If you have been watching the news lately, you might have heard about famous model, Linda Evangelista’s unfortunate incident with Coolsculpting™. Now, the thing with this is that Coolsculpting™ has never hidden the risks of their fat freezing technology, and truthfully of the millions of procedures that have been performed over the course of 15+ years, only .0051% have an incident like Linda’s.

While Coolsculpting™ is non-invasive and very safe compared to the alternatives of going under the knife, it still can cause something known as: Paradoxical Adipose Hyperplasia (PAH).

That’s a mouth full! So what the heck is it? PAH is an unintended stimulation of tissue growth, only seen following a vacuum cryolipolysis, or CoolSculpting, treatment that injures the target tissue. The scary part is that it can take months for this tissue growth to develop and become noticeable. This tissue growth becomes a hard tissue mass that does not go away on its own, and can be the size of the treated area. Instead of the fat cells breaking down, they thicken and expand so the body is unable to break them down to remove them.

PAH example on abdomen

CryoSkin (our signature technology) and CoolSculpting get compared to each other a lot. Since CoolSculpting has been around for 15+ years, more people associate it with “fat freezing”. Although similar, the two have more differences than similarities. Both use cold temperatures to freeze the fat cells in a targeted area. CoolSculpting uses a vacuum handle to suction the target area to be freezed, where CryoSkin has either a wand or head to move around, or sits on top of the targeted area. This is the main reason CryoSkin does not cause PAH and after millions of treatments performed worldwide Cryoskin has had not one incident of PAH. The tissue and fat cells are not stimulated by a vacuum, therefore not damaged. CryoSkin also uses heat before cooling the skin gradually to stimulate the fat cells and bring them closer to the service of the skin. This newer technology of CryoSkin creates for less side effects and more comfort.

CoolSculpting procedure being done on abdomen.

Pagani, the manufacturer of CryoSkin, worked alongside Philippe Blanchemaison, MD, who has been a vascular medicine specialist in Paris, France for 28 years. Together they wanted to come up with a safer, and more effective way of losing fat, getting tone, and smooth skin. By eliminating the vacuum, Pagani eliminated the risk of PAH altogether. Thus, resulting in a safer, alternative treatment to compete against 20 year-old technology that had previously been the only option on the market.

CryoSkin treatment using heat to stimulate the fat before beginning the initial cooling process.

Pagani, the manufacturer of CryoSkin, worked alongside Philippe Blanchemaison, MD, who has been a vascular medicine specialist in Paris, France for 28 years. Together they wanted to come up with a safer, and more effective way of losing fat, getting tone, and smooth skin. By eliminating the vacuum, Pagani eliminated the risk of PAH altogether. Thus, resulting in a safer, alternative treatment to compete against 20 year-old technology that had previously been the only option on the market.

Both CryoSkin and CoolSculpting are safe, noninvasive, and effective, and both have side effects. Cryoskin has low incidences of redness and numbness, which can last from a few hours to a couple days. CoolSculpting can result in redness and numbness as well, but it is also known to cause bruising, swelling, blanching, bruising, firmness, tingling, stinging, tenderness, cramping, aching, itching, or skin sensitivity. Both have no downtime and have similar results, however more people see results quicker with CryoSkin treatments.

All in all, both procedures have their own technology and side effects. It is important you do your research and ask questions before deciding on which procedure is right for you. It is also important you discuss prior and current medical history before getting any type of body contouring treatment done.

If you are looking to get fat freezing done and you want a safer and more affordable alternative to Coolsculpting™, reach out to us and schedule your consultation for Cryoskin™ today!

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