Tag: fat reduction

Work Toward Your New Year’s Fitness Resolutions with CoolSculpting®

Each year, losing weight and “getting healthy” are among the most common New Year’s resolutions made by men and women in the United States. However, it can be difficult to break lifelong bad habits, and by the time February rolls around, most of us have forgotten our fitness goals. The excuses are endless: We tell ourselves we’re too busy, or we’ll start tomorrow, or we deserve a “cheat day” … that turns into a “cheat week” or “cheat month.” While CoolSculpting® is not a weight loss tool or substitute for healthy living, the treatment can put you on the right track for visible results, helping you to shift your mindset and find the motivation you need to reach your body goals. Nonsurgical fat reduction from Charleston’s Germain Dermatology can be exactly the incentive you need to finally kickstart the long-term weight loss and healthy eating plan you’ve been putting off.

Psychological factors play a major role when it comes to weight loss. It’s simple, really: Looking your best makes you feel better. Seeing physical results can also let your body know that your efforts are “paying off,” further motivating you to keep up with lifestyle changes.

Choosing CoolSculpting® to minimize love handles, a bulging belly, a double chin, or some other diet-resistant, flabby area can make you feel good about yourself, happier, and confident about attaining your exercise, diet, or other goals.

It also helps that the early, cooler months of the year are the perfect time to get a body-slimming procedure done before bikini season finally arrives. Experts recommend combining CoolSculpting® with standard workouts to maximize the effects of both.

Be aware, however, that this treatment won’t stop you from gaining more weight in the future if you go back to a sedentary lifestyle and poor diet. Regardless, people who are satisfied with the way they look after CoolSculpting® can be inspired to continue working on their body to better maintain their results. After putting time and money into the procedure, it’s natural to want to protect your investment.

Turn your fitness goals into action today with help from Germain Dermatology in Charleston. Have questions about CoolSculpting®? To initiate a consultation request, call 1-844-SC-CHILL, or send a message online.

The Basics of Fat: Development, Distribution, and Types

Men and women in the Charleston area seeking CoolSculpting® treatments can rely on Germain Dermatology for personalized care throughout each step of the process. As you may be aware, CoolSculpting® is a fat-reduction method designed to target and kill fat cells. It does this by reducing temperatures in targeted tissue to crystalize excess deposits of unwanted fat and mark these temperature-sensitive cells for elimination without affecting the surrounding skin and tissue.

Fat—its excess, loss, and appearance—has been the subject of societal fascination for decades, especially as the health risks associated with obesity have become better known. While CoolSculpting® and related treatments are not intended to impact weight or health, the number of people who use cosmetic techniques to change the contours of their body has risen steadily in recent years.

But what, really, are fat cells and what is their function in the human body?

In the third trimester of pregnancy, a fetus begins to acquire fat cells. These contribute to the chubby, rounded look of babies and early childhood. Throughout puberty, each person gains a set number of fat cells, and the way these are stored and distributed varies from person to person. Once in place, a person’s fat distribution doesn’t change much during adulthood.

Cells containing fat, otherwise known as adipocytes, are connective tissues that are found under the skin, on top of the kidneys, in the liver, around the heart, and elsewhere. They are highly active cells that control the body’s energy balance, support the immune system, regulate metabolism by releasing certain hormones, and act as a cushioning layer. Each cell is a small sphere that mostly consists of triglycerides—a type of lipid.

Fat in the body can be categorized into four main types: brown, white, subcutaneous, and visceral. Brown fat “burns” calories and white fat droplets to create heat when it is exposed to cold. White fat is more abundant and serves as the body’s largest fuel reserve, supporting internal and physical activities. An excess of deep visceral fat, which wraps around the internal organs, is associated with health risks. Subcutaneous fat is located directly beneath the skin and used to determine overall body fat.

CoolSculpting® targets the subcutaneous fat, where changes in volume are especially visible.

Have questions or concerns about fat and CoolSculpting® in Charleston? Find out more about your cosmetic options and work with a provider to develop a customized treatment plan. Call Germain Dermatology at 1-844-SC-CHILL or fill out a contact form online.

CoolSculpting® vs Liposuction: Comparing Fat Reduction Strategies

Before making a decision on which fat-reduction strategy to choose, it’s important to understand the major similarities and differences between nonsurgical and surgical options. As Charleston-based fat reduction specialists, the Germain Dermatology team is highly experienced in all aspects of nonsurgical CoolSculpting®. Here are four aspects to consider:

Treatment Areas

CoolSculpting® and liposuction surgery can both be used to address resistant pockets of fat on most of the body. Efforts are commonly applied to under-the-chin fat, belly fat, love handles, banana rolls, inner thigh fat, saddlebags, and flabby upper arms.

How They Work

Quite simply, liposuction vacuums manually loosened fat from specific areas of the body. The procedure typically lasts between one to four hours and requires patients to receive general or local anesthesia. An incision is made, and fat is suctioned through a thin tube that may be waved back and forth to separate the fat cells from the surrounding tissue. After this, the incision is sutured shut, and patients often set aside days or weeks for recovery and recuperation as swelling, bruising, and other side effects resolve.

CoolSculpting® utilizes localized freezing to kill of fat cells by crystallizing them. No incisions are required, as the entirely non-invasive device works through the surface of the skin to cool the fat cells beneath. Once killed off, these unwanted cells are gradually metabolized and filtered out of the body. Generally speaking, while each person’s treatment plan will vary depending on his or her goals, CoolSculpting® sessions require roughly a half hour to an hour spent in the clinic. No down time is required after, and any bruising or swelling will resolve on its own as patients go about their daily lives.

Results

Most patients will see visible results from CoolSculpting® after about three weeks, with optimal results showing up around three months later. Multiple sessions may be required to achieve the desired contours. Liposuction reveals immediate volume reduction, but post-surgical swelling must fully resolve over days and weeks in order to best show off the new contours. In both cases, the fat cells removed by the procedure are gone for good.

Safety and Convenience

Part of the appeal of CoolSculpting® is its non-invasive nature, which makes it faster in terms of the session itself, as well as recovery. No anaesthetics are required. It is also considerably less expensive than a surgical solution, which carries the associated risks and costs of sedation.

For more details on CoolSculpting®, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Germain Dermatology team. Call 1-844-SC-CHILL or send a message online.