Cryolipolysis and fat reduction are aided by CoolSculpting, also known as fat-freezing, a non-invasive FDA-approved procedure that can be used as an alternative to liposuction.
To reduce the areas around her chin, thighs, and bustline, Linda Evangelista started having CoolSculpting cosmetic treatments done on them in 2015. She observed the same areas enlarging, hardening, and going numb three months later.
When the model saw a dermatologist in June 2016, the doctor discovered that she had Paradoxical Adipose Hyperplasia (PAH), a rare side effect of CoolSculpting that occurs when the fat is frozen at temperatures between 11 and +5 °C, destroying subcutaneous fat tissue.
Evangelista claims that she resumed eating and exercising after the treatment. Even yet, she was unable to stop the recurring problems: “I tried to repair it myself, sure that I was doing something wrong. Eventually, I stopped eating altogether. I thought I was going crazy.
“I was crying and mumbling something about being ravenous after not eating. What exactly am I doing wrong? … And he told me that no amount of exercise or dieting will ever make things better.
Only 1% of CoolSculpting patients, according to reports, experience post-PAH, which thickens the affected fat tissue. Plastic surgeon and professor Alan Matarasso provided the following account of the circumstance to the publication:
“Patients come in for something to be decreased, but it ends up getting increased. The problem with PAH is that it might not go away in some circumstances. In many instances, the areas that have been injured are no longer good candidates for liposuction.
To help with her health problem, Linda Evangelista also underwent two liposuction procedures, although the results were ambiguous. The model claimed that she needed to wear compression garments for eight weeks to prevent the recurrence of her disease, but the PAH persisted even after the second liposuction in July 2017:
“Not even a small improvement was made. Bulges are what protrude from the body. And they are challenging. I will chafe to the point of bleeding if I stroll around in a dress without a girdle. Because it is firm fat rubbing rather than delicate fat rubbing.
The Ontario native claims that her illness has also changed the way she stands because she can no longer hold her arms straight out in front of her:
“I don’t think fashion houses will want to dress me in that…” I avoid looking in the mirror at myself. I don’t even resemble me at all.
The model stated in her complaint against Zeltiq that CoolSculpting pledged to “make it right” and offered to pay for liposuction after learning of her PAH diagnosis. She said, however, that the business informed her a day before the procedure that they would only pay her fees if she signed a confidentiality agreement. When Evangelista declined the offer, she was made to pay for her procedure.
During the depressing talk, the model also disclosed that she had misplaced her identity due to health problems:
“I don’t recognize my physical self, and I don’t know my human self either. Linda Evangelista, the supermodel, has kind of vanished.
The model claimed that she wanted to break her silence and share her misfortune with the public to help people who were going through similar things to her.
