For the bulge that will not budge

Some fat ignores every careful meal and every workout. Love handles, a lower-belly pooch, the roll beside a bra strap, the inner or outer thighs and fullness under the chin are the usual examples. CoolSculpting treats those spots and nothing else: precision-controlled cooling brings the fat cells in one area down to a temperature that sets off their natural death, while the skin and tissue around them come to no harm. It reduces fat in a place you choose; it is not a way of losing weight overall.

The free consultation

You meet one of Bellava’s specialists, who looks at the areas that bother you and talks through what you would like them to look like. Your health history and any earlier treatments are reviewed, the process is explained step by step, and you leave with a plan written for your body, including how many sessions each area is likely to need.

On the day

Length: 35 to 60 minutes, depending on how many applicators are used
Sensation: cold as the panels go on and a pulling feeling as suction draws the tissue between them, settling into something most people liken to a firm massage
Meanwhile: read, catch up on work or doze
Afterwards: no recovery time, so you go straight back to your usual activities

The rest of the day can go ahead as planned. A walk on the trails of Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, Westchester’s largest park, does not have to be postponed.

The months that follow

Over the next two to four months your body clears the treated cells away. Subtle change can show from about three weeks, and that gradual pace gives the skin time to adjust, which is part of why the result looks natural. The treated cells do not come back, but untreated areas can still gather fat if your weight rises, so holding a steady weight protects what you have gained.

Side effects are usually limited to redness, bruising or numbness at the treated spot, gone within days to a few weeks. A rare one, paradoxical fat hyperplasia, makes treated fat thicken instead of shrink; close adherence to the CoolSculpting protocols keeps that risk low. The treatment is cleared by the FDA.

Your estheticians, and the drive

CoolSculpting at Bellava is performed by licensed medical estheticians certified in it: Natalina McEwan, a graduate of CoolSculpt University, and Semira Crecco-Donnelly, who has more than 20 years in the field. The practice’s medical director is Donna D’Alessio, MD. From Pound Ridge it is about 19 minutes without traffic: west from the Town House on Route 137 and Route 172 to Bedford Village, then Route 22 north and Harris Road to 182 Route 117 Bypass Road.

Pound Ridge patients ask

What if loose skin is the real issue? Cooling removes fat but does not tighten skin. Bellava’s board-certified plastic surgeon, Chang Soo Kim, MD, can advise on a tummy tuck; a consultation with him is requested by form, call or text, and the patient coordinator arranges a time.

Is there a member benefit? The membership carries a discount for every four CoolSculpting cycles.

How do I book? Choose a consultation or a session online with Book Now.

CoolSculpting for Pound Ridge, NY