Say Goodbye to Your Double Chin

If you’ve been trying to lose weight, a healthy diet and regular exercise have no doubt helped you shed the pounds. What they might not have done — and might not be able to do — is rid you of your double chin, also referred to as submental fullness. If that’s the case, don’t despair; you can still say goodbye to your double chin with the help of Kybella® injections.

The expert team of aestheticians at Med Physique Center for Aesthetics in Austin, Texas, specializes in cosmetic treatments that help you look your best, and that includes eliminating your double chin using Kybella. To understand how it works, it’s first helpful to understand what a double chin is and why it’s so resistant to treatment.

What causes a double chin?

Did you know that as many as 68% of people sport a double chin? That area of sagging skin and layers of fat that sits under your jawbone can come from a number of different causes, including: 

• Getting older: skin loses elasticity over time, creating appearance of extra skin under the jaw
• Genetics: a family history puts you at higher risk for developing one
• Unhealthy diet: a diet high in calories and fat can cause weight gain, which can lead to a double chin
• Fat storage: the body stores fat in many places; one of them is under the jaw
• Position of airway: if the airway pushes forward, the submental area expands
• Poor posture: weakens neck and chin muscles, causing sags

Say goodbye to your double chin: DIY and surgical treatments

Diet and exercise should always be your first choice for losing weight, but when it comes to submental fat, that may or may not be effective since the body stores some fat under the jawline. As a result, many people seek other alternatives.

There are a number of DIY techniques that might prove useful. The first is stretching exercises that specifically target the chin area, helping to decrease fat deposits. A second is using face masks. Some, including those made from glycerin, coffee, or green tea, support the work of targeted chin exercises. Others tighten the skin, reducing the appearance of a double chin. And some say that a mask made of egg whites, lemon juice, and honey, used daily, reduces their submental fat. None of these, though, are guaranteed to succeed.

Plastic surgeons — unsurprisingly — use several different surgical procedures, including:

1. Liposuction: siphons off fat beneath the skin while sculpting the chin and neck contour
2. Facelift: removes fat and saggy skin around the chin and neck region while tightening remaining skin
3. Neck-lift: improves the contours of the neck and chin regions

All these procedures are invasive; require general anesthesia, incisions, and sutures; and produce about 10-14 days of swelling and bruising afterward. General anesthesia may also pose serious risks for some patients with underlying health conditions. Smokers and people taking blood thinners face an increased risk of bleeding during and after the procedure.

Say goodbye to your double chin: Kybella

In April 2015, the FDA approved a synthetic version of deoxycholic acid for the treatment of submental fullness. Sold under the brand name Kybella, this injectable, a substance your gallbladder uses to dissolve dietary fat, proved to be a game-changer.

Kybella isn’t a weight-loss medication; you should be at or near your ideal weight and have skin that’s only moderately loose to benefit from it. It works by destroying fat cells in the submental region, giving you a more defined jawline. Here at Med Physique Center for Aesthetics, we use it as our go-to treatment for double chins.

We generally recommend 2-4 treatments, each spaced a month apart, to achieve a substantial reduction in submental fat; however, some people need as many as six sessions to reach that goal. The beauty of the treatment is that it creates permanent results; once the fat cells are destroyed, they’re flushed out of your system. They don’t grow back or plump up unless you gain a lot of weight again. To maintain your results, you should still eat a healthy diet and exercise.

If you’re bothered by the appearance of a double chin but can’t seem to do anything to lose it, it’s time to come in to see the experts at Med Physique Center for Aesthetics. Give our office a call at 512-361-2650 to schedule a consultation, or book online with us today.