In the world of commercial fat reduction methods, there are many contenders. Among these is fat freezing. Fat freezing is a medical procedure in which fat cells in your body are exposed to freezing temperatures in order to kill them and reduce overall body fat, called cryolipolysis. This is done with the use of a cryolipolysis device, which freezes the fat cells in a specific part of your body but leaves the skin cells intact. Fat freezing is an FDA-approved medical technique, and it is typically administered in a doctor’s office or outpatient facility. The purpose of fat freezing is to cause localized fat loss around particular areas of the body for aesthetic reasons. This means that fat freezing is more akin to sculpting the body than just stripping a large amount of fat tissue off of it. But does fat freezing work, and is it safe? We go into this and more below.
Can You Lose Weight By Freezing Fat?
Now, losing weight and freezing fat are two different things. Losing weight refers to a consistent negative change in body mass, whereas fat freezing is really about sculpting certain pockets of fat around the body more than general weight loss. As far as cosmetic treatments go, this is a common one to reduce pockets of fat around the body. Freezing fat works by lowering the temperature of selected body fat to between 30 and 39 degrees Fahrenheit. This injures the fat cells and triggers an inflammatory response that kills the cells outright, leaving your skin cells intact, as their tolerance for cold is much greater. The dead cells are then attacked by white blood cells, which dispose of the dead fat cells. This causes weight loss by quite simply getting rid of the fat cells in your body by killing them. Results can take 6-8 weeks to show. However, the results should be permanent as long as weight is maintained to within around 10 pounds or so. Rather than overall weight loss, the success of fat freezing is often measured in inches of fat loss, as it is not meant to be a treatment for comprehensive weight loss but a sort of fat sculpting on the human body. Weeks after treatment, results can be clearly seen.
How Much Weight Can You Lose With Fat Freezing
Fat freezing is technically not a weight loss procedure, it is instead a spot fat reduction procedure, but it is not meant to treat overweight or obese people. This falls under the broad umbrella of fat reduction treatments, though it is not meant for outright weight loss. Keeping this in mind, the total amount of fat lost after a session can vary considerably, though losses of 2-3 pounds after a single session are not at all uncommon. However, you should not step on the scale right after their procedure and expect to see a significant difference, as results can take several weeks to appear.
What Are the Disadvantages of Fat Freezing?
The disadvantages of fat freezing are numerous as far as the medical treatment goes. For example, fat freezing is not recommended for overweight or obese people, and it is instead reserved for relatively healthy people who just want to spot remove some of their body fat. Additionally, fat freezing can take ten months to show the full results of the procedure. This is because the frozen fat cells can take this much time to be shed from your body. Not to mention, if you need more than one session, your sessions will have to be scheduled 6-8 weeks apart because it can take this long for damaged fat cells to leave the body. Also, fat freezing can be pretty painful and leave bruises all over the treated areas. Not only is this unpleasant, but the bruises left after are unsightly.
The bruises from fat freezing come from the suction applied to the chosen area to hold it in place and expose it to the cold temperatures required. Redness and swelling of the skin on the spot the procedure was performed are also not uncommon. Most of the skin discoloration will fade quickly, but some of it may be permanent. There is also a risk that your skin will remain irregular/not smooth in the location where you had fat freezing performed. The last thing you want when you’re trying to improve your appearance is to have extensive skin damage. Next, weight gain after fat freezing is possible, and it is possible that after a fat freezing procedure, any fat gained will accumulate on the organs, which is a considerable health hazard. Finally, there is a rare side effect called paradoxical adipose hyperplasia, in which the fat cells actually get bigger after treatment. Men and Hispanic people are most likely to experience this side effect.
How is Emerald Laser Different?
Emerald Laser provides an entirely new method of FDA-approved fat reduction. Emerald Laser treats hypertrophic adipocytes, or large fat cells, with a specialized FDA-approved low-level laser. Emerald Laser works by using this low-level laser to bore a hole into the side of the fat cell, which doesn’t kill it but allows the lipids inside the fat cell to pour out and signal to other fat cells to do the same. This typically causes a cascade of lipid expulsion by the lymphatic system, resulting in tremendous overall fat reduction. The procedure results in a significant decrease in the size of the fat cell and, consequently, its appearance. People undergoing this procedure report fat loss of up to six inches in circumference! That is a colossal amount of fat loss, and the procedure itself takes less than 30 minutes to perform and a few weeks to show some results, while the final results will show in 12 weeks.
Emerald Laser vs. Fat Freezing
When you compare fat freezing to laser lipo, Emerald laser lipo is the clear winner. Both of these are non-invasive procedures. Emerald Laser offers a more significant overall fat loss potential than fat freezing. Also, Emerald Laser is specifically designed not to kill fat cells, whereas fat freezing kills fat cells by its very nature.
- Emerald Laser does not leave the skin bruised and painful as fat freezing does. In fact, Emerald Laser has no adverse side effects!
- Additionally, Emerald Laser does not carry the risk of causing paradoxical adipose hyperplasia.
- The amount of body fat lost overall is also greater with Emerald Laser when compared to fat freezing.
Similarly, the cost of both procedures is about the same, with fewer sessions typically needed for Emerald Laser. Results with both techniques can be seen after one session with the passage of several weeks, but Emerald Laser is the only one whose results will come from shrunken fat cells rather than killing the existing fat cells inside the body. Schedule an appointment at an Emerald Laser Service Provider today!
