New Liposuction Alternative Freezes Away Fat

If you want to melt your muffin top or lose your love handles, Plastic Surgery Associates has the solution. CoolSculpting is a new, non-surgical treatment that often can be used for those who do not wish to have liposuction. Marin area men and women are finding that this procedure can reduce areas of excess fat by an average of 20 percent, say board-certified plastic surgeons Dr. Francisco Canales and Dr. Heather Furnas.

"This procedure literally freezes away the excess fat through a process called Cryolipolysis?," Dr. Canales says. "For our time-pressured patients in Santa Rosa, Sonoma and Napa, liposuction or a tummy tuck isn't always a realistic solution. This is one of the reasons we're delighted to offer CoolSculpting. It's FDA approved, and the typical treatment time is just an hour. Because it's a non-invasive procedure, our patients can return to their regular routines right after their appointments."

During treatment, patients can listen to music, read or even use their laptops while the CoolSculpting applicator cools the targeted areas of fatty tissue. No needles or anesthesia are required during this fat-freezing process, and the surrounding tissues are not harmed. The precisely measured cooling breaks down the targeted fat cells, and then the body's natural cleansing processes gradually remove those cells during the weeks following treatment.

"We chose to add CoolSculpting for our Santa Rosa and Napa plastic surgery patients because so many of them have specific problem areas such as pockets of back fat or love handles," Dr. Furnas says. "They diet, they exercise, yet those fat deposits remain. CoolSculpting is the ideal answer, and patients are delighted with the way that it sculpts those areas without surgery."

A change usually begins to become visible about 1 month after the first treatment, Dr. Canales says.

"Because your body's natural metabolic processes gradually cleanse away the destroyed fat cells, we refer to the benefits of the fat freezing process as a gradual fat reduction," he says. "Our patients say they start to notice their clothes becoming looser as they slim down."
The full benefits usually become evident 3 to 4 months after the first treatment.

"CoolSculpting reduces fat in the treated area by 20 to 25 percent," Dr. Furnas says. "In some cases, our patients want additional treatments to target other areas, because they're so pleased with how they look. Of course, to maintain their results, we encourage them to follow a healthful diet, and to exercise regularly."

Dr. Heather Furnas and Dr. Francisco Canales at Plastic Surgery Associates of Santa Rosa (http://www.enhanceyourimage.com) are board-certified plastic surgeons who perform a variety of cosmetic surgery procedures. Dr. Furnas graduated from UCLA School of Medicine and completed a 6-year residency in plastic surgery at Stanford University. Dr. Canales received his medical degree from Stanford University in 1982 and comp women's coats leted his plastic surgery residency at Stanford University Hospital. They are both certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and have been performing cosmetic and reconstructive surgery procedures such as breast augmentation, body contouring and facial rejuvenation for patients in the Napa, Sonoma and Marin area since 1992.

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