When Liposuction is a Better Choice than CoolSculpting

The battle of the bulge is real. It is a frustrating journey that many people find to be never-ending. We eat well, even taking on extreme diets. We do detoxes. We do yoga, high-intensity interval workouts, and just about anything else we can to banish pockets of fat from hard-to-correct areas of the body. We aren’t suggesting that healthy lifestyle habits don’t have merit. They do. At the same time, they may not be sufficient for getting the body you want. Enter fat-reduction treatments like CoolSculpting and liposuction. We take a closer look at each treatment option here.

What is Liposuction?

Liposuction is a minimally-invasive surgical technique that is considered plastic surgery. Patients receive some type of anesthesia when they have liposuction done. This may be general anesthesia or local anesthetic and a mild sedative. No hospital stay is required but patients will have post-operative side effects and specific care instructions to minimize the risk of infection and poor healing. The way that liposuction works is by inserting tumescent fluid into the treatment area. This expands the tissue and also has a numbing effect. Alternative modalities such as laser may also be included to break down fat before it is removed. A cannula that is about the size of a knitting needle is inserted through tiny incisions. It reaches the depth where subcutaneous fat lives and suctions small tunnels of fat cells away. This allows tissue to collapse inward around the tunnels in a smooth, uniform manner. Fat cells do not return after liposuction. However, if a person gains weight, their shape may change.

What is CoolSculpting?

CoolSculpting is one of the most well-known nonsurgical body-contouring treatments available today. It is performed in the office without anesthesia of any kind. Each session takes about one hour. During treatment, a piece of tissue about the size of a stick of butter is held between two panels. These panels freeze the fat cells in this tissue without affecting the skin or other structures. After the procedure, patients can resume normal activities right away. Fat is metabolized over several weeks, resulting in up to a 24% reduction. It is important to remember, though, that the fat reduction achieved is limited to that stick of butter sized tissue.

We currently offer liposuction body contouring in our Cincinnati office. While treatment incurs a few days of downtime for swelling and bruising to subside, it offers faster, more predictable results in all sized treatment areas. To learn more about this procedure, call 513.985.0850.