Supermodel Linda Evangelista said she's been 'brutally disfigured' by CoolSculpting

• Supermodel Linda Evangelista says a CoolSculpting procedure has left her "brutally disfigured."
• She underwent the procedure five years ago and is now suing the company, she wrote on Instagram.
• She said CoolSculpting made her fat cells bigger, not smaller, a rare side effect.

Supermodel Linda Evangelista says a fat-zapping procedure called CoolSculpting is to blame for her stalled career, her "unrecognizeable" appearance, and her tanking self-confidence.

The 56-year-old who's been voted "The Greatest Supermodel of All Time" wrote on Instagram Monday that the procedure, which she underwent five years ago, has left her "brutally disfigured." She said she's "righting a wrong" by suing CoolSculpting's maker, Zeltiq Aesthetics.

"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 wrote in her post.

CoolSculpting aims to kill fat cells through, essentially, frostbite. Since fat freezes at a higher temperature than skin, cool paddles can be placed on the skin to destroy some of the fat beneath it without hurting your skin, according to WebMD.

But Evangelista said the procedure increased her fat cells, leading her to be "permanently deformed even after two painful, unsuccessful, corrective surgeries."

A media contact for Allergen, the pharmaceutical company that's acquired Zeltiq, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Due to the allegedly botched procedure, the model said she developed a condition called Paradoxical Adipose Hyperplasia or PAH, a rare side effect in which the targeted fat cells swell instead of shrinking. Evangelista said she didn't know about this complication ahead of her procedure.

"PAH has not only destroyed my livelihood, it has sent me into a cycle of deep depression, profound sadness, and the lowest depths of self-loathing," she wrote. "In the process, I have become a recluse."

Evangelista said she's moving forward with the lawsuit in order to "rid myself of shame."

"I am so tired of living this way. I would like to walk out my door with my head high, despite not looking like myself any longer."