 minutes, while the area gets colder and colder, until you feel like you are getting frost bitten.  Sooner or later the area goes numb, as you try to distract yourself watching Netflix, counting down the minutes until that thing is off your neck.

Just when you get the relief of the device’s release, you find out from the nurse, that they have to massage the hell out of your neck.  Man, that’s when the real pain starts!!!  They do this special little torture because Coolsculpting kills your fat cells.  Massaging the area helps break them up, so your body can eliminate them.  My advice?  Have them go at it as rough as they can and get it over quick – – the rip the bandaid off method.   I found slow, gentle massage really quite tortuous.

Does it work?

Of course, when you have this problem, dependent on the severity, you hope and dream of a miracle cure.  But, for me, I would say, I was very glad I did it.  While the effects of Coolsculpting, meaning the elimination of the fat cells, takes about 2-3 months for you to really see results (for some, up to six months), I believe I saw a fairly immediate improvement, which meant a lot to me.  One thing that can help is really pushing fluids afterwards to help in the elimination process.  I also did some Gua Sha https://www.webmd.com/balance/what-is-gua-sha massage to help with lymphatic drainage and, of course, continued my weight loss journey.

Here’s a picture just after the procedure, where I can definitely see a greater amount of definition in my neck:

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Here’s one with my neck healed up.  My down vest is in the way a bit, but to my eye and just the way my neck felt, how it moved in less of a congested manner, I was happy with the results.  Additionally, I also did Morpheus8 on my face and neck in the past few months.  It helps with skin laxity.  One of the worries I had with weight loss and coolsculpting is that my skin would become a saggy mess.  While it doesn’t have that bounce back of my youth, I’d say I see more of the old me.  And that’s a blessing at my age.

One final word of caution:

This post is about my OWN personal experience in getting Coolsculpting.  It is not meant to be medical advice.  Please check with your personal physician to make a decision if it is right for you.  Also, please, please DO your own research before considering any medi-spa procedures.  My understanding is that any doctor, regardless of their speciality, can open a med-spa.  Staff doing the procedures have different levels of experience and training.  Don’t be afraid to ask them about their experience and show you examples of success stories.

The bottomline?  While coolsculpting is FDA approved for Cryolipolisis and has been generally found to have very few side effects, other the pain and redness, for a rare few, there have been reports of fat cells enlarging.   I was shocked when I read that!  Most importantly, YOU have to decide what is right for YOU, what is safe for YOU and YOUR body!

It may surprise you, but personally, I wouldn’t do Coolsculpting again (too painful for me).  I am glad I did it and am pretty happy with the results.  It is not a miraculous improvement, but it gave me back a better neck and for that I’m grateful.  I look forward to seeing what additional weight loss will do for me and my neck.  I’ll perhaps write more about this, if more improvements develop in time.

Again, do your research!   There are MANY other methods for improving the neck area, including Kybella (an injection that causes fat cell death), facial and neck yoga, lowering your body weight (if that is the cause), liposuction, fillers to improve the contour of the jawline and, of course, surgical procedures performed by a plastic surgeon.  If you have the money for that last one, I have heard they can lipo your fat while you are under and transfer it to your face to areas that have been hollowed out by the aging process.   Man, what modern science can do these days!!!!   Anywhoo, just a few other possibilities to consider!

I hope hearing about my experience helps you, if you are trying to decide and wanted to find out more about Coolsculpting.  If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask me anything below in the comment section.

All the best,

Mrs. Sassy Pants