Supermodel Linda Evangelista has said she is “not going to hide any more” after taking part in her first photoshoot since revealing negative side effects from a cosmetic procedure.
The Canadian catwalk star, 56, claimed in September that she had been left “permanently deformed” and “brutally disfigured” after developing paradoxical adipose hyperplasia (PAH).
PAH is described as a rare and adverse effect of CoolSculpting or cryolipolysis, when fatty tissue grows instead of shrinking in response.
According to People, Evangelista filed a lawsuit in September suing CoolSculpting’s parent company Zeltiq Aesthetics.
She told the magazine: “I loved being up on the catwalk. Now I dread running into someone I know.
“I can’t live like this any more, in hiding and shame. I just couldn’t live in this pain any longer. I’m willing to finally speak.”
Evangelista, one of the most famous models of the 90s, said she began noticing bulges around her chin, thigh and bra areas three months after the treatment, and began dieting and exercising more in a bid to reduce their size.
She said: “I tried to fix it myself, thinking I was doing something wrong.
“I got to where I wasn’t eating at all. I thought I was losing my mind.”
Evangelista went to the doctor in June 2016.
Recalling this meeting, she said: “I dropped my robe for him. I was bawling, and I said, ‘I haven’t eaten, I’m starving. What am I doing wrong?’”
Describing being diagnosed with PAH, she added: “I was like, ‘What the hell is that?’
“And he told me no amount of dieting, and no amount of exercise was ever going to fix it.”
The model claimed that if she walks without a girdle in a dress she has “chafing to the point of almost bleeding”.
She said her posture has also been affected because she can no longer “put my arms flat along my side. I don’t think designers are going to want to dress me with that”.
She added to the magazine: “I’m not going to hide any more.”
CoolSculpting is the brand name for cryolipolysis, a popular fat freezing procedure, which cools the fat so that frozen, dead fat cells can be excreted out of the body through the liver.
The CoolSculpting website said it is used for “treatment of visible fat bulges in the submental (under the chin) and submandibular (under the jawline) areas, thigh, abdomen, and flank, along with bra fat, back fat, underneath the buttocks (also known as banana roll), and upper arm”.
The website also warned that “rare side effects may also occur”, and “may cause a visible enlargement in the treated area, which may develop two to five months after treatment and requires surgical intervention for correction”.
Zeltiq parent company Allergan has been contacted for comment.