Resolving "Double Chin"

If you wear a lot of scarves and turtlenecks to hide the extra fullness under your chin, but don’t want the expense and downtime of a surgical fix, an injectable treatment that dissolves fat may be the solution that frees you from hiding.

This fullness is actually a medical condition called submental fullness, which some people refer to as “double chin” or “turkey neck.” Weight gain, genetics, and diet can all be factors in this condition.

Kybella® is the first of its kind injectable treatment for adults with submental fullness, destroying fat cells under the chin to improve your profile. My colleague, Dr. Yoav Kaufman, and I are performing this procedure, along with numerous other cosmetic skin care treatments, at Kelsey-Seybold’s Berthelsen Main Campus, North Houston Campus, Clear Lake Clinic (Bay Area Campus), and Katy Clinic.

Kybella is an FDA-approved liquid that is injected through a very tiny needle into targeted areas underneath the chin. The liquid, which contains deoxycholic acid (a naturally occurring molecule in your body that helps break down and absorb dietary fat), immediately destroys fat cells, and then the body removes the fat cells over the course of days to a few weeks.  The fat cells do not return.

You may be a candidate for Kybella if you’re bothered by fat under the chin, if you feel the condition makes you look older or heavier than you actually are, or if you eat well and exercise, but submental fullness just does not go away.

The treatment is quick and effective for the majority of patients, with swelling resolving from the treatment in five to seven days in most patients.  Patients generally will require two to four treatments spaced four to six weeks apart.

Kybella comes in vials and the number of vials needed is different for each patient. The number of vials depends on the amount and size of the double chin. Most patients will require two to four vials per treatment, with most patients requiring fewer vials in subsequent treatments because of the reduction of fat from the previous treatments.