Surgery or injection for a double chin? See the benefits of each treatment

Q. I have a double chin. I’m in my 20s and I’ve heard that Kybella is really good for this. What are your thoughts?

A. Kybella has become a well-known option for treating fullness under the chin, and for the right patient, it can work quite well. Kybella is an injectable treatment that uses deoxycholic acid to dissolve fat cells permanently. The appeal is clear — it’s a non-surgical option, done in the office, with no incisions and little downtime.

However, after several years of using Kybella in clinical practice, we’ve learned that patient satisfaction can be mixed. While it does reduce fat, results are often subtle and require multiple sessions. Swelling can be significant for several days, and some patients find that the improvement is not as dramatic as they had hoped. When compared with neck liposuction, Kybella simply doesn’t deliver the same level of definition and tightening that surgery can achieve.

Kybella is best suited for younger patients with a very small, well-defined pocket of fat under the chin and good skin elasticity. In older patients, repeated Kybella treatments can create scar tissue that makes future procedures like neck lifts or facelifts more challenging.

Dr. Carlos Wolf is a partner in Miami Plastic Surgery and is board certified. Email questions to him at Cwolf@miamiplasticsurgery.com