Published on
Updated
Reading 2 mins.
in collaboration with
Dr. David Picovski (Plastic surgeon)
Medical validation:
January 31, 2023
This Wednesday, January 25, Linda Evangelista made a rare public appearance in South Beach. The ex-model, who had confided to having been disfigured by surgery, no longer wants to “hide”.
After being the victim of a rare complication linked to a surgical operation, the ex-model made only very rare appearances. And for good reason: traumatized, she admits to having a lot of trouble with her new appearance.
Linda Evangelista suffered from paradoxical adipose hyperplasia
It’s at the premiere of the movie Magic Mike’s Last Dance in South Beach, Florida that ex-model Linda Evangelista decided to show off. As a reminder, the one who was considered one of the first members of the “Supermodels”, had disappeared from the public scene in recent years due to a failed operation.
Linda Evangelista had indeed filed a complaint against a cosmetic surgery clinic (Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc), after having followed a treatment supposed to destroy her fat cells by cryolipolysis (a technique which destroys the beads thanks to the cold).
Instead of losing fat mass, the ex-model had seen her body swell and harden. Some areas, such as his chin, his thighs or his chest had greatly increased in volume.
Serious side effects linked to an extremely rare complication of “CoolSculpting”: paradoxical adipose hyperplasia.
The cosmetic surgery clinic then offered Linda Evangelista to pay for liposuction of the swollen areas, against a confidentiality agreement. What the star had refused. Since then, the ex model has been trying to move on.
“Today, I took a big step towards all the evil that I suffered and that I kept secret for five years. To my fans who wondered why my career had stalled, I was actually disfigured by Zeltiq’s CoolSculpting procedure, which did the exact opposite of what it promised (…) I was left , as the media say ‘unrecognizable’“, she confided.
A rare complication
Paradoxical adipose hyperplasia consists of the appearance of a protruding fatty mass on the very area of the intervention – and this, several months after one or more acts of cryolipolysis. In other words, the fat that has deflated starts to swell again.
If this side effect remains extremely rare (1 case out of 20,000 subjects), it nevertheless presents “a non-reversible character, which can be psychologically disabling depending on its location and extent“says the High Authority for Health (HAS) in 2018 in a report dedicated to the complications of cryolipolysis for aesthetic purposes.
On this subject, Dr. Picovski advises against having recourse to cryolipolysis, because “this technique does not work or very little“.