CoolSculpting questions answered

CoolSculpting is priced per cycle, per area and per course, confirmed in writing at your free consultation, with a price match on any comparable written quote. Consultations and follow-up reviews are free. The written quote names the applicator, the number of cycles and the visits, so there is nothing to add later.

A cycle is one applicator on one spot for 35 to 60 minutes. Most areas need two to six cycles over one or two visits. The typical minimum is two to four under the chin, on the outer thighs (both sides together) or the mid-abdomen. It is three to five on the upper or lower abdomen, the back and the upper arms, and four to six on the flanks. The sessions page explains the counts.

Four to eight weeks between visits to the same area, with the result judged about eight weeks after the last. Two applicators run at the same time, so both flanks, both thighs or two spots on the abdomen are treated in one visit.

No. Consultations and follow-up reviews are free, and you can book one from abroad by phone or through the form.

CoolSculpting is FDA-cleared in the US for visible fat under the chin and along the jawline, on the abdomen, the flanks, the thighs, the upper arms, bra fat and back fat, and the fold under the buttocks. The US clearance for the body areas is for people with a body mass index of 30 or under. For any other area, the manufacturer says safety and effectiveness have not been established, and the clinician says so too.

Yes, where the fold is fat you can pinch: in the clearance study of 60 patients the layer under the chin was 2.0 mm thinner at twelve weeks and 83.3% were satisfied. The double chin page explains.

Yes, for a bulge you can pinch, in two to five cycles. It does not tighten loose skin or close the gap between the stomach muscles after pregnancy. The stomach page explains.

Yes. The flanks were the first area cleared, in 2010, and the manufacturer's flank study measured the fat layer 18.7% thinner at six months. The love handles page explains.

Yes, inner and outer. The inner thigh had the highest satisfaction in the manufacturer's table, 93.3%. The thighs page explains.

Yes, the upper arms were cleared in 2016 and the study measured the layer 3.2 mm thinner. The arms page explains.

Yes, both were cleared in 2016 along with the fold under the buttocks. The back fat page explains.

Around 20%. A review of 518 patients measured 23% with skin callipers at three months; the flank study measured 18.7% on ultrasound at six months; the manufacturer's table gives 1.9 to 3.2 mm by area.

It can start to show from about four weeks, most of it by three months, and the final result by six. We photograph the area before, with your consent, and compare at your review.

The fat cells cleared by a cycle do not come back, and two patients photographed six and nine years on still showed the result. The fat cells that remain can grow if you gain weight, so the result holds while your weight does.

Read the full answer

For a firm, pinchable bulge in someone near their target weight, in our clinical judgment yes. The published studies measure the treated fat layer around 20% thinner at three to six months, after one or two visits, usually with no time off work. It is not for weight loss.

Read the full answer

In our experience the first five to ten minutes are intense cold, pulling and stinging, then the area goes numb and you read or work. In a 2022 series of 91 patients, 78% rated the pain 1 or 2 out of 5. The area is tender and numb for one to three weeks afterwards.

Usually no time off: you walk out after the cycle and most people go back to their day. The area is red, firm and often bruised for a week or two and numb for two to three weeks on average, sometimes longer.

Cold and pulling for the first minutes, numbness and tenderness for one to three weeks, a wait of two to three months and several cycles per area. A rare complication, about 1 in 3,000 treatments, makes the fat grow instead of shrinking. It is not a weight-loss treatment.

Read the full answer

Neither has been studied, so we do not treat during pregnancy or while breastfeeding. Book the consultation for after.

Three blood conditions triggered by cold rule it out: cryoglobulinaemia, paroxysmal cold haemoglobinuria and cold agglutinin disease. Lupus and vitiligo are not named in the US label, though the manufacturer's UK site says some autoimmune conditions rule treatment out; the clinician checks at the consultation for anything on the caution list, such as cold sensitivity or circulation problems, and looks at any skin patches in the area before planning. Bring your diagnosis and your medication.

It is FDA-cleared in the US, the regulator's route for a device of this kind, for the areas listed above. The flanks were cleared in 2010, the abdomen in 2012, the thighs in 2014 and under the chin in 2015. The arms, bra fat and back fat followed in 2016, the jawline in 2018 and two applicators at once in 2020.

Yes. The flanks, the abdomen and the double chin are the areas men ask for, and the clearances cover both sexes. A man's chest is not a cleared area.

The US clearance for the body areas is for people with a body mass index of 30 or under. Under the chin, the clearance covers a body mass index up to 46.2. It is not a weight-loss treatment, and the clinician will say if weight loss should come first.

CoolSculpting freezes a bulge of fat and does nothing for the muscle under it. EMsculpt NEO contracts the muscle and reduces fat by heat, with no bulge needed. A pinchable roll is CoolSculpting; a soft stomach or flat bottom with little to pinch is EMsculpt NEO, which we also run at the clinic. The clinician says which at the consultation.

Yes, and patients ask us about it. CoolSculpting clears the bulge, and EMsculpt NEO builds the muscle under it; the clinician plans the order and the gap at the free consultation.

CoolSculpting is the brand with the FDA clearances and the studies on these pages, and fat freezing is the generic name for it. Every cycle here is run on a genuine CoolSculpting system from Allergan Aesthetics.

The clinic is doctor led and CQC registered, and every cycle is run by a trained clinician on a genuine CoolSculpting system.

Cool Clinic, 130 Harley Street, London W1G 7JU, three minutes' walk from Regent's Park station and seven from Great Portland Street. Call 0207 043 1117 or use the form on any page at any time and we call you back.