Does Coolsculpting Tighten Loose Skin?
Fat, not loose skin, is reduced with Coolsculpting
While CS will be able to reduce fat, there will be no change in your excess/loose skin or shape of the belly button. Your examination will also likely reveal looseness to the abdominal muscle wall which can be addressed with a tummy tuck.
If you have fat on the hips, bra fat, etc areas, CS may be a way to get some benefit without having to do liposuction. Be sure to consult with a certified CS provider that has undergone advanced training through Coolsculpting University. (Vaishali B. Doolabh, MD, FACS, Jacksonville Plastic Surgeon)
Coolsculpting is best for patients who have stubborn areas of fat but still good skin elasticity.
Unfortunately, your concerns would best be corrected with skin tightening procedures. For best results, a tummy tuck would be recommended to remove excess skin and tighten abdominal muscles. (Brett E. Stompro, MD, Bay Area Plastic Surgeon)
Coolsculpting works, but It will not address your needs.
Coolsculpting is effective at reducing the number of fat cells. I have been performing the procedure for over 7 years and I am confident that it works. An excess of skin and stretch marks will NOT be addressed by coolsculpting or other non-invasive treatments. You can be an excellent candidate for a full tummy tuck. (Reps B. Sundin, MD, Washington DC Plastic Surgeon)
Coolsculpting does a great job w areas of fat. It is not meant to tighten skin. (Stephanie Martin, MD, Atlanta Orthopaedic Surgeon)
Can CoolSculpting help with loose skin in the abdomen?
CoolSculpting is a revolutionary treatment that is highly effective at permanently removing pockets of fat from various areas of the body. The results are smooth and natural looking. Depending on the patient, treating with CoolSculpting can appear to decrease the flaccidity in the treated area.
However, if the patient has lost a good deal of weight and has loose skin, CoolSculpting will not be effective at reducing this. For excessive loose skin, a tummy tuck would probably be needed. Of course, an in person assessment would be needed to determine exactly what would be recommended for any patient. (Edward Stokes, MD, West Hollywood Physician)
Can CoolSculpting help a flaccid belly?
CoolSculpting treatments lead to fat cell destruction over time and thus can reduce areas of unwanted fat. If there is excess skin as well, the CoolSculpting treatment will not help with this.
Photographs or an examination of you would be needed to try and determine if you might be a good candidate for the procedure. (Michael I. Echavez, MD, San Francisco Facial Plastic Surgeon)
Loose Skin – Try CoolSculpting
CoolSculpting can reduce fat above the abdominal muscle but abdominoplasty can help make it flatter in some patients
CoolSculpting certainly can be done when there is pinchable fat above the muscle wall, however,the result won’t be as good in those who need a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) to tighten the muscle wall, or those who have a large component of their stomach’s girth caused by visceral (around the intestines) fat.
Even an abdominoplasty does not fix the latter, but diet and exercise can shrink the fat below the muscle wall. One needs a physical exam to determine if their muscle wall is lax enough to warrant a large procedure such as a tummy tuck. (Ronald Shelton, MD, Manhattan Dermatologic Surgeon)
If there is pinchable, mobile fat then you should be a good candidate for coolsculpting! As with any non-surgical treatment, the down side is that you may be left with some extra skin once the fat is gone. (David A. Sieber, MD, San Francisco Physician)
Certainly pinchable fat is a helpful indicator of the likely hood that you will be able to shrink the fat in the “trouble” area.
However, if you have loose skin and severe excess fat your consultation should be with a plastic surgeon who has the scalable resources to treat you non surgically as well as surgically. This affords you the options of intervention should you not achieve the results your are seeking. (R. Brannon Claytor, MD, FACS, Bryn Mawr Plastic Surgeon)
Skin laxity
Surgery is the recommended choice to treat skin laxity. An abdominoplasty which includes tightening of the abdominal muscles will give the best result.
I recommend consulting with a board certified plastic surgeon and discussing your goals and options. (Helena Guarda, MD, Suffolk Plastic Surgeon)
Remove Unwanted Excess Fat Without Surgery With CoolSculpting
To improve the amount of laxity in your skin, you should seek treatment with an abdominalplasty (tummy tuck) , do not attempt laser liposuction as this will not take care of the root cause . Once you have lost the elasticity no amount of exercise or diet will help with the skin.
Even though some Laser treatments can help tighten skin , they will not provide the amount of skin tightening that is needed to improve your situation. The only realistic option is skin excision via tummy tuck. (Drew Varano, MD, Washington DC Physician)
Coolsculpting does not help with loose skin it it is the major problem. This issue is best treated with a tummy tuck. You must decide if a long scar is better than having loose skin…..if it is not, don’t proceed with surgery. Unfortunately exercise and diet will not improve loose skin. (Deborah Ekstrom, MD, Worcester Plastic Surgeon)
Some Patients Will Feel That Along With A Fat Decrease They Have Also Noticed The Skin Tightening
Will CoolSculpting Tighten Loose Arm Skin?
CoolSculpting can reduce the fat in the upper arms. Some people may experience a subtle tightening of skin, but it is not really significant for those whose main concern is skin tightening. A treatment like ThermiTight would be a much better option. (Michael A. Zadeh, MD, FACS, Sherman Oaks General Surgeon)
Treating upper arm skin laxity with Coolsculpting will not work
The options available for this problem are:
- Arm lift
- Thermi tight
- Infini
- Venus Freeze
- Exilis
They are listed in order of most invasive to least. This is a hard area to treat. An arm lift leads to large scars that most patients prefer not to have. (Steven F. Weiner, MD, Panama City Facial Plastic Surgeon)
CoolSculpt for upper arms
The CoolSculpt procedure only works to non-invasively remove fat cells. It may have a minimal improvement in the tightening of the overlying skin, but this would not be your best choice for your concern. This is a difficult area to treat, but there are other options out there. (Katherine A. Orlick, MD, Tucson Dermatologist)
Think about radiofrequency for skin tightening in the arms
Coolsculpting will not tighten skin. You can consider a non-invasive radiofrequency tightening procedure such as thermage or infini or exilis – or minimally invasive ThermiTight procedure. It is likely that Thermitight will give the best results and can be combined with a little liposuction for fat removal if that is deemed helpful.
Arm lifts – even small ones – leave big scars so I would encourage to look at one of the above treatments. In the non-invasive category I would estimate that Infini will give you best results followed by thermage and then exilis. These procedures can be combined to give best results. (Elizabeth F. Rostan, MD, Charlotte Dermatologist)
Would fat reduction from CoolSculpting cause sagging skin?
CoolSculpting treatments are designed to reduce fat but they will not tighten the skin. If you do not have sagging skin before the treatment, I would say that it is unlikely that you would develop sagging skin after the procedure.
If there is sagging skin prior to the treatment, this will not improve and could potentially worsen. (Michael I. Echavez, MD, San Francisco Facial Plastic Surgeon)
CoolSculpting & The Skin Results
CoolSculpting is a unique non-invasive body contouring device in that it specifically targets the fat cells through cryolipolysis or fat freezing. The results of wether or not you would get sagging skin really depends on how your skin looks prior to the procedure.
If you have good skin elasticity and no sagging prior to the treat, the device does not separate the skin-fat junction, so the skin does not sag. That being said, if you have poor skin elasticity and you are drooping/sagging skin prior to the treatment, CoolSculpting will treat the fat that supports that skin and potentially cause more sagging skin, but this is rarely the problem.
I would make sure you seek out a consultation with board certified physician that is offering CoolSculpting and discuss with them your concerns. (Jason D. Bloom, MD, Philadelphia Facial Plastic Surgeon)
It depends on what area you’re treating, how many cycles, the condition of your skin. In most cases, we do not see a lot of sagging as a result.
The full results of the treatment can be seen in 2-3 months, because the fat is minimized over a longer period of time the skin tends to retract back. Of course there always is a slight risk of sagging skin but that can be discussed during your consultation.
Your doctor should be able to give you an idea of what to expect when they consult with you in person. (Janet Allenby, DO, Delray Beach Dermatologic Surgeon)
Coolsculpting will not cause sagging skin. If you are someone who already has sagging skin around the desired area of treatment, reducing the fat can make the skin appear to look more lax. (Christine Hamori, MD, Boston Plastic Surgeon)