Linda Evangelista says she can't walk without a girdle or look in a mirror after CoolSculpting left her 'permanently disfigured' with lumps all over her body

• Linda Evangelista has shared photos and her story with People after a cosmetic procedure.
• The model said CoolSculpting disfigured her body and kept her out of work. She's suing its maker.

After nearly five years hiding from the world and even her own reflection, Linda Evangelista is sharing her experience with the CoolSculpting cosmetic procedure that she said left her "brutally disfigured."

In an interview with People magazine's Jason Sheeler, the 56-year-old supermodel shared photos of what she described as her "unrecognizable" body.

Evangelista said in September on Instagram that she was suing CoolSculpting's parent company, Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc., for $50 million in damages. She said the procedure, a less-invasive alternative to liposuction, led to a rare side effect called paradoxical adipose hyperplasia, which causes the targeted areas to grow and harden, rather than shrink.

A CoolSculpting representative told People the procedure "has been well studied with more than 100 scientific publications and more than 11 million treatments performed worldwide," adding that known rare side effects like paradoxical adipose hyperplasia "continue to be well-documented in the CoolSculpting information for patients and health care providers."

Evangelista says she needs to wear a girdle so she doesn't bleed from chafing and can't look in the mirror

Evangelista told People that months after her procedure, which ended in February 2016, lumps of tissue around her chin, thighs, and chest had grown, hardened, and gone numb.

She said she tried to double down on diet and exercise to the point of starvation but nothing worked. In June 2016, her doctor diagnosed her with paradoxical adipose hyperplasia, which she said she'd never heard of.

Evangelista then underwent liposuction twice to try to reverse the damage, but the condition came back. She said Zeltiq originally told her it would pay for the procedures but revoked the offer when Evangelista wouldn't agree to a confidentiality agreement.

"It wasn't even a little bit better," she told People. "The bulges are protrusions. And they're hard. If I walk without a girdle in a dress, I will have chafing to the point of almost bleeding. Because it's not like soft fat rubbing, it's like hard fat rubbing."

Evangelista said she couldn't put her arms flat against her side and shared with People a photo of a bulge under her arm.

"I don't look in the mirror," she added. "It doesn't look like me."

Evangelista told People she was sharing her experience to comfort others.

"I hope I can shed myself of some of the shame and help other people who are in the same situation as me," she said. "That's my goal."

In a recent interview with British Vogue, her fellow supermodel Naomi Campbell called Evangelista "a strong woman" who's "very brave."

"It takes a lot of courage to come out and speak her truth. I stand by her absolutely," Campbell said.

CoolSculpting is considered relatively safe

CoolSculpting is a Food and Drug Administration-approved procedure that 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 the skin, according to WebMD.

Some research suggests paradoxical adipose hyperplasia affects 0.0051% of CoolSculpting patients. It's unclear why certain people are affected, though men are at higher risk, and treatment options are limited.

Harvard Health has called CoolSculpting a "relatively safe" procedure that's been performed on more than 8 million people worldwide.

"Unlike liposuction, which can require anesthesia and comes with risks of bleeding or serious infection, CoolSculpting is a relatively safe in-office procedure, with minimal pain and no downtime," Harvard Health's website says.