If it hasn’t happened to you, you’ve seen it happen to someone: the double chin or “turkey neck” that develops on many people sometime in life. Whether it’s from genetics, weight gain, or aging, our skin starts to lose elasticity over time, causing it to sag & droop. For various reasons, the front-facing portion of the neck is especially vulnerable to these effects, and many of us end up with an unsightly mass of tissue underneath the chin that we want to get rid of. There are some extremely effective surgical solutions to the double chin, but if you’re not ready to commit to surgery, there are also some great FDA-approved nonsurgical treatments:
CoolSculpting® is an extremely popular minimally invasive cosmetic procedure that destroys fat cells using a technology called cryolipolysis. This process uses extreme cold to kill fat cells, which are in turn reabsorbed into the body and safely disposed of via natural biological processes. Although they use different methods of destroying the fat cells, the other treatments on our list similarly flush the targeted fat cells. CoolSculpting® does all this without damaging the skin or other surrounding tissue, but it takes multiple treatments and several months for results to become visible.
KYBELLA® destroys fat cells via chemical processes. This injectable treatment uses deoxycholic acid, which occurs naturally in the human body, to reduce the appearance of fat and is often used on the chin area. KYBELLA® requires multiple treatments, spaced out by six to eight weeks, to deliver the best results. There’s a chance that someone whose skin has low elasticity may experience some loose or sagging skin in the treated area, so ask your doctor about how your skin might react. There are nonsurgical & surgical treatments for sagging skin for patients who have this issue.
If you’d like to learn more about the many avenues of self-improvement, or if you’re interested in the procedures I perform, contact me, Dr. James Namnoum, to schedule a consultation. Don’t forget to connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and come back to the blog soon for more advice and information on looking your best.
