As we age, we experience a number of symptoms such as wrinkling, sagging skin, and excess tissue. A common condition is submental fullness, or, a double chin that can’t be shifted simply by changing your diet or exercise. Here at Orchidia Medical Group in Naples, FL, we offer a simple and effective alternative to surgery or liposuction, called Kybella.
The injections can permanently remove your double chin with minimal downtime and no invasive procedure. But how is it possible that an injectable works just as well as an invasive surgery? And what does this kind of treatment look like? Today, we will explain the treatment, so that you understand what it involves and whether this could be a suitable option for your situation.
Eliminating a Double Chin With Kybella
Before making a decision about how to address your double chin, it’s important to know all the facts. This treatment uses deoxycholic acid, also called bile acid, which is a substance that occurs naturally in our bodies. When injected into the chin, it breaks down the local fat cells, and your body later flushes out both the dead cells and the acid. This process takes a few weeks, so you will start to see a gradual decrease in the size of your double chin over time.
In the vast majority of cases, your treatment should take only 15-20 minutes, so you can be in and out of your doctor’s office within half an hour. While we may numb the area to make sure the injections don’t hurt, incisions and sedation are not necessary, which means that this is not considered a procedure or an invasive treatment. This, along with the permanent nature of the results, is one of the main benefits.
Why Submental Fullness Occurs
You may be wondering why it’s so hard for you to get rid of your double chin. In some cases, the condition is related to weight, but contrary to popular belief, this is not the only reason submental fullness occurs. Often, it is a genetic condition, so you are more likely to experience it if other people in your family have the same issue. It can also be related to your age, due to the fact that our tissue becomes looser when we age.
While the majority of our patients are above the age of 40, the condition can set in at any age, and we can treat you no matter how long you’ve been struggling with submental fullness, as long as you are an adult. However, it’s important to note that this is not a fat-loss treatment, so it is most effective when you’ve already reached your target weight, but are having trouble getting rid of your double chin for reasons other than your current weight.
How the Injections Work
Almost all of us lack confidence when it comes to our appearance, and according to the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, excess fat under the chin affects 67% of the population. Thus, it is a large problem across the country, and having an easy, risk-free solution is key. This treatment is considered safer than many other options because you won’t need a general or local anesthetic and there is no surgery involved.
Despite the simplicity of this method, over 82% of people have reported a significant improvement in their appearance as a result, so you have excellent chances of success. By simply visiting your clinic several times for a short round of injections, you can completely alter your profile and regain the beautiful profile of your youth.
Deoxycholic Acid
Prior to making a final decision about whether this is the treatment for you, it’s important that you know how the substance works and what it will do to the fat cells in your chin. Deoxycholic acid was FDA-approved for use in the submental area in 2015, and removing double chins is its only use at the moment. When the substance occurs naturally in your body, its purpose is to absorb fat, and we make use of this knowledge during the treatment.
A trained professional will be able to inject the acid in a way that targets only those cells you would like removed, and over time, it will break them down. The process is often compared to melting, as your fat appears to simply melt away over several weeks. Once the deoxycholic acid has done its job and your cells are dead, the body will flush it out as a waste product.
What to Expect During Treatment
Kybella is simple, effective, and quick. What more could you want? But what exactly does your treatment look like, and what will you have to do before and after your appointment? Let’s examine the actions you may need to take to ensure you have the best experience possible.
Preparing for Your Injections
Because of the noninvasive nature of the injections, you won’t need to do much to prepare. When you contact us about your concerns with submental fullness, we will invite you to an initial consultation, during which we can discuss your medical history and future goals. We can then speak about how many appointments you may need and what you should do before them.
If you take blood-thinning medications such as ibuprofen or aspirin, you will need to stop using them before your treatment, so that we can ensure your safety. It’s also important that you give us an overview of the types of skincare products you apply. That way, we can let you know which ones will be appropriate before and after your sessions.
Your Appointment
When you come to the clinic for your appointment, we will apply numbing cream to the submental area to make sure your treatment is pleasant and pain-free. We ask you to arrive with your skin clean and free of makeup or other products, so we can get started straight away.
The number of injections needed will depend on the shape of your double chin and the desired results, but we are likely to administer between 20-50 individual injections during a single appointment. While some people may require only two or three sessions, we can do up to six, with around one month between each treatment.
Recovering from the Treatment
You can walk out of the clinic and resume your normal activities straight away, but it’s best to avoid strenuous physical exercise for a few days after your injections. We also recommend not using any makeup for 24 hours and applying a warm compress to calm the skin in the area. If you need to go back to work on the same day, you can use a shirt or scarf to cover up the area.
The Results
First results will start to show up after around one month and continue to intensify during the following weeks, especially as you will have your follow-up appointments every month. We will devise a treatment plan that should provide you with optimal results, but this can always be adjusted to include more or fewer sessions, depending on how your results develop.
Am I Eligible?
Because of its noninvasive nature, almost everyone is eligible for Kybella, but we will do a thorough analysis of your situation to make sure the treatment is safe for you. We will take into consideration not only your general health but also your struggles with submental fullness and what you hope to achieve.
General Health
Adults of any age can be considered for the treatment, although most people experience a double chin after the age of 40. While most medical conditions shouldn’t affect your eligibility, there are a few situations where the treatment isn’t safe. For example, we can’t treat anyone who has a local infection in the chin area or trouble swallowing. You may also not be eligible if you have a thyroid condition or swollen lymph glands.
In case you are currently pregnant, we will ask you to wait until after you are done breastfeeding. There is no evidence that the treatment will harm you or your unborn child, but it is better to be on the safe side, particularly because this area has not been studied enough yet.
Struggles with Double Chin
As mentioned, the treatment is not meant as a weight loss therapy and should be applied only after you have reached a weight you are happy with. It is often hard to get rid of your double chin, even if you are not overweight, and that’s where deoxycholic acid can help. It can significantly improve the appearance of your profile so that you can gain back your confidence and feel like your best self again.
The Main Benefits
There are several amazing benefits to using this treatment as opposed to older or more general methods, such as surgery or liposuction. It is a very specific, targeted method that was designed to work well on the submental area. Many of our patients love how quickly they can be in and out of our center, and how their fat cells are permanently melted away so that the issue is unlikely to recur.
Rapid and Nonsurgical Method
The injectable will have a minimal effect on your life because you can resume work and your other activities very quickly. In total, you may only spend 1-2 hours at our clinic, while a surgical method of addressing submental fullness could take several days of rest and a week or two off work. It is also much safer to go with a non-invasive treatment. While modern medicine has excellent methods of reducing risks, general anesthesia shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Long-Lasting Results
Perhaps the greatest benefit of this treatment is the permanent nature of your results. Once you are an adult, your fat cells can no longer multiply or grow back, so all the cells that are melted away by the deoxycholic acid won’t come back. That’s why you generally only need to undergo treatment once in your life, and the results will last forever.
It’s important to note that not all of your submental fat cells will be melted away as a result of the injections. In case you gain weight, your body may develop a double chin again. However, this is likely to be much smaller than before because there are fewer cells capable of storing fat in the area. Since you’ll want to completely avoid the problem from recurring, you should maintain a healthy diet and exercise routine.
Regain Your Confidence with Double Chin Treatment
If you can’t get rid of your double chin despite being active and eating well, Kybella is an innovative and non-invasive treatment that could help. Within a few short months, you could completely change the way your face and neck look, thereby regaining your confidence and natural beauty. Call us at Orchidia Medical Group in Naples, FL to find out more about this treatment and book your consultation with one of our expert doctors.
