Excess fat under your chin — commonly called a double chin — is a widespread problem for both men and women. Even if you lose weight through proper diet and exercise and reduce fat in other areas of your body, those stubborn areas of fat around your neck and lower jaw tend to stick around.
So, if you’ve been looking into possible solutions for your double chin, our team, led by Roop Gill, MD, at Pulsar Health in West Palm Beach, Florida, offers a wide variety of treatments — from noninvasive to surgical — for double chins.
This month’s blog explores your options so you can determine which one will work best for you.
Kybella is a nonsurgical injection that breaks down fat. This cosmetic injection contains a synthetic version of a natural substance in your body, deoxycholic acid. Your digestive system uses deoxycholic acid to break down the fat in your food.
Once injected, the substance breaks down the existing fat, making it impossible for your chin to store fat in the future.
This noninvasive treatment causes minimal discomfort and requires no downtime.
Ultrasound therapy, or ultrasonic cavitation, is another noninvasive treatment that uses ultrasound energy to break apart fat deposits. Ultrasound waves are sent deep into the skin's layers, and the vibration disrupts the fat cells and breaks them apart. Then, your body’s lymphatic system drains the fat cells out of your body.
It’s a quick procedure requiring no incisions and downtime, and many do it over a lunch break. However, you may need repeat sessions to achieve your desired results.
Laser therapy — also called laser lipolysis — is a treatment method that uses heat energy from lasers to melt away fat deposits. During this procedure, we numb the treatment area before making a small incision. The laser is placed inside the incision to melt away the fat, and then we suck out the liquified fat with a small tube called a cannula.
While laser therapy may require a few days of downtime, it’s an incredibly effective way to eliminate fat under your chin. This treatment also encourages the production of new collagen, giving your neck and chin a more rejuvenated and youthful appearance.
Liposuction works very similarly to laser therapy. However, chin liposuction is a surgery where we enter your chin area through an incision and manually remove the fat deposits with a tube. This more invasive procedure is highly effective.
You can expect some redness, swelling, and bruising around the treatment area, and recovery time is typically about 10-14 days.
A neck lift is the most drastic choice for double chin correction, but it may be your best option if you have a lot of excess skin and fat. During this surgery, we remove excess skin and tighten the neck muscles for a contoured look. You can also combine a neck lift with other rejuvenating surgeries, such as skin tightening or eyelid surgery.
We do need to use general anesthesia for this procedure, so expect a bit of a longer recovery time if you decide to go this route.
To learn more about how we can help you kick that double chin to the curb, schedule an appointment with our team by calling our office at 561-388-9571 or using our online booking tool.