UltraShape® vs. CoolSculpting® - What’s the Difference?

The Pro­ce­dures

Ultra­Shape® and CoolSculpt­ing® are both non-sur­gi­cal pro­ce­dures that safe­ly and com­fort­ably destroy fat cells. While there are sev­er­al sim­i­lar­i­ties between these pro­ce­dures, the method for break­ing down fat cells is dif­fer­ent for each.

The Ultra­Shape® pro­ce­dure is used to treat stub­born fat in the stom­ach and thigh region. Ultra­shape® tar­gets unwant­ed fat by uti­liz­ing high-fre­quen­cy ultra­sound waves that cause fat cells to burst, releas­ing their con­tents for your body to burn off as ener­gy. The end result is body con­tour­ing that shrinks the size of the tar­get area. The fat cells elim­i­nat­ed by Ultra­shape® are per­ma­nent­ly destroyed and will not return. 

The CoolSculpt­ing® pro­ce­dure is FDA-approved for the treat­ment of vis­i­ble fat bulges under the chin and jaw­line areas, along with stom­ach, bra and back fat. This non-inva­sive pro­ce­dure deliv­ers con­trolled cool­ing at the sur­face of the skin to break down fat cells. Fol­low­ing the pro­ce­dure, the treat­ed fat cells are nat­u­ral­ly processed by the body, result­ing in reduced fat in the treat­ed area. The fat cells elim­i­nat­ed by CoolSculpt­ing® are per­ma­nent­ly destroyed and will not return.

The Results

Ultra­Shape® treat­ments result in the imme­di­ate destruc­tion of fat cells and mea­sur­able results can be seen in as lit­tle as two weeks. While results vary from per­son to per­son, providers typ­i­cal­ly rec­om­mend two to three treat­ments for the most effec­tive and desired outcome.

After receiv­ing your CoolSculpt­ing® treat­ment, changes can be seen in as ear­ly as three weeks and will be most dra­mat­ic after three months. Results vary from per­son to per­son, and you may decide that addi­tion­al treat­ments are nec­es­sary to achieve your desired outcome.

The Con­sul­ta­tion

If you’re con­sid­er­ing UltraShape®or CoolSculpt­ing®, it is impor­tant to note that nei­ther pro­ce­dure is a treat­ment for obe­si­ty or a weight-loss solu­tion. They do not replace tra­di­tion­al meth­ods such as diet or exer­cise, and a healthy lifestyle should be main­tained before and after the pro­ce­dure for opti­mal results.

Ide­al can­di­dates for Ultra­Shape® or CoolSculpt­ing® typ­i­cal­ly have notice­able bulges in areas where stub­born fat has been resis­tant to diet and exercise.

We rec­om­mend sched­ul­ing a con­sul­ta­tion with one of our physi­cians to deter­mine if Ultra­Shape® or Coolsculpt­ing® is the right pro­ce­dure to reach your body con­tour­ing goals.

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  • Alix Charles, MD, Hinsdale Dermatologist

    Early in my training at the Mayo Clinic I was taught that the interest of the patient is the only interest to be considered. With that as my guiding principle, I strive to create a warm and trusting relationship with my patients so they may feel at ease discussing their skin care issues with me. I believe strongly in educating patients on how best they can be in control of their own outcomes; they are the ones who live day to day in their own skin and I need them to help with their care plan! Lastly, I try to administer a healthy dose of laughter with each prescription or procedure as I've found this helps my patients get better more quickly.

  • Shraddha Desai, MD, Naperville Dermatologist

    Providing dermatology care with the utmost compassion, innovation, science, and technology. Patients are like family and I hope to create a long-lasting relationship with them.