CoolSculpting vs Fat Freezing: Is There a Difference, and What Does It Cost in Newcastle?
Contents
People ring us asking whether we do CoolSculpting or "just" fat freezing, as though they were two different treatments. They are not. CoolSculpting is a brand name for fat freezing, the way Hoover is a brand name for a vacuum cleaner. This page explains what the brand covers, where a CoolSculpting session and a fat freezing session at our Newcastle clinic actually differ, and what each is likely to cost you, so you can compare quotes properly instead of by name.
CoolSculpting is a brand, fat freezing is the treatment
The treatment is called cryolipolysis. An applicator draws in or presses against a pocket of fat and cools it to below freezing point while the skin is protected. Fat cells are more sensitive to cold than the skin, muscle and nerves around them, so they die off and the body clears them over the following weeks. CoolSculpting is the trade name AbbVie uses for its cryolipolysis device, currently the CoolSculpting Elite. Other manufacturers make cryolipolysis machines too, which is why you also see the treatment sold as fat freezing, cryo, 3D lipo or cool sculpting with a space in it. We do not run the CoolSculpting brand device. We run 360 cryolipolysis, and everything below is about how the two compare.
What is the same
The mechanism, the candidates and the timeline. Both freeze fat cells so the body removes them. Both are for a soft, pinchable pocket that diet and exercise have not shifted, on someone whose weight is fairly stable, and neither is a weight loss treatment. Both take one to two hours a session and need no anaesthetic and no time off. With both, the treated area starts to look smaller at about four weeks and the full result shows at six to twelve weeks, and the fat cells that have gone do not grow back. Both leave the area numb and tender for a while afterwards, and in a small number of people the numbness lasts around two months.
Where they differ
The applicators
CoolSculpting uses a range of cup and flat applicators, and a treatment is sold in cycles: one applicator on one spot for a set time. A typical area often needs more than one cycle to cover it, and the manufacturer's own site quotes up to 20 to 25% of the treated fat removed. Our 360 applicators cool the pocket from all sides rather than from one face of it, and the reduction we see is in the region of 20 to 40% of the fat in the treated area from one session. Either way the number that matters is the one measured on you at your follow-up, not the one in the brochure.
How it is priced
Because CoolSculpting is sold per cycle, the quote you get depends on how many cycles the clinic decides your area needs, and two clinics can quote very different totals for the same tummy. We price per area and per session, so the number on the page is the number you pay: one area £350, two areas £450, three areas £550, four areas £650, and a course of three sessions on one area £899. When you compare a CoolSculpting quote with ours, ask for the total for the whole area over the whole plan, not the price of a single cycle.
Who treats you
The brand on the machine tells you nothing about the person operating it, and with cryolipolysis the operator is what decides the result. Applicator placement, how much tissue is drawn in, whether the edges of adjacent placements overlap or leave a ridge, and whether the area was suitable in the first place all come down to the practitioner. RT Aesthetics is a medically led clinic and you will always know who is treating you and which device is being used.
What fat freezing costs in Newcastle
At our clinic in Whickham, Newcastle, 360 fat freezing is £350 for one area, £450 for two, £550 for three and £650 for four in a single session. A course of three sessions on one area is £899, and larger courses are priced on the fat freezing page. The consultation before it is free, we price match like-for-like clinic treatments, and we book you back in at six weeks and twelve weeks to measure and photograph the area so you can see the change rather than take our word for it.
What to ask any clinic, whichever name is on the door
Which device it is and who made it. Who will be doing the treatment and how many of these they have done. How many cycles or placements your area needs and what the total comes to. Whether you can see their own before and after photographs, taken in their clinic, rather than the manufacturer's. What the follow-up is, and what happens if the result is uneven. A clinic that answers those five questions plainly is a safer bet than one that leads with the brand.
Who it suits and who it does not
Fat freezing, under any name, works best on a defined pocket you can pinch: lower stomach, flanks, inner thighs, upper arms, bra fat, under the chin. It is not the right treatment for a larger area of fat, for someone with a higher BMI, or for anyone who cannot tolerate the cold and the numbness afterwards, and for those people we would usually suggest Emerald Laser, which has FDA market clearance for people with a BMI of up to 40 and involves no cold at all. Where the pocket comes with loose skin over it, Exilis Ultra Body tightens the skin as it reduces the fat. Our page on non-surgical liposuction compares all four options with prices.
Safety
Cryolipolysis is a non-invasive, CE-marked treatment with nothing injected and no incisions. The usual side effects are redness, tenderness, mild swelling and a numb patch that fades over days to weeks, occasionally a couple of months. There is a rare risk, with any cryolipolysis device, of the treated fat becoming firmer rather than smaller, and we go through that with you before you book. Every plan at our clinic follows our clinical protocols with a clinic medic and a qualified nurse practitioner on the team for any medical questions.
Book your consultation
If you have been quoted for CoolSculpting and want a like-for-like comparison, or you simply want a pocket of fat gone, book a free consultation at our Newcastle clinic. Bring the other quote. You will get an honest opinion on whether freezing is the right treatment for the area, and a plan with the full price before anything is booked.
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