Coolsculpting is ice packs on steroids! The Coolsculpting procedure is also painless, certainly after applying an ice bag on your skin the feeling of pain will go away but with coolsculpting this is not a problem and it covers a larger concentrated area. The amazing thing about coolsculpting is that it does not cause any damage to tissue other than fat. There is no damage to nerves or blood vessels. (Rosalind Jackson, MD, Miamisburg OB-GYN)
CoolSculpting vs Ice Packs
It’s a good thought, however ice packs would damage your skin for that amount of time so please do not try it. The CoolSculpting procedure protects the skin while freezing the fat below at a certain controlled temperature at the right amount of time in order to kill fat cells permanently. (Emerico Csepanyi, MD, Newport Beach Physician)
In this case, the finely regulated temperature interface between the device and the body allows for maximal fat injury with safety for the overlying skin (i.e. frostbite).
Ice packs though good in theory would not replicate the precision and accuracy of the coolsculpting software and computer driven system with sensors designed to maximize your results and maintain safety. (Matthew H. Conrad, MD, Wichita Plastic Surgeon)
The difference is this: what happens during the process of Coolsculpting, is controlled injury to the fat cells with continual feedback. With icepacks, – you may not be able to achieve the desired temperature consistently and uniformly, as there is neither control nor feedback, so there is likely to be either no result or pockets of necrosis -And this would not be limited to the fat cells, rather it is more likely that the epidermis and the dermis would also be damaged.
CoolSculpting May Improve Skin Texture And Laxity
We want uniform apoptosis in the fat layer, without damaging the overlying skin (epidermis/ dermis). And so, no, that cannot be achieved with ice packs. . (Renita (Lourdhurajan) Rajan, MD, DNB, India Dermatologist)
CoolSculpting vs applying ice packs
You wouldn’t apply ice packs repeatedly to your legs and get good results for a few reasons:
- Your skin wouldn’t tolerate the amount of consistent cold required to destroy fat. You would have frostbite.
- You cannot keep a consistently cold temperature with ice packs, which naturally warm over time.
- You cannot keep a consistently cold temperature over the the entire desired treatment area. The area in the center of the ice pack will be colder than the area on the margins. Physics is definitely in favor of the FDA-cleared CoolSculpting device. (Carmen Kavali, MD, Atlanta Plastic Surgeon)
Can I just Ice myself to reduce fat?
While it is true that CoolSculpting evolved from observations of popsicle panniculitis, it is not a good idea to apply popsicles to your problem areas.
The CoolSculpting system is a technically advanced system that is tuned to prevent skin damage from things like frostbite.
A great deal of research has gone into making a system that is safe with very minimal side effects. I would not risk skin injury by applying ice. (Suresh Koneru, MD, San Antonio Plastic Surgeon)
Applying Ice Packs Repeatedly?
If it could only be that easy! CoolSculpting is a safe, FDA-approved technology that targets fat cells below the skin specifically without harming surrounding tissues. By simply applying ice packs to your skin, you are not targeting the sub-dermal fat tissues and destroying them permanently with the same efficacy; you are merely just making your skin cold.
There is absolutely no similarity between the two actions. (Louis P. Bucky, MD, Philadelphia Plastic Surgeon)
Ice and Coolsculpting are not created equal
We all wish it could be that simple, but unfortunately, it isn’t. Coolsculpting has been engineered to deliver a very precise degree of cooling that targets the fat cells and leaves the other surrounding tissues (skin, blood vessels, nerves, muscles, etc) unharmed.
Applying ice directly to skin would harm the skin cells and cause significant damage, possible scarring or tissue death and more than likely not effect the fat at all. Not a good option. So- don’t use ice to freeze fat and watch out for knock off treatments that could be potentially harmful.
Coolsculpting by Zeltiq is the safe and effective way to go. (Grant Stevens, MD, Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon)
How coolsculpting works
Coolsculpting was discovered when children who kept a popsicle in the side of their mouth for too long developed a swelling in their cheek that then progressed to a depression due to fat loss. This was called “popsicle panniculitis” referring to the changes in the fatty tissue with the gentle freezing process.
Coolsculpting cools the tissue to a temperature for a just the right amount of time. This information is of how this is done and for precisely how long is not revealed by the manufacturer. (Pramit Malhotra, MD, Ann Arbor Plastic Surgeon)
Why not just use ice?
Applying ice directly to the skin would risk burning your skin because you are not able to precisely control the temperature being applied to the surface of the skin. In Coolsculping, the cooling is very precisely applied and controlled in order to only freeze fat cells and NOT your skin, blood vessels, or nerves.
The cooling is also applied in a very consistent pattern to get even destruction of fat cells. I would recommend talking with an expert in your area. (Josh Waltzman, MD, MBA, Long Beach Plastic Surgeon)
Ice applied to the skin is NOT the same as coolsculpting
Coolsculpting is not just the application of ‘ice’. Coolsculpting freezes the fat below the skin without damaging the skin itself.
The temperature of the fat must be reduced to a specific temperature in order to induce crystal formation and breakdown of the fat cells.
The applicators used are associated with specific treatment cycle times necessary to achieve that temperature at the required level of fat. The combination of the special applicators used to grasp the area of fat to be treated and the temperature and contact monitoring that alerts us if the area becomes too cold or the applicator loses contact with the skin before the end of the specified cycle ensures that the cold will freeze the fat, not the skin.
Just applying an ice bag to the skin will lower the temperature of the skin slightly – the ice will also melt as the heat of the skin warms the ice. The cold will not reach the level of the fat.
The difference in the ‘popsicle’ example is that fat necrosis (killing the fat cells) was caused by a popsicle held in the mouth of a child in one position for a long period of time (so called ‘popsicle panniculitis’).
The mucous membrane in the mouth does not have the thick stratum corneum of outside skin and the fat layer is very closely adherent to it. That is very different than applying ice (or a popsicle) to the outside skin.
It is also not a common phenomenon which says the temperature and contact have to be just right to make it possible in nature. (Heidi A. Waldorf, MD, New York Dermatologist)
Ice Packs or Coolsculpting?
Coolsculpting was originally developed from a syndrome called popsicle panniculitis. Peadiatricians had noticed that children who always had popsicles in their mouths would develop a dent inside their mouth. It was theorized that the cold was killing the fat cells.
The Coolsculpting device does this in a controlled fashion. It lowers the temperature of the treated fat to a specific temperature that causes fat cells to die. It does this without hurting the skin. If you tried to freeze your fat from the outside with ice, you would freeze the skin causing frost bite.
You would also never get the fat to the right temperature to cause the even loss of fat cells. So its a good thought, but leave fat freezing up to the Coolsculpting professionals!. (Lawrence Broder, MD, Cedar Park Family Physician)
CoolSculpting Avoids Frostbite
The CoolSculpting handpieces are very sophisticated instruments that continuously monitor the skin’s temperature. CoolSculpting delivers a very specific temperature (somewhere above the freezing point of water) that causes damage to the fat cells, but not the skin cells.
This avoids frostbite, which will happen if you apply packs of ice to the skin. The difference in temperature between fat cell injury and skin cell injury is very small. Because of this, it’s important to delivery the cold temperature in a very precise manner.
That is the beauty of Coolsculpting. (Garry K. Kim, MD, Pasadena Internist)
Coolsculpting uses advanced technology to effectively freeze and reduce fatty cells/tissues in concentrated areas to give patients the non-surgical option for body contouring with no downtime. (Sam M. Sukkar, MD, Houston Plastic Surgeon)