Even the fittest of us have pockets of fat that we can’t get rid of no matter how well we eat or how much we exercise. Similarly, you may be hitting the gym six days a week without noticing any significant muscle definition. The truth is, genetics and age play a large role in how we gain and lose both weight and muscle mass, and, unfortunately, these factors are completely outside of our control. Fortunately, however, two innovative technologies—CoolSculpting® and CoolTone—allow us to enhance our physiques without surgery. But what are the differences between CoolSculpting and CoolTone, and how do you know which one is right for you?

Which procedure is less invasive?

CoolSculpting and CoolTone are both non-surgical procedures, meaning neither one is invasive. CoolSculpting’s technology eliminates unwanted fat cells by freezing them (a process called cryolipolysis), while CoolTone uses electromagnetic energy to strengthen and tone muscles. Neither procedure harms your skin or tissue in any way.

Are the results permanent?

CoolSculpting has been proven to permanently destroy between 20.4 – 25.5% of the fat cells in treated areas, which you then metabolize naturally within about 90 days. Your results should last for as long as you maintain a healthy lifestyle. If more improvement is desired in the area, we recommend you have an additional CoolSculpting treatment after approximately four months (there is a minimum wait time of one month in between treatments). While CoolSculpting permanently removes fat cells, it doesn’t prevent you from gaining fat. However, if you do gain fat, it will be more likely to concentrate in untreated areas of your body.

CoolTone results, on the other hand, are temporary. Since muscle definition relies on continued use, results will only remain noticeable with regular maintenance treatments every three to six months. You’ll also need to build up some initial muscle tone, similar to exercise. Thus it is recommended that patients initially receive two treatments a week for two weeks, followed by four treatments a year, to keep their muscles looking strong and toned. If you gain weight following treatment, your CoolTone results will still be present but may be overshadowed by a layer of fat. Also like exercise, if you stop your regular treatments, you could eventually lose the extra muscle definition CoolTone provides.

Is CoolSculpting or CoolTone a substitute for exercise?

Although CoolTone and CoolSculpting produce some of the same results as exercise (developing toned, lean muscles and shedding fat, respectively), they don’t increase your heart rate, which is a critical benefit of exercising. It’s also important to understand that neither CoolSculpting nor CoolTone are weight loss solutions. And because CoolTone strengthens your muscle fibers rather than breaking them down and rebuilding them, the procedure won’t help you gain muscle mass. So, if gaining muscle is your priority, you should still hit those weights.

CoolTone is not a replacement for weight lifting or other muscle-building exercises.

What are the side effects?

Redness, bruising, and discomfort. With both CoolSculpting and CoolTone, you may experience some redness, minor bruising, tingling, numbness, or discomfort in the treated area, but this should dissipate within a few days. Most patients are able to return to their normal activities immediately following both procedures, though we recommend taking a few days off from the gym.

Cramping. Since CoolTone inhibits muscle contraction, patients may experience increased cramping immediately following their treatment, therefore it’s best to schedule your CoolTone appointment about a week before or after your menstrual cycle.

Paradoxical adipose hyperplasia. Colloquially referred to as the “stick of butter” effect, paradoxical adipose hyperplasia (PAH) is a very rare complication where an area treated by a CoolSculpting applicator can become hardened and enlarged, taking on the appearance of a stick of butter. According to a 2014 study published in JAMA Dermatology, this side effect has an incidence of 0.0051%, or about 1 in 20,000 treated patients. While PAH is visually unappealing and takes time to resolve, it does not present any known health issues and is treatable with liposuction.

Is CoolSculpting or CoolTone more “worth it”?

Comparing the results of CoolSculpting and CoolTone is a bit like comparing apples to oranges; because the procedures address different parts of your anatomy in very different ways, it’s difficult to say which one has the “best” results. That said, we choose to offer CoolSculpting over CoolTone at Hess Plastic Surgery for a few reasons:

CoolSculpting can help lower your BMI. Most people who struggle with stubborn body fat can get the greatest health benefit from achieving a healthy BMI than from increasing their muscle definition.

Many patients find CoolSculpting to be the most “worth-it” body contouring procedure for their time and money.

CoolSculpting can help reveal your natural muscle tone. No matter how strong your abs are, they’ll remain invisible if you have a layer of fat covering them. CoolSculpting can reveal your natural muscle definition by significantly reducing stubborn body fat.

CoolTone may require more time and money. Since CoolTone requires frequent treatments for maintenance of results (patients must initially receive two treatments a week for two weeks, followed by four treatments a year), in the long run it may require more time and money than CoolSculpting.

Where can I find CoolSculpting in northern Virginia?

If you’re interested in CoolSculpting in Fairfax, VA and the Washington DC area, look no further than Hess Plastic Surgery. Board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Christopher L. Hess has over 17 years of experience helping patients improve their body contours so they can look and feel great.

To learn more about how CoolSculpting can enhance your physique and boost your confidence, request your consultation online or call (703) 752-6608 today.

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In the 30 years that BOTOX® has been around, physicians have continued to find new clinical uses for injectable neurotoxins, which relax muscle contractions by blocking incoming nerve signals. While BOTOX is most well known as a treatment for stopping wrinkles at the source, there are many more uses for BOTOX, some of which are FDA-cleared. Here are some Botox treatments you might not have known about:

• Curb excessive sweating. Patients diagnosed with hyperhidrosis sweat even if they’re not hot or physically exerting themselves. BOTOX blocks the nerve signals that trigger the sweating, usually in the palms of the hands.
• Treat chronic migraines. While there is no permanent cure for chronic migraines, a series of precise BOTOX injections every 3-6 months helps to prevent them.
• Help with bladder control. Physicians can inject BOTOX into the muscles that control the bladder to help with urinary incontinence.
• Reduce muscle spasms. Patients with disorders like cervical dystonia, which affects the muscles in the neck, are unable to control the movements of certain muscle groups. Injected properly, BOTOX can reduce these spasms.

Off-Label Cosmetic Uses for BOTOX

While the FDA has approved BOTOX for the above uses, there are other ways it is used “off-label” with varying degrees of success:

Reshape the lips

In a technique called the “lip flip,” BOTOX is injected in the orbicularis oris muscle above the top lip. This allows the lip to relax and curve into what will supposedly be a poutier shape. While this is an interesting use for BOTOX, enhancing the lips with dermal fillers is generally safer and more effective. There are a couple of reasons for this—first, unlike neurotoxins, lip fillers add volume to the lips and reduce the appearance of fine lines around the mouth. Secondly, injecting neurotoxins in the lip area requires great skill (you don’t want to end up with partially paralyzed lips). As such, you should only try a BOTOX lip flip with a board certified plastic surgeon who has full knowledge of facial anatomy and is well-versed in the procedure.

Smooth vertical lines in the neck

Platysma bands, or vertical neck lines associated with aging or weight loss, are a common source of frustration among women. When you clench your teeth, you can feel these muscles tighten in your neck. Before going for a full face-lift, you may want to ask your provider about BOTOX to relax the muscles that cause the lines, since this procedure requires no downtime.

Helpful Side Effects from BOTOX

Physicians and patients may realize that another issue they deal with seems to be treated by their BOTOX. This fuels off-label use of BOTOX for other common frustrations:

Alleviate symptoms of TMJ

This off-label use was discovered by accident when doctors began using BOTOX to slim the jawline. By injecting into the strong masseter muscle, which is used for chewing, BOTOX relaxes the muscle and helps with TMJ symptoms like teeth grinding.

A recent study of 40,000 patients found that those being treated with botulinum toxin were less likely to experience depression.

Reduce hairline sweating to make blowouts last longer

Forehead wrinkle patients found that their hair remained styled longer because the BOTOX prevented hairline sweating—just another happy accident.

Looking to the Future: Could BOTOX treat depression?

Now for the big question: what about depression? New findings suggest, as previous studies have, that BOTOX may alleviate depression as a side effect. A recent study looked at over 40,000 patient cases and found that those patients being treated with botulinum toxin were less likely to experience depression. Here’s what you need to know:

• The patients in the study were being treated for ailments other than depression, like muscle spasms, wrinkles, and migraines.
• The study considered both patients who were being treated with botulinum toxin injections, like BOTOX, and those who were being treated with another therapy.
• An existing hypothesis suggests that injecting BOTOX to treat wrinkles between the eyebrows reduced depression by preventing patients from frowning. But in this study, neurotoxin was injected in many different areas.
• This seems to confirm that botulinum toxin, injected in many different areas in different amounts, may reduce depression.
• There may be other reasons that botulinum toxin has antidepressant side effects, such as the pleasure a patient takes in receiving treatment for their original condition.
• Besides (1) reducing frowning and (2) treating the patient’s primary concern, there may be other mechanisms by which BOTOX reduces depression. More clinical trials will be necessary to gain a better understanding.

While this isn’t enough information to start prescribing BOTOX for depression, it is a pleasant finding for the many patients who already use BOTOX. And who knows: as time and science progress, you just may be getting a prescription from your therapist for a visit to your plastic surgeon’s office.

Schedule Your Consultation

At Hess Plastic Surgery, we offer a range of injectables, including Dysport and Xeomin, which are injectable neurotoxins that work much the same way as BOTOX but with a slightly different formula. At your consultation, we decide which injectable is right for your needs based on your desired outcome and our experience with your desired procedure. To discuss your goals with Dr. Hess and our expert plastic surgery team in Fairfax, please call us at (703) 752-6608 or contact us online.

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1600 people participated in the clinical trial, which according to The Daily Beast and other sources, yielded positive results for reducing submental (under the chin) fat.

The ATX-101 injection could be available as early as May 2016.

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CoolSmooth is not available in the US yet, but it is in the UK and reporter Ingeborg von Lotringen for Cosmopolitan UK did a pretty great job describing the new treatment in this snarky, yet informative article.

How is the new device different from the CoolSculpting device we have here? It’s the same technology, it’s just applied differently.

“The CoolSmooth attachment is the size and roughly the shape of a small beach ball bat, with an adjustable curve. It doesn’t suck in fat, but lies on top of it, allowing for a far greater area to be treated. The catch is that instead of an hour of freeze time, it takes two. That’s because the tissues aren’t surrounded by an ice pack, as it were, as is the case with the vacuum mouthpiece.”

Read the full article.

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Northern Virginia, if you want a little Botox, we’ll keep your secret safe.

Video: Plastic Surgery Confessions: I Hide Botox From My Husband

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ASPS President Dr. Greg Evans of Irvine, CA was quoted from a statement, saying “for the third consecutive year, the overall growth in cosmetic surgery continues to be driven by a significant rise in minimally invasive procedures, while surgical procedures remain relatively stable.”

In northern Virginia we have certainly seen the same trend, which is why we’ve added our own medical spa, non-surgical fat reduction with CoolSculpting, a new Botox alternative called Xeomin, the new filler Belotero, and other popular non-surgical treatments to our offerings.

Surprisingly, many of these treatments are very affordable and can delay or even prevent the need for cosmetic surgery. We love to talk about these options with our patients and welcome every question, no matter how silly it may seem.

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The new “CoolFit” applicator used during CoolSculpting treatment is evolving to attack more fat cells at the same time and be more capable of treating the most difficult trouble areas.

Although the FDA only cleared the device for treatment to the love handles and abdomen, CoolSculpting has also been used for the past 3 years to treat areas such as back fat, arms, thighs, knees, and the male chest.

Results in these areas are exciting, but in the past it has been a challenge to place the device head right where we want it. The new upgrade, called the CoolFit applicator, boasts nearly 40% greater size in the cooling plates, yet a smaller design to fit properly on arms, inner thighs, common areas where patients demand treatment.

Here’s what the new CoolFit looks like:

While nobody has complained about the original method of treating these areas, we are confident that CoolSculpting will be even more effective with this new design.

Check out the CoolFit in action in this video from our friends at Contour Clinic in Minnesota:

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In 2011 the popularity of such procedures increased by 7%, totaling 1.9 million.

Popular injectable fillers include products like Juvederm, Restylane, and Belotero. Here at our Fairfax office, we prefer Belotero.

Are these treatments safe?

In a recent article about the growing popularity of fillers from the Dallas Morning News, Dr. Jeffrey Kenkel says “the procedures are widely considered to be safe… they’re thoroughly tested and undergo a pretty rigorous process to get FDA approval,” he says.

“Most injectables in this country have been available for many years outside this country. We have roughly eight or nine filler products in the United States. In Europe, they might have 100.”

Contact us at 703-752-6608 for more information about facial rejuvenation with injectable fillers.

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