By: Jamie Fox, Licensed Aesthetician and Certified Laser Technician

When people are searching to get body contouring in targeted areas, CoolSculpting® treatments and Liposuction procedures are usually the first things that come to mind. Before choosing, it’s essential to know the differences between the two in order to achieve your desired result of reducing fat in targeted areas.

What is CoolSculpting?

CoolSculpting® is non-invasive fat freezing procedure performed by a certified technician. This treatment permanently reduces the amount of fat cells in areas of the body such as the abdomen, love handles, bra line, upper arms, inner thighs and outer thighs.

What is Liposuction?

Liposuction is an invasive surgical procedure performed by a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon in an outpatient surgery center or hospital where local or general anesthesia is used. A Liposuction procedure can be performed on almost anywhere on the body to permanently reduce fat.

Main differences | CoolSculpting® vs Liposuction

What is the recovery time?

After a CoolSculpting® session, there is little to no downtime, which means you can resume your normal daily routine immediately after your treatment. With Liposuction, there is recovery time — requiring time off work, wearing compression garments for a certain length of time, and temporarily discontinuing your daily exercise or other physical activities. 

Are there risks of scarring?

Coolsculpting® treatments are facilitated with external applicators that target and freeze excess fat, meaning that the skin’s surface always remains intact. Liposuction, however, is a surgical procedure which involves putting the patient under local or general anesthesia while a surgeon physically facilitates a fat removal process. As such, liposuction patients run the risk of permanent scarring such as dimpling or scar tissue forming under the skin.   

When will I see results?

CoolSculpting® triggers the body to flush fat cells naturally through the lymphatic system. CoolSculpting treatments can require multiple, spaced-out treatments in the same area for optimal results. Patients can start to notice reduction within 4 weeks and obtain optimal results after 4 months of regular treatment.

As the liposuction physically removes fat directly from the body, patients generally only require one procedure to achieve expected CoolSculpting® results.

Making your final decision

There are endless solutions to choose from when it comes to achieving your goal, especially with new technology emerging every day. As always, choosing the right treatment should be done after extensive research & consulting with professionals who have been trained on the topic.

It’s important to mention that neither CoolSculpting® nor Liposuction should be facilitated as a means of weight loss. For either treatment, it is recommended that patients get as close as they can to their goals by means of healthy eating & exercise. Body contouring should only be considered when looking to “fine-tune” areas resistant to all other solutions. Otherwise, weight loss programs like those at Red Mountain should be considered.

Jamie Fox has been a Licensed Aesthetician and Certified Laser Technician for the past 13 years. Her passion for corrective skin care has led her to the medical aesthetics field, and has since become a CoolSculpting® specialist. Jamie understands her patients’ needs and addresses their concerns from overall anti-aging and acne to difficult pigment issues and body contouring through the use of medical grade products, lasers and more non-invasive treatments.