By Stephanie Vaccaro, Special Writer
If you’re still battling those last few problem areas where the fat just won’t budge no matter how many crunches you do, CoolSculpting, the latest technology in fat reduction, might be worth your time to investigate.
CoolSculpting freezes fat cells in your body.
”It’s a completely closed, non-operative procedure,” said Dr. Thomas Leach of The Princeton Center for Plastic Surgery, 932 State Road, Princeton. “It turns out that fat freezes at a much higher temperature than anything else in and around the skin.” Over a period of two to three months your body discards the dead cells as waste, meaning that the fat literally melts off of your body.”
Although the technology was developed several years ago, it has taken the technology several years to hit the market in the States given the time the FDA spent following patients as they tried to determine what happens to the fat. They checked blood levels, fat accumulation in the liver and looked for specific problems, which, Dr. Leach said, they did not find. “Your body disposes of these dead cells by a process called apoptosis,” he said. “It’s no different than any other cells that die off.”
The treatment itself warrants minor discomfort initially — as the gel and the applicator can feel cool to the touch. But after a few minutes, the treated area is numbed by the cold. Once the treatment is complete — it takes about an hour per site — patients can eat, workout and even return to work. Dr. Leach himself says that he had the treatment and went to workout at the gym that same night.
What to expect
“You don’t get the results right away,” Dr. Leach said. “You start to see the results at about three or four weeks, and it takes about three or four months before you see the complete results.”
”In general, the number that the company gives, and we’ve found it to be a reasonable number, is that you lose about 20 percent of the fat in that area,” Dr. Leach said. “So, it really depends on how big you are to start with.”
Currently all of the applications are typically for around the trunk, the abdomen, muffin tops, bra fat, though there may be applications for other body parts in the future.
”If you were going to do love handles, it would be an hour for each side,” Dr. Leach said. The cost depends on the size of the application as there are different size heads that go on the machine. “For the smaller one, which is typically what we use, it is $750 per each application. So, if we were to do love handles it would be $1,500.”
Dr. Leach has found the technology to be very effective and noted the importance of choosing the right patients for the procedure, noting that the patient needs to be generally fit with a couple of problem areas.
”It’s not for somebody who is just generally too big. For those patients, it’s pretty much the same indications as for liposuction. If there are a couple areas that are out of sync with the rest of your body, but really lumps and bumps kinds of things, not huge removals.”
The procedure can be repeated several months after the first visit to remove an additional 20 percent.
Dr. Leach’s experience
“It was easy,” he said. “No matter what my weight, I’ve had love handles since forever. So, when we got the machine, I was actually the first one when they came to train my staff and I on the machine. And it was really nothing. We put it on. It took an hour. I went about the rest of my day. We actually did one side first, and it took me a few months to get around to finding time to jump in and do the other side, but the difference was striking.”
”I started to see a change at about three weeks, but it really takes about three months for you to see the final effect,” he said.
Dr. Leach is frequently asked about the permanence of the procedure.
”The short and long answer is yes,” he said. “You’ve eliminated a given number of fat cells in an area, and assuming you maintain your weight and your general health, the changes are permanent.”
In his experience the changes have been permanent though it was done only six to eight months ago.
Another firsthand account
One of Dr. Leach’s employees who had her midsection done said, “As far as the procedure itself, I felt it was as I had heard it described to me. It was an hour per side with a little break in between. There is a cool sensation, hence ‘CoolSculpting,’ when the gel pad is first placed on the body and once the applicator is put on as well, but that sensation only lasts a few minutes and then it subsides. Then I actually found it quite relaxing.”
She had anticipated the side effects, which included some swelling, a week of bruising and several weeks of sensitivity around the treated area.
”As far as the results went, I’d say probably after about six weeks I started to see just a minimal result, but definitely by the three-month mark there was noticeable change,” she said. “And I did go out shopping and buy pants a size smaller.”
For more information: Dr Leach at 609-921-7161 or www.coolsculpting.com

