Wondering about Kybella®?
Do you have stubborn unwanted fat under your chin? At your bra line or maybe heavy jowls? Kybella® may be part of your solution.
Kybella®is the brand name, deoxycholic acid the generic chemical tag. It works much like your own bile salts in breaking down fat by destroying the cell membrane that gives it life. Once that barrier is crystalized and destroyed, your lymphatic system has the opportunity to purge it. Bye-Bye Fat Cells! This destruction is felt to be permanent. Well, at least for those cells destroyed. It certainly does not take away the need for a healthy diet and exercise, but some of those genetically predisposed regions of fat (like the dreaded double chin) are simply hard to reduce with lifestyle changes alone—this is where chemical (Kybella®) or physical (liposuction) gets involved.
The upside is that the cell destruction is forever. The downside, it typically takes a series of treatments and can cause “socially significant” swelling for 2-20 days post injection. Fortunately, in the era of mask wearing, much of this can be disguised. I have also found that lymphatic drainage massage can speed the process of healing (less bullfrog days) for most of my patients. The injections are a bit uncomfortable, and I’ve been told it’s “achy” after, but totally manageable. Bruising and swelling are the most common side effects; but transient numbness and unusual nerve sensations can also occur though far less common.
Now I would be remiss to not let you know the only on-label (FDA approved) use is for the submentum (double chin). In the aesthetics industry it has also been used for jowls, bra line fat, that of the knee and lower buttock to reduce chubs off-label. So many clever scientifically driven providers out there! If you’d like to learn more, head over to kybella.com or mykybella.com for Allergan’s intel.
Now don’t you feel wiser?!