Do you have stubborn fat around the chin that seems impossible to get rid of? “A double chin can result from a variety of causes, including hereditary factors, weight, anatomy and airway positioning,” says Lisa Ishii, MD, via Johns Hopkins Medicine. “If you have a double chin you’re unsatisfied with, you’re not alone — as many as 68 percent of people are in the same boat, according to the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.” So what’s the best non-surgical way to get rid of that under-chin fat? Here’s what plastic surgeons say.
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Ultherapy Sessions
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Ultherapy is a non-invasive treatment that can help with fixing a double chin. “Patients who suffer from extra fat or loose, sagging skin in the neck area often seek solutions for a slimmer profile,” says board-certified plastic surgeon Mark H. Schwartz, MD. “Many people choose to have neck lift surgery, liposuction or Ultherapy® to help reduce the appearance of a double chin.” So what exactly is it?
How Does Ultherapy Work?
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So what exactly is Ultherapy? “Often called a ‘non-surgical facelift,’ Ultherapy is a new technique to tighten, tone, and lift the neck, face, eye, and brow regions,” according to Dr. Schwartz’s practice. “It is the first and only device which is FDA approved for tissue lifting. It works by delivering ultrasound heat energy to the fibromuscular or SMAS layer, which is typically targeted during surgery. The energy delivered tightens and lifts the overlying skin without disturbing it. Also, the heat energy promotes new collagen production, which provides additional firming power and smoother skin.”
CoolSculpting Treatments
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Dr. Anthony Youn recommends CoolSculpting for removing fat. “There are devices now that doctors use that can actually melt fat noninvasively,” he says. “CoolSculpting is more of the original device where you actually will freeze the fat via an applicator that’s put on the surface of the skin. By putting that applicator on the surface of skin, you can chill the fat so much that it crystallizes and some of those fat cells die. Eventually, your body then clears itself of the fat, and then typically after one to two treatments, people can find a reduction in the thickness of fat by about 20%.”
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Kybella Injections
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Kybella injections (deoxycholic acid) are also effective for getting rid of fat under the chin. “The other option if you’ve got very small areas of isolated fat pockets (let’s say the armpit area), then we can do something called Kybella,” Dr. Youn says. “Kybella is an injection of deoxycholic acid, and this is a naturally-occurring substance in our GI tract that actually dissolves away fat, and so that can be injected into smaller areas to help dissolve fat away nonsurgically. Now, Kybella is FDA-approved for reduction of fat in the double chin area, but doctors like myself use it all the time off-label to treat other small areas of fat that can really dissolve away nicely with this treatment.
Six Treatments
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Kybella treatments usually require a few visits. “This nonsurgical approach requires several treatments spaced out over several weeks,” says Dr. Ishii. “Most people receive two or three treatments, but it can take up to six treatments, depending on the patient and the amount of excess fat in the treatment area.”