While an essential aspect of our overall health, body fat can be a stubborn challenge when it comes to achieving a slimmer, leaner figure. In order to obtain your body goals, eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly is a must. Still, sometimes even the best efforts may not be enough to eliminate stubborn body fat. Trouble spots such as the stomach, thighs, and waist are especially challenging to tone and achieve the sculpted, tighter appearance we all crave.

At Desert Med Aesthetics, Dr. Doriana Cosgrove believes Liposuction or CoolSculpting^® can be great partners to your regular diet and exercise regime. Although both Liposuction and CoolSculpting can deliver fantastic results for fat reduction, they are very different procedures. The best choice is ultimately up to your goals and your specific body’s needs.

What is Liposuction?

In the past, liposuction has been the go-to fat reduction treatment, providing patients with effective, efficient, and safe means of eliminating fat and contouring their bodies. Persistent fat deposits on the stomach, flanks, thighs, and even delicate areas around the chin have been successfully sculpted with liposuction. While liposuction can be minimally invasive depending upon where the fat is being removed from the body, there is almost always downtime required for your body to recover. Liposuction involves the fat suctioned through a small incision with a specialized instrument called a cannula. Results are immediate, though patients should expect swelling and bruising around the incision site.

What is CoolSculpting?

At Desert Med Aesthetics, CoolSculpting quickly became a popular form of fat reduction because of its beautiful results without any surgery or downtime. CoolSculpting is a uniquely advanced cryolipolysis technology, and it’s FDA-approved to achieve non-invasive fat reduction on tough-to-tone areas of the body such as the stomach, thighs, and flanks. Cryolipolysis is the process of safety cooling targeted areas of the body to temperatures well below average body temperature and sometimes below freezing. Once the fat is cooled, it triggers a metabolic process that causes fat cells to die and be flushed from the body naturally through the liver. A CoolSculpting treatment can typically be performed on the same day as the consultation. After a quick prepping of the targeted area, an ergonomically designed CoolSculpting applicator is placed on top of the skin and begins a suction phase to draw flesh close to the cooling panels. A CoolSculpting treatment may be completed in under an hour, and patients are free to return to their daily routine immediately.

Liposuction vs. CoolSculpting- A Quick Comparison

The most significant difference between these two procedures is that liposuction involves surgery, whereas CoolSculpting is entirely non-surgical. The results of liposuction treatments are typically more dramatic at first than a CoolSculpting treatment. Liposuction achieves fat reduction much more quickly; however, swelling and bruising are common. CoolSculpting typically requires about four to six weeks before results are noticeable. Both of these procedures achieve natural-looking, long-term body sculpting results.

To see if CoolSculpting is the right option for you, we invite you to visit us for a one on one consultation. To get started, contact our Indian Wells office here. We look forward to speaking with you soon!