EMSCULPT® vs CoolSculpting®: Which Is Right for You?

EMSCULPT® and CoolSculpting® serve different purposes, and the right choice depends on whether your primary goal is reducing stubborn fat, building muscle tone, or addressing both at the same time. CoolSculpting is designed to reduce localized fat that doesn’t respond to diet and exercise, while EMSCULPT focuses on strengthening and defining underlying muscles for a more sculpted appearance.

At Dallas Center for Dermatology and Aesthetics, we customize nonsurgical body contouring by matching each treatment—or combination of treatments—to your individual goals. In some cases, combining CoolSculpting and EMSCULPT allows us to deliver more comprehensive body sculpting results than either option alone. Below, I’ll explain how each treatment works and how we determine which approach is best for you.

What Is CoolSculpting?

CoolSculpting uses cryolipolysis, a controlled cooling technique that targets and eliminates stubborn fat cells without surgery. The technology cools fat cells to a temperature that triggers their natural death, while preserving skin and surrounding tissues. Over weeks to months, your body metabolizes and removes the treated cells, resulting in a more sculpted contour.(

During a CoolSculpting procedure, the provider attaches applicators specially designed to fit specific areas of the body. Patients experience minimal discomfort, such as tingling, as the treatment cools the targeted area. The results show up gradually during the months following the procedure as the fat cells die. Because the change occurs over time, it appears to be the result of a patient’s own efforts rather than an aesthetic procedure.

What Is EMSCULPT?

EMSCULPT represents a different approach to body shaping. Rather than focusing solely on fat, it uses high-intensity focused electromagnetic (HIFEM) energy to induce forced muscle contractions—far beyond what is possible with voluntary exercise. Over a series of treatments, these intense contractions stimulate muscle growth and contribute to fat reduction.

As the only treatment cleared by the FDA to both burn fat and build muscle, EMSCULPT is a breakthrough procedure for nonsurgical body contouring. EMSCULPT can treat people with a BMI of less than 25 who are not candidates for other fat reduction treatments.

Additionally, EMSCULPT can be used for nonsurgical buttocks augmentation and to treat diastasis recti, an abdominal condition associated with pregnancy. The EMSCULPT procedure tones abdominal and buttock muscles with minimal discomfort and without requiring hours at the gym.

Think of EMSCULPT as a way to produce the types of results you’d get if you did thousands of crunches. As your muscles become more toned, your body’s metabolism increases, and you’ll start to see definition in areas that have been resistant to exercise and diet. EMSCULPT results typically appear sooner than those of CoolSculpting. You can read more about whether EMSCULPT is worth it in our related blog posts, and see reviews on RealSelf.

CoolSculpting vs. EMSCULPT: Understanding the Differences

While both CoolSculpting and EMSCULPT are non-surgical and designed to enhance body contours, they serve distinct purposes and use different technologies:

Primary Goals

• CoolSculpting: Focuses on fat reduction by freezing and eliminating fat cells in targeted areas resistant to diet and exercise.
• EMSCULPT: Focuses on muscle building and toning while also reducing fat through metabolic activity stimulated by intense muscle contractions.

EMSCULPT vs. CoolSculpting

Combining Treatments

CoolSculpting can be used to reduce fat in multiple areas of the body, including the abdomen, love handles, thighs, under the chin, and upper arms. However, by combining the CoolSculpting and EMSCULPT machines to target two different areas of the body at the same time, we can achieve more effective and faster results than with a single CoolSculpting treatment.

You can see the kind of results patients enjoy after CoolSculpting treatments in our gallery’s before-and-after photos. If you’re at or near your ideal weight but have stubborn fat pockets and want a more contoured body, contact us to learn more about these nonsurgical treatments. Or call us at (214) 631-7546 to schedule an appointment. Women and men come to us for CoolSculpting and EMSCULPT treatments from Plano and Frisco, TX, and beyond.