Cryoskin

Cryoskin brands itself as a pain-free weight loss service.

It’s designed to chill portions of your skin to sub-zero temperatures to kill fat cells and therefore reduce fat pockets and smooth out its appearance. In this way, Cyroskin promises to help you slim down without the price tag or recovery time for procedures like liposuction.

This review examines the effectiveness of Cryskin and who the ideal candidates are for this procedure.

How It Works

Cryoskin originated in Paris, and it’s used to destroy fat cells, eliminate cellulite, and slow down the aging process. You can undergo the treatment at any one of hundreds of skincare clinics around the world.

The Cryoskin handheld system is electronically controlled to optimize the temperature for each minute of treatment. While the length of your session may vary, most range from 20–40 minutes.

No matter where you go for Cyroskin treatment, the session will be broken down into three phases.

First, your skin is exposed to about four minutes of heat around 40 degrees Celsius, then 24 minutes or longer of cold at -8 degrees Celsius across the treatment area. The goal is to lower the temperature of fat cells within the treatment area enough to destroy them without harming the surrounding tissue.

The treatment is painless and that many people find it feels like a gentle massage. The changes in temperature tend to feel subtle, as the procedure begins by warming your skin before gradually decreasing in temperature.

After you complete a session, your destroyed fat cells will naturally pass through your lymphatic system over the next two weeks. You can help the process along by exercising and even using a sauna.

Cryoskin reports that a treatment averages a 20-25 percent permanent reduction in fat for the treated area. So long as you follow a healthy lifestyle after, they promise that you can maintain the results long into the future.

Regarding timing, you will likely notice small improvements right away, but that the final results become visible over two to three weeks.

For the best results, they suggest going through at least two or three sessions over six months. They recommend that you wait at least two weeks between appointments so that your body can recover before the next treatment.

Effectiveness

Chilling off your fat sounds far-fetched, so is this procedure worthwhile? Though the company website states that the results will vary per person, they share that 78 percent of their customers rate the treatment as good or excellent.

We asked New York City dermatologist Dr. Ardarsh Vijay whether the procedure can really help you lose fat.

“For the right patient, absolutely,” he told us. “There’s generally a 20–25 percent permanent reduction of fat in treated areas with each session.”

This might sound impressive, but the results are significantly more subtle than other forms of treatment.

Says San Francisco plastic surgeon Jonathon Kaplan, “We explain to patients that [Cryoskin] can reduce 25% of their fat layer. While liposuction will remove 85% of the fat layer, this treatment has no downtime and is nonsurgical.”

Ideal Candidates

To be a good candidate for Cryoskin, you need to have “pinchable” fat for the best chance of success.

“If you can pinch it, you can probably [treat] it,” Vijay said.

The treatment isn’t meant for anyone with poor circulation, severe diabetes, cancer, liver or kidney disease, and those who are pregnant.

If you want a face treatment, you can’t have had Botox or Fillers within the last month.

Available Treatment Options

Cryoskin offers three primary treatments at their clinics. We’ll go through the main details below:

CryoSlimming

These 28-minute sessions use cold temperatures to break down fat on targeted regions of the body. Average results are half an inch lost per session.

CryoToning Face

Designed to improve the look of your facial skin, this treatment targets fine lines and wrinkles that come from aging. Each session is designed to improve micro-circulation and speed up your metabolism to boost collagen production.

CryoToning Cellulite

For those who want a non-invasive treatment to reduce their cellulite, this cold treatment promises to smooth out fat lumps beneath your skin without putting you through recovery time.

The Cost

The cost for Cryoskin treatments varies depending on where you go, the number of sessions you book at once, and the part of your body you are treating. From our research on the prices at different clinics around the country, we believe that the average cost per session is about $150.

For instance, the closest Cryoskin service to where I live, US Cryotherapy in Kalamazoo, MI, offered a Cryoskin 2.0 lifting facial for $150, a 28-minute toning treatment for $250, and a three-pack of 28-minute body slimming treatments for $900.

The company website offers an interactive app to help you find a Cryoskin location near you. As the cost per session, refund policy, and package deals will vary by location, we recommend calling the locations near you to get further details.

The Bottom Line

Many people have found Cryoskin to be an effective way to slim down—at least by a few inches.

The procedure doesn’t seem to promote unrealistic results, and the customer reviews and YouTube videos demonstrate that a lot of people noticed improvements almost immediately.

Cryoskin isn’t competing with liposuction, and it doesn’t claim you’ll get comparable results. As the experts we spoke with said, Cryoksin can only remove a quarter of the fat that liposuction is designed to deal with.

However, this cool-temp method has some advantages, including a lower price tag and no recovery time.

This procedure may work for candidates who fit the following parameters:

• Already follow a healthy diet and exercise routine (or is willing to adopt one to maintain the results)
• Are looking to lose fat in targeted parts of the body exercise isn’t impacting
• Want a procedure they can complete within a lunch break—and then go back to work
• Don't need or want to pay for dramatic results