If you have been struggling with under-chin fat that no amount of diet and exercise seems to help, Kybella may be a non-invasive option is ideal for you.
Kybella received Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval in spring 2015. This is good news to approximately 80 percent of people with double chins who want to do something about it but are reluctant to have surgery or are not good candidates for surgery. For patients interested in Kyebala in Columbus, Ohio, and neighboring areas, we look forward to meeting with you and providing our expert recommendations on removing unwanted chin fat.
The main ingredient in the treatment is called deoxycholic acid (ATX 101). It is identical to a kind of bile acid the body makes naturally. One of the deoxycholic acid’s best qualities is its ability to dissolve fat cells, making it a perfect spot treatment for fat deposits in the chin area.
When working naturally in the body, deoxycholic acid breaks down fats from your food and helps the body absorb them as energy. When working specifically as a treatment for submental “double chin” fat, deoxycholic acid goes to work to destroy those fat cells instead. Because of how deoxycholic acid works naturally, it is a perfect choice for targeting small but problematic fat deposits, such as those commonly found under the chin. The deoxycholic acid permanently destroys the fat cells under your chin, so there is no anticipated need for future treatments once your course of treatment concludes. The results you receive will be permanent.
What is most important for prospective patients to understand is that this double chin fat can and often does exist regardless of gender, age, dietary habits, level of fitness, and overall lifestyle. For this reason, the FDA felt a new alternative to surgery was needed to address persistent double chin fat and gave this treatment its approval. To date, it is the only treatment of its kind available.
In two U.S. clinical trials, out of 1,000 participating patients, more than 80 percent noted an improvement in the appearance of their chin after receiving treatment. While the procedure is specifically designed to destroy fat, some patients noted firmer skin as another benefit of receiving treatment. Those who received more treatments reported more satisfactory results than those who received fewer treatments overall.
The treatment itself has delivered positive results in more than 20 clinical studies involving 1,600 participating patients. Since it received FDA approval in spring 2015, thousands of additional patients have already received this safe and effective treatment.
Kybella has been shown to work well in each of the following situations:
During your consultation, your treatment provider will take photos and discuss your medical history. If you are deemed a good candidate for treatment, you will leave your consultation with all the information you need to prepare and pay for treatment. The treatment takes place using a series of small injections. The injections are typically administered over a number of sessions.
When you arrive for your first treatment, your provider will administer topical and/or local anesthetic to ensure your total comfort during the procedure. Depending on the amount and placement of submental fat, you may receive anywhere from 12 to 50 small injections per treatment. Each treatment takes between 15 and 20 minutes from start to finish, so the actual experience of receiving the injections is very quick.
In most cases, treatments are scheduled no more than 30 days apart. Some patients require up to six treatments to see the results they desire (this group represented 59 percent of patients in the clinical trials), while others may require fewer treatments to achieve satisfactory results. During the clinical trials, some patients reported positive results in as few as two visits.
If you are considering having this new, non-surgical treatment for your double chin fat, you probably have lots of questions about whether you are a good candidate or not.
While there is no way to answer this question definitively without first speaking with the healthcare professional who will administer the treatments, here are some general guidelines to consider about who makes a good candidate:
The cost of Kybella in Columbus is best discussed in person during your consultation. The procedure is highly personalized and tailored for each patient’s specific needs. During your consultation, the team at Smith Facial Plastics will discuss all associated costs and recommendations.
Contact us to set up a consultation for Kybella! We look forward to meeting you, answering any questions, and providing you with our expert recommendations. This non-surgical procedure can produce fantastic results and has become a very popular treatment in our Columbus office.
Your Kybella Frequently Asked Questions Answered
You can expect your very first treatment to be a little longer than the follow-up treatments, but it will still last less than half an hour from start to finish. In total, the procedure itself is typically spread out over a series of treatments, each of which lasts between 15 and 20 minutes. Depending on your specific situation and goals, you may need as few as two treatments or as many as six or more treatments.
If you experience any pain, redness, numbness, swelling, or hardness around the injection sites, these are normal and temporary side effects that typically resolve on their own between treatments. Be sure to talk with your treatment provider if any of these temporary side effects become uncomfortable for you.
A small percentage of patients receiving treatment have reported more serious side effects. Reported side effects have affected an estimated 4 percent of patients to date. These side effects include trouble swallowing, an uneven smile, weakness in the facial muscles, and nerve damage to the jaw area (this last is most common when injections are delivered too close to the marginal mandibular nerve, a major nerve that runs along the jawline.
In most reported cases, each of these rarer side effects resolved on their own within a period of time. The median time to resolution ranged from 3 to 44 days.