What to Expect: Your Complete Fat Freezing Journey at Body Catalyst

Walking into any new treatment for the first time can feel daunting. What will it feel like? Will it hurt? What do I need to do afterwards? These questions are completely natural, and we believe informed clients get better results.

This guide walks you through every stage of your fat freezing journey at Body Catalyst from what to do the night before your appointment to watching your results emerge over the following months. By the end, you’ll know exactly what to expect and how to maximise your outcome.

Before Your Appointment: How to Prepare

The good news is that fat freezing requires minimal preparation compared to surgical alternatives. However, a few simple steps can help optimise your treatment and recovery.

In the Days Leading Up:

Start increasing your water intake three to four days before your appointment. Proper hydration supports your lymphatic system—the body’s natural waste removal network that will be working hard to eliminate treated fat cells in the weeks ahead. Aim for at least two to three litres daily.

Reduce sodium intake in the days before treatment to minimise bloating. Increase protein and fibre consumption to support metabolism and lymphatic drainage.

24-48 Hours Before:

Avoid alcohol for at least 24 hours before your treatment. Alcohol dehydrates the body and may slow your recovery process. Similarly, limit caffeine intake, at least 2 hours before your treatment, as it can cause dehydration and may increase skin sensitivity.

If you’re taking blood-thinning medications or supplements like fish oil, ginger, or turmeric, discuss these with your therapist during your consultation—they can increase the likelihood of bruising.

On Treatment Day:

Eat a light meal before your appointment so you’re comfortable but not overly full, especially if treating your abdomen. Wear loose, comfortable clothing that’s easy to change in and out of. Think stretchy waistbands, soft fabrics, and layers you can easily adjust.

Avoid excessive sun exposure in the days leading up to treatment—sunburnt or irritated skin cannot be treated safely.

What to Bring:

Many clients use treatment time productively. Feel free to bring your laptop, tablet, book, or earphones to watch Netflix, listen to podcasts, or catch up on work. Most clinics will have a tv to watch Netflix during your treatment. Treatment takes 40-60 minutes per area, giving you dedicated time to relax or be productive.

Arriving at the Clinic: Check-in and Setup

Your appointment begins with your practitioner reviewing your treatment plan and answering any final questions. If this is a follow-up session, they’ll assess your progress and adjust the approach if needed.

Documentation:

Before treatment begins, your practitioner will take clinical photographs of the treatment area. These standardised images, taken in consistent lighting and positioning, allow accurate comparison of your results over time. They’ll also take measurements and may use callipers to assess the fat layer thickness.

Marking the Treatment Area:

Using a surgical marker, your practitioner will outline the precise area to be treated. This ensures the applicator is positioned correctly and the entire target area receives consistent cooling. The markings also help maintain symmetry if you’re treating both sides of your body.

Preparing Your Skin:

Before the applicator touches your skin, your practitioner applies a gel pad—a specialised cryoprotectant membrane that serves as a protective barrier between your skin and the cooling panels. This gel pad, typically made from medical-grade polymers infused with glycerin and skin-nourishing additives, prevents frostbite while allowing controlled cold transfer to reach the fat cells beneath. Think of it as a thermal shield that protects your skin while letting the treatment target only the fat.

During Treatment: What You’ll Feel

Understanding the sensations you’ll experience helps you relax and get the most from your session. Here’s a minute-by-minute breakdown of what to expect.

Minutes 0-2: The Initial Suction

When the Clatuu 360° applicator is positioned, you’ll feel a strong vacuum suction as the device draws the treatment area into its cooling cup. This feels like a firm, deep pull similar to a strong suction cup being applied to your skin. The sensation is surprising if you’re not expecting it, but it’s rarely described as painful. Most clients describe it as “an intense grip” that becomes comfortable within the first minute or two.

The suction serves multiple purposes: it holds your tissue securely in position, increases contact between the cooling panels and your fat layer, and temporarily reduces blood flow to the area, which helps the cooling reach therapeutic temperatures more quickly.

Minutes 2-10: The Cold Sets In

Once the applicator is in place, the cooling mechanism activates. You’ll feel intense cold permeating the area, like having an ice pack pressed firmly against your skin, but from the inside out. The treatment reaches temperatures of -9°C, which is precisely calibrated to crystallise fat cells while keeping your skin safe.

For the first five to ten minutes, you may experience sensations including intense cold, mild stinging or tingling, aching similar to holding an ice cube against your skin, and a cramping feeling as tissues adjust to the temperature.

Minutes 10-60: Comfortable Numbness

As the area numbs from the cold exposure, the initial intensity fades significantly. By around the ten-minute mark, most clients report that the area feels completely numb—you know something is happening, but the sensations have largely disappeared.

This is when clients settle in to enjoy their treatment. Many read, work on laptops, watch videos on tablets or tv, browse their phones, or simply close their eyes and rest. Some clients even fall asleep.

The Clatuu 360° system features surround cooling technology, meaning cooling panels contact the tissue from all sides simultaneously. Research from Royal North Shore Hospital demonstrated this approach achieves 18.1% greater treatment efficiency compared to older two-sided cooling systems, potentially providing better results in the same treatment time.

Treatment Duration:

Each treatment area requires 40-60 minutes of cooling, depending on the specific area and applicator used. Smaller areas like the chin require less time, while larger areas like the abdomen need the full duration. If you’re treating multiple areas in one session, the total appointment time will be longer.

The Critical 2-Minute Massage: Why It Matters

This is where Body Catalyst’s protocol creates a genuine difference in your results.

Immediately after the applicator is removed, your treatment area will look like a frozen brick of butter, firm, cold, and distinctly shaped from the applicator. What happens next is crucial.

Your practitioner will perform a specific two-minute manual massage on the treated area. This isn’t a gentle, relaxing massage. It’s a therapeutic technique backed by clinical research.

The Technique:

The massage consists of one minute of kneading motion followed by one minute of circular massage using the pads of the fingers. This breaks up the crystallised tissue and helps restore blood flow to the area.

The Science:

A clinical study published in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine by Boey and Wasilenchuk demonstrated that this post-treatment massage protocol improves results by 68% at the two-month mark compared to untreated areas. The study found that massaged treatment sites achieved a mean fat layer reduction of 21% compared to just 12.6% in non-massaged sites, a statistically significant difference (P = 0.0007).

Researchers believe the massage may amplify the treatment effect by enhancing reperfusion injury—additional damage to fat cells that occurs when blood flow returns to the cooled tissue. Importantly, histological analysis confirmed this massage is completely safe, showing no evidence of necrosis or fibrosis in the treated tissue.

This protocol has become standard practice at Body Catalyst because the evidence is clear: two minutes of massage can increase your fat reduction by more than two-thirds.

What It Feels Like:

It’ll vary between clients, for some —the massage is the most intense part of the experience, for others – they will find it quite comfortable and not feel much. As blood rushes back into the numbed tissue, some may experience strong tingling, stinging, and occasionally cramping sensations. However, this intensity lasts only about two minutes, and most clients find it entirely manageable knowing it’s significantly boosting their results.

Immediately After: Walking Out the Door

One of fat freezing’s major advantages over surgical alternatives is the ability to return to normal activities immediately. No downtime.

What You’ll See:

The treated area will be red, similar to mild sunburn. Some clients experience minor swelling or bruising from the vacuum suction, particularly in areas with thinner skin. These effects typically fade within hours to a few days.

What You’ll Feel:

The treated area will remain cold and numb for one to two hours after treatment. This creates an unusual sensation when you touch the skin. You can feel the coldness beneath, but the area itself has little sensation. As numbness wears off over the following hours, you may experience tingling as normal sensation returns.

Activity Level:

You can drive yourself home, return to work, exercise, and continue all normal activities. There’s no downtime, no bandages, and no special precautions beyond those outlined in your aftercare routine.

Days 1-14: Your Aftercare Routine

The treatment is complete, but optimising your results requires attention during the first two weeks.

Home Massage Protocol:

Continue massaging the treated area at home—five to ten minutes, daily for the first 14 days. Use gentle circular motions with moderate pressure. This ongoing stimulation helps break down crystallised fat cells, promotes lymphatic drainage, and supports your body’s natural elimination process.

Hydration:

This is non-negotiable. Your lymphatic system needs adequate fluid to transport and process the damaged fat cells. Drink at least eight to ten glasses of water daily or 2 Litres —more if you’re active or in warm weather. Proper hydration may actually speed up your results by supporting more efficient fat cell elimination.

What to Avoid:

Avoid anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen for several days after treatment unless medically necessary. The inflammatory response triggered by treatment is part of how your body identifies and removes damaged fat cells—suppressing it may reduce your results.

Avoid hot baths, saunas, and intense heat exposure for 48 hours. Limit alcohol for at least 24 hours and caffeine for at least 2 hours as they can dehydrate you and potentially slow the elimination process.

Expected Sensations:

During the first five days, you may experience tingling, stinging, or mild cramping as nerves regenerate after cold exposure. Between one and two weeks post-treatment, some clients experience itchiness as the healing process continues. The area may feel tender to touch or during certain movements. These sensations are temporary and indicate the treatment is working. And are not severe nor interfere with your daily schedule.

Light Exercise:

Gentle movement like walking supports circulation and lymphatic function. Avoid strenuous exercise for 48 hours to prevent unnecessary discomfort, but light activity is encouraged.

Weeks 4-12: Watching Your Results Emerge

Unlike surgical fat removal, cryolipolysis results are gradual. Understanding the timeline helps set appropriate expectations.

Week 3-4: First Changes Appear

Most clients begin noticing subtle changes around three to four weeks post-treatment. Your clothes may fit slightly differently, and you might notice the treated area feels softer or less prominent. These early changes indicate your body has begun processing and eliminating the damaged fat cells.

Months 2-3: Peak Results

The most dramatic changes typically appear between eight and twelve weeks post-treatment. By this point, the majority of treated fat cells have been eliminated through your lymphatic system—processed by your liver just like dietary fats. Clinical studies consistently show 20-30% fat layer reduction in the treated area, each session.

Up to 6 Months: Final Refinement

Some clients continue seeing improvement up to six months after treatment. Your body continues its natural elimination process, and the final contour settles into place. By this point, the fat cells eliminated through treatment are permanently gone—they cannot regenerate.

Supporting Your Results:

Maintain a stable weight through balanced nutrition and regular exercise. While treated fat cells are permanently eliminated, remaining fat cells throughout your body can still expand with weight gain. Think of cryolipolysis as reducing the number of fat cells in your treated area—but it can’t prevent the remaining cells from growing if you significantly increase calorie intake.

Follow-Up Treatments: When to Book Your Next Session

Same Area Re-treatment:

If treating the same area again, sessions must be spaced at least four to six weeks apart. This interval exists for important reasons: your body needs time to complete the inflammatory response from the first treatment, your lymphatic system needs time to eliminate the damaged fat cells, and waiting allows your practitioner to accurately assess results before planning additional treatment.

Most practitioners recommend a two session plan for up to a 50% permanent fat reduction. Each session can reduce fat in the treated area by approximately 20-30%, so double treatments are generally planned for stubborn areas.

Different Areas:

You can treat different body areas during the same appointment or return sooner to treat new areas, as these don’t require the same recovery interval.

Your Fat Freezing Checklist

Before Treatment:

• Increase water intake 3-4 days prior
• Avoid alcohol 24-48 hours before
• Avoid caffeine at least 2 hours before
• Wear loose, comfortable clothing
• Bring entertainment for your session

After Treatment:

• Home massage: 5-10 minutes, 2-3x daily for 14 days
• Drink 2L of water daily
• Avoid anti-inflammatories for several days
• Light exercise encouraged after 48 hours
• Avoid heat exposure for 48 hours
• Avoid alcohol for 24 hours
• Avoid caffeine for at least 2 hours

Results Timeline:

• Week 3-4: First subtle changes
• Month 2-3: Most significant results visible

Understanding your complete treatment journey helps you prepare mentally and physically for optimal results. At Body Catalyst, we’re committed to providing not just the treatment itself, but the comprehensive guidance that helps you achieve the outcome you’re looking for.

Ready to start your fat freezing journey? Book your free consultation and let’s create a personalised treatment plan for your goals.