Mercy Plastic Surgeon Dr. Craig Vander Kolk Discusses New FDA-approved Injectable, Kybella, to Treat Chin Fat

The area of fat between the chin and neck is an area of the body that many people are self-conscious about.

Surgery is an option, but a new FDA-approved treatment is also receiving a lot of interest. The treatments are injections that give people hope as they try to get rid of that double chin.

Kim Gibson said the fat under her chin is something that has bother her for some time.

"I see it all the time," she said. "I don't like the fat underneath my chin. No matter how hard work, diet exercise, I still have the fat underneath my chin."

That frustration brought her to Mercy Medical Center. There, she is trying out the FDA-approved injection, Kybella.

"Kybella is the newest injectable, mainly for the under the chin area everyone complains of," said Meg Fox, a physician assistant with Cosmetic Medicine and Surgery at Mercy.. "It basically destroys the fat cells. Once you destroy the fat cells they cannot accumulate fat any longer."

Kybella is deoxycholic acid, a fat-absorbing substance found in our bodies naturally. Fox is helping Gibson with her treatment by doing a series of small injections on her.

Gibson said patients should expect at least two treatments and warned of swelling for a day.

According to Dr. Craig Vander Kolk, Director of Cosmetic Medicine and Surgery at Mercy, thinks Gibson will have great results.

"(Gibson) really doesn't have a lot of fat that needs to be removed and that's really kind of the key," Dr. Vander Kolk said. "At least for right now Kybella is used for the central area below the chin. Some people have more fat everywhere along the jaw line and the neck. In those cases you would want to do liposuction.

To view Mercy plastic surgeon Dr. Craig Vander Kolk’s interview about Kybella for double chins, click here.