You have learned over the years that with age comes wisdom. However, wisdom isn’t the only thing that comes with age. Weakening muscles, sagging skin, and bands of fat around the neck also accompany the progression of time. At Columbus Facial Plastics at The Sullivan Centre in Columbus, OH, we offer Kybella to reverse the signs of aging around the chin and neck to help you improve your self-confidence and look as young as you feel.
Are the Results From Kybella Permanent?
The results of Kybella, which is sometimes referred to as deoxycholic acid, are permanent. It is important to note that the deoxycholic acid used as the active ingredient in this injectable is a synthetic, bioidentical variation of the deoxycholic acid produced by your gut. While this acid is synthetic, it works just like the bile acid in your gut to melt adipose tissue walls and encourage your fat cells to release their stored adipose tissue.
You can be confident the results of your treatment are permanent because it is impossible for adults to grow new fat cells. It is possible to gain fat after this fat removal treatment. However, there is a limit to how far fat cells can expand to accommodate the storage of extra energy. Even if you store fat in your neck and chin after your course of treatments, your treatment area will never be as large as it was.
A Word on the Longevity of Your Results
It is imperative that you keep in mind only some of the localized fat cells are destroyed by deoxycholic acid. Since it is possible to store excess fat in the fat cells that remain, you should make an effort to maintain your weight once your course of treatment is complete. Everyone stores fat uniquely, so there is no telling how much weight you can gain before you notice your chin and neck getting larger.
That said, a good general rule of thumb is to maintain your weight within a 20-pound range of when you started. In other words, if you gain 11 pounds after your treatment, you may notice the storage of excess fat in your chin and neck. If you lose 11 pounds, there is a chance your skin will sag again. Also, keep in mind the slower you lose or gain weight, the less likely your skin will be affected.
How To Maintain Your Weight After Treatment
For many people, weight maintenance is harder than weight loss. If you have successfully completed a weight loss journey only to regain that weight over time, you can relate.
The best way to maintain your ideal weight is to weigh yourself weekly. We recommend tracking your weekly weight using a spreadsheet and making a graph with a trend line. This way, you can see if you are gaining or losing weight week-over-week and adjust your caloric intake or energy expenditure accordingly. Remember, the goal is to not gain or lose more than 10 pounds. Small, cyclical weight fluctuations will not affect your results.
How Many Kybella Sessions Are Required To Enjoy Ideal Results?
Up to six treatment sessions may be required to enjoy ideal results. With that being said, six treatment sessions are only required for cases of extreme amounts of excess fat. The average person needs only one or two treatment sessions to achieve their desired contours. This holds true whether the double chin and neck bands are caused by genetics, age, or a moderate amount of excess fat.
How Quickly Will the Results of My Treatment Become Apparent?
You can expect to enjoy the final results of your treatment roughly four to six weeks after your last treatment session. Unlike liposuction, the destroyed fat cell tissue isn’t suctioned out during the process. Instead, your lymphatic system must carry the destroyed fat cells throughout your body, process them and flush them out. If your lymphatic system is not operating as efficiently as it should, it may take a couple of months to enjoy your ideal results after your final session.
Over a dozen factors affect how efficiently your lymphatic system operates. This means there are several things you can do to enjoy the final results of your treatment as soon as possible. For example, your cardiovascular system supports the efficiency of your lymphatic system. If you have a weak cardiovascular system, you may have to wait several extra weeks to enjoy your ideal results. The efficiency of your lymphatic system is also significantly affected by how hydrated you are.
How You Can See Your Final Results Faster
Take More Steps
The simplest thing you can do to see your final results as quickly as possible is to spend at least 150 minutes weekly walking at a moderate pace. Walking is a great way to strengthen your lymphatic system by strengthening your cardiovascular system because it is affordable and easy to fit into your routine.
Even if you feel like your schedule is full, you can park farther from your office to get a few extra steps in and go for a 15-minute walk on your lunch break and after dinner five nights per week. Or, you can go for three 10-minute walks five times weekly.
Drink More Water
Another simple thing you can do to improve the efficiency of your lymphatic system is to drink more water. The more dehydrated you are, the more sluggish your lymphatic system is. Since so many factors affect the efficiency of your lymphatic system, hydration won’t guarantee results that appear as soon as possible. However, hydration guarantees you’re not reducing the efficiency of your lymphatic system.
The average person needs around three liters of hydrating fluids daily to maintain hydration. Examples of hydrating fluids include water, herbal teas and black tea. If you have trouble staying hydrated because you get tired of drinking water, add more flavorful fluids into your daily routine, like an herbal tea or black tea flavored with lime or lemon juice. Eating broth-based soups and water-dense produce can also help you stay hydrated and support the efficiency of your lymphatic system.
How Long Will My Injection Session Take?
Your deoxycholic acid injection session may take between 15 and 20 minutes to complete. Affecting how long your treatment will take are such factors as how many injections are required to contour your chin and neck and the dosage required to provide you with satisfactory results. Furthermore, you should expect your session to take closer to half an hour if you are receiving complementary treatments at the same time as your deoxycholic acid injections.
For example, some people like neuromodulator treatments to relax excessively tense neck muscles. During your initial consultation, we will review all of your aesthetic goals and tailor a treatment plan to achieve each of your goals. Once we have a thorough understanding of your goals, we can advise you on how long your treatment session should take based on the improvements that need to be made.
What Can I Expect During My Kybella Treatment Session?
Before your Kybella treatment begins, we will sanitize your chin and neck with rubbing alcohol and mark the most effective injection locations. Then, we will administer the prescription medication into the marked areas. Finally, we will clean your skin again, erasing the marks used to identify the injection locations.
We will also administer a neuromodulator if you are experiencing excessive muscle tightness. Additionally, it is possible to receive dermal filler injections at the same time as your Kybella session if your skin is sagging significantly. Remember, the more treatments you get, the longer your contouring session will take. However, each treatment only takes 10 to 20 minutes to complete. Therefore, your entire contouring session should not take longer than an hour.
How Many Injections Will Be Administered?
The average treatment session involves between 20 and 30 injections. However, in cases of severe submental fullness, up to 50 injections may be required to facilitate ideal results.
Remember, the average person needs one or two treatment sessions. Therefore, if you have a moderate volume of the excess chin and neck fat or your submental fullness is caused by age or genetics, you should expect to receive between 20 and 60 injections. If you have a very large volume of excess fat in your chin and neck, you should need no more than 300 injections to achieve your desired results.
Post-Treatment Care Guidelines
Your routine can mostly resume as usual after your injections have been completed. Nevertheless, there are a few guidelines you should follow during the first three to five days following your session. For example, you may benefit from applying an ice pack to your skin once your medication has been administered.
Furthermore, if you tensed your muscles when the injections were made, you may want to apply a warm compress to the treatment areas. Additionally, many people benefit greatly from taking Garcinia Cambogia supplements during the first 72 hours following treatment. Finally, you may benefit from sleeping with a chin compression strap.
Am I a Good Candidate for This Injectable?
To find out if you are a good candidate for this fat removal injectable, you must come in for an initial assessment. However, we can discuss some of the signs you may be a good candidate for deoxycholic acid treatments. One of the first factors we assess to determine candidacy for this treatment is how much excess fat is being stored in your chin and neck. There are several potential causes for submental fullness.
However, it is most commonly caused by localized deposits of excess fat. If you exercise on a regular basis and have a reasonably healthy diet, but submental fullness remains an issue for you, there is an excellent chance you will qualify for this treatment. Furthermore, we look for people who are at least 18 years old and feel confident they can maintain a relatively stable body fat percentage after the final treatment. Your health also affects your potential for candidacy.
Melt Away Fat and Look Years Younger Today
While you can’t stop the aging process, you can reverse its visible effects. Kybella will help you look years younger by melting fat from your chin and neck, hiding noticeably weak neck muscles. Additionally, sagging skin is lifted temporarily due to an increase in local collagen production in response to the injections.
Additionally, the fat removal results of this treatment last forever. To improve the contours of your submental region, contact us today at Columbus Facial Plastics at The Sullivan Centre in Columbus, OH to schedule your initial evaluation and discover if Kybella is right for you.