What is the fat device shown in last weekend's episode of The Spin Crowd? It's called Zeltiq and it literally freezes your fat cells causing them to die.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with American Health and Beauty,
La Jolla Zeltiq dermatologist Dr. William Groff spoke about how the Zeltiq device works. In a procedure called "Coolsculpting," temperature is dropped to just-above-freezing so fat cells can crystallize and die without causing any damage to the skin. As Dr. Groff demonstrates, "There are two opposing plates and these plates gets very very cold - very close to freezing actually. Imagine all of your fat and skin is sucked up into this device, these two cooling plates bring the temperature down to near freezing for an hour. Now, an hour is a long enough period of time that it will actually destroy the fat cells but it won't harm your skin at all."
As seen on the most recent episode of The Spin Crowd, publicist Jonathan Cheban is a good candidate for the procedure since he only has pockets of spot fat he wants to reduce. Although the Zeltiq device gets quite cold, Cheban's reaction to Zeltiq is somewhat more dramatic than most patients that undergo the procedure.
To manage expectations, it is important to determine who is and is not an ideal candidate for Zeltiq. The procedure is not intended for the very large and is better suited for patients who are in general, thin and fit but have a small problematic areas that exercise and healthy diet cannot address. Because Zeltiq only treats the outermost layer of fat, those who are large won't see much benefit. As Dr. Groff describes, "My ideal candidate is a man or a woman who works out, they diet, they've done what they can but they just have these stubborn areas of fat that won't seem to go away." Dr. Groff has seen patients from their 20's all the way to their 60's and says as long as they don't have loose skin and they fit within the proper fitness guidelines, they are all candidates.
Actual results of Dr. Richard Fitzpatrick and Dr. William Groff of La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Centre
Note: Not Before/After photos of Jonathon Cheban
Patients typically do not need anesthesia or numbing cream for the treatment and are able to go back to work and other daily activities - without restriction - right away. Results are seen in a few months as the body naturally expels the dead fat cells. The device has been used in Europe for many years and has finished FDA trials in the US, but has not yet received official approval for body contouring.
