A life of exercise and eating right doesn’t necessarily mean you’re living without chin fat. In fact, many people who have the dreaded “double chin” are victims of something called submental fullness, which is the result of a hereditary condition rather than one too many trips through the McDonalds drive through. The condition appears as fat under the chin, and can make a person look older and heavier than they really are. To add to the frustration, submental fullness isn’t something that usually goes away with diet or exercise.
The good news is that if you fall into the almost three-quarters of the U.S. population suffering from fat under the chin, there’s a way to get rid of it without having to submit to traditionally more invasive procedures like liposuction and surgery.
The procedure, called Kybella, uses a naturally occurring molecule in the body, called deoxycholic acid, to aid in the breakdown and absorption of dietary fat. When injected into the fat beneath the chin, the substance destroys fat cells, resulting in a noticeable reduction in fullness under the chin. Once destroyed, these cells can no longer store or accumulate fat, so further treatment isn’t needed once you reach your desired goal.
The injection process takes less than ten minutes, and recovery involves little to no down time. Since everyone’s chin profile is different, the number of treatments most people need varies from patient to patient. Each session should be at least six week apart with an average of four treatments total.