Clatuu Fat
Freezing in Dubai

Lower abdomen and flanks

The lower abdomen is the area we freeze most often, and it is the one in our before-and-after photographs: one session, photographed at 2 and 3 months. The Clatuu runs two handpieces at the same time, so a large area does not double the time in the chair.

The pocket must be pinchable. A firm, rounded abdomen that does not fold when you bend is mostly fat behind the muscle wall, and no applicator can reach it. We tell you that at the consultation rather than after a session that cannot work. We also feel for a hernia along the midline and around the navel before placing a cup, because suction over a weak spot can push tissue through it.

Back, arms and legs

Inner thighs are a good pocket for freezing; the outer thigh is often too firm to pinch and we check it before booking.

Under the chin

Clinical trials of cryolipolysis under the chin reported no serious device-related adverse events, and the pad is small enough that one cycle usually covers it. Numbness of the chin and a heavy feeling when swallowing for a few days are the expected after-effects. We check that the fullness is fat and not a low hyoid, loose neck skin or an enlarged gland before we book; freezing does nothing for the last three.

What one session removes

The published range for a single cryolipolysis treatment is a 14.67% to 28.5% reduction in the pinched fold by caliper, and 10.3% to 25.5% by ultrasound. That is the change in one pocket, not in your waist measurement or weight. The fat cells that die are cleared by the immune system over 2 to 3 months and do not return; the cells that remain can still enlarge if you gain weight, which is why a stable weight keeps the result.

We photograph every area before the session and again at 12 weeks. If you want more from the same area we book a second session only after that review, never at the first visit.

When fat freezing is the wrong tool

Loose skin after pregnancy or weight loss is not fat and gets no better with cooling; the skin-tightening options are Ultraformer HIFU and Zionic radiofrequency. Dimpled cellulite on the thighs is a connective-tissue and fluid problem, treated with Icoone. Muscle definition is a separate goal; Tesla Former contracts the muscle under the fat instead of removing the fat. Our guide to fat-freezing results in the first three months shows week by week what changes and what does not.

The Clatuu Alpha device

Clatuu Alpha is made by Classys, the Korean manufacturer of the Ultraformer. Its applicator cools the drawn-in fold from all sides, which Classys calls 360-degree surround cooling, instead of from two flat plates. Seven cup shapes are available (Flat, Flat Mini, Wing, Wing Plus, Wing Mini, Wing Max and Arc-T) so the cup fits a chin, a flank or a straight abdominal roll. Two handpieces run at the same time with independently adjustable intensity, and a session runs 40 to 60 minutes per area. Our Clatuu is an original device supplied by the official UAE distributor and serviced on the manufacturer's schedule; we show the paperwork on request.

Clatuu and CoolSculpting

Both are cryolipolysis, the technique in which a vacuum cup holds a fold of fat at a temperature that damages fat cells while sparing skin and nerves. CoolSculpting is the brand from Allergan; Clatuu Alpha is the Classys platform. The biology, the 2 to 3 month clearance, the side effects and the rare complications are those of cryolipolysis itself, not of one brand. The practical differences are the cup shapes, the surround cooling and the two-handpiece design described above. Our article on Clatuu and CoolSculpting goes through the two devices point by point.

Fat or muscle: Clatuu or Tesla Former

If the abdomen is soft and folds when you sit, the problem is fat and Clatuu is the right tool. If it is flat but lacks tone, Tesla Former uses electromagnetic muscle stimulation to contract the abdominal muscles thousands of times in a session; it changes the muscle, not the fat layer over it. Many patients combine the two: fat freezing first, muscle toning once the swelling settles.

Fat or loose skin: Ultraformer and Zionic

Cryolipolysis removes volume and can leave slightly looser skin over a large pocket. Where laxity is already the main concern, Ultraformer delivers focused ultrasound to the deeper layers to tighten, and Zionic uses radiofrequency heat with massage for skin firmness. We recommend them instead of, or after, fat freezing depending on whether you can pinch fat or only skin.

Cellulite and fluid: Icoone and pressotherapy

Cellulite dimpling does not respond to cooling because the fat is held by fibrous bands and fluid, not by its volume alone. Icoone treats this with mechanical micro-stimulation of the skin and connective tissue. Pressotherapy is compression lymphatic drainage; some patients book it in the weeks after fat freezing to reduce swelling while the cleared fat drains through the lymphatic system.

Choosing at the consultation

The consultation decides the tool, not the other way round. The doctor pinches the area, checks skin tone and muscle, and tells you which of these treatments addresses what you actually see.

Before your appointment

Tell us about Raynaud's disease, cold urticaria, cryoglobulinemia, cold agglutinin disease, poor circulation, bleeding disorders, nerve problems in the area, and any hernia, surgery or implant near the pocket. Bring your usual medicines list; blood thinners raise bruising and we plan around them rather than stop them. Come with clean skin, no lotion or oil on the area, and wear loose clothes, because the fold is swollen and tender when you leave. Eat normally; there is no fasting.

After your session

You can drive, work and walk immediately. Redness and swelling peak in the first days and the fold feels firm, numb and tender; bruising from the suction fades within about two weeks, numbness can last several weeks. Gentle massage of the area for a few days and drinking water help the swelling settle; heavy pressure on the fold does not speed up fat clearance. Keep a stable weight over the next 12 weeks: the cleared cells do not return, but the remaining ones enlarge if you gain weight. We photograph the area again at 12 weeks.

Side effects and when to contact us

Expected effects are redness, bruising, swelling, numbness, tingling and tenderness, all of which settle without treatment. Uncommon effects are a burn or frost injury of the skin, a change in skin colour, and a hernia becoming visible after abdominal treatment. The rare complication is paradoxical adipose hyperplasia: the treated pocket grows firmer and larger instead of smaller, appearing 2 to 5 months after the session. Published series report it in 0.05% to 0.39% of treatments; it does not resolve on its own and is removed surgically. Contact us the same day for blistering, skin that is white or grey after the cold, severe pain, or a bulge that grows in the months after treatment. Our guide to fat-freezing side effects and paradoxical fat growth explains how we recognise and manage it.

Who should not have fat freezing

• Pregnancy and breastfeeding; we postpone treatment. - Raynaud's disease, cold urticaria, cryoglobulinemia, cold agglutinin disease or paroxysmal cold haemoglobinuria. - Poor circulation or a bleeding disorder affecting the area. - A hernia, recent surgery, implant or metal in or under the pocket. - Active dermatitis, infection or an open wound at the site. - Severe neuropathy or an uncontrolled medical condition such as uncontrolled diabetes. - Fat that cannot be pinched, and any goal of overall weight loss; fat freezing does not treat obesity.

Our care standards

Evolution Aesthetics Clinic holds DHA Polyclinic License 6000514. Dr Yulia Krasnaya and Dr Vera Nikulina are DHA-licensed and treat within their approved scope. The Clatuu Alpha is an original device from the official UAE distributor and we show the paperwork on request.