Linda Evangelista, a model, claims that a cosmetic treatment left her “deformed,” and that it “destroyed” her career.
After experiencing a rare adverse effect, the star called out Zeltiq’s CoolSculpting.
Linda Evangelista, a supermodel, believes she was “deformed” after a cosmetic treatment more than five years ago.
Evangelista was most recognized for her modeling work in the 1990s, appearing in numerous fashion campaigns, walking catwalks, and co-starring in George Michael’s “Freedom! ‘90” music video alongside Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, and Naomi Campbell.
She hasn’t been seen in public in a long time, and the 56-year-old actress took to Instagram on Wednesday to explain why.
“To my followers who have wondered why I have not been working while my peers’ careers have been thriving, the reason is that I was brutally disfigured by Zeltiq’s CoolSculpting procedure which did the opposite of what it promised,” she explained.
After getting FDA approval in 2010, the operation she’s describing is known as CoolSculpting, and it’s become somewhat of a standard at medical spas in recent years. According to Healthline, the non-surgical process, also known as body contouring, is designed to extract fat deposits and freeze them, decreasing them within the body.
Evangelista, on the other hand, claims to have experienced a known but uncommon adverse effect that results in an increase in fat cells in the location where the surgery was performed.
“It increased, not decreased, my fat cells and left me permanently deformed even after undergoing two painful, unsuccessful, corrective surgeries. I have been left, as the media has described, ‘unrecognizable.’”
She went on to say that as a result of the operation, she developed paradoxical adipose hyperplasia (PAH). No one understands why this happens, according to Healthline, although it is more prevalent in men than in women. It’s said to be discovered in less than 1% of all CoolSculpting cases.
Although the side effect is not life-threatening, the model admits that it has hampered her career.
“PAH has not only wrecked my livelihood, but it has also thrown me into a spiral of severe melancholy, intense sadness, and self-loathing. I’ve become a loner as a result of this procedure “Evangelista penned an essay.
She ends by mentioning a lawsuit, but she doesn’t go into detail about who is at the center of it.
“I am moving forward to rid myself of my shame, and going public with my story,” she concluded. “I’m so tired of living this way. I would like to walk out my door with my head held high, despite not looking like myself any longer.”