Sometimes we have areas of stubborn fat that just won’t budge no matter how much we diet and exercise. For many years liposuction was the only answer to these unwelcome bumps and bulges. That all changed though in 2015 when the FDA approved Kybella, a non-surgical, injectable treatment for dissolving fat under the chin (also known as submental fat). The treatment was so successful at eliminating the dreaded “double-chin” that it didn’t take long for people to begin to ask what other areas of fat they could have dissolved.
In addition to contouring the jawline, Dr. Atkins uses Kybella on areas such as the stomach, “love handles,” outer thighs, knees, elbows, back fat, bra bulges, jowls and the fatty folds under the butt (also known as banana rolls). It can also be used to dissolve lipomas (benign lumps of fat that form just beneath the skin). Dr. Atkins is experienced with many off-label areas and can tailor the treatment to your needs.
For off-label use of Kybella, the optimal patient is someone close to their ideal body weight who is unhappy with a small area of excess fat they can’t eliminate through diet and exercise.
Kybella vs Liposuction
Kybella is preferable to liposuction for many people because of the risks associated with surgery. Although a Kybella treatment can take as few as twenty minutes, the results it delivers require a bit of patience. You won’t walk out of the office with an instantaneous reduction in unwanted fat. And that twenty-minute appointment can be required two to four times, depending on the amount of fat to be dissolved. You must allow a month between appointments to give your body time to metabolize the fat cells that Kybella eliminates. After a treatment with Kybella, you can go back to work that very day though, while the same can’t be said for a surgical procedure.
Kybella is made from deoxycholic acid, a salt found in human bile that aids in the digestion of fat. When injected into subcutaneous tissue, Kybella dissolves fat cells which are then cleared into the lymphatic and circulatory system over the next several weeks. So, if fat under the chin can be targeted with Kybella, shouldn’t fat anywhere on the body be fair game? The answer is it isn’t quite that simple.
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