Kybella in Bellevue
Kybella is the first and only injectable the FDA has approved for the pocket of fat beneath the chin, cleared in 2015 for moderate to severe submental fullness. Its active ingredient is deoxycholic acid, a molecule your body already makes to break down dietary fat.
The injections run close to real anatomy: the marginal mandibular nerve, which moves your lower lip, passes through the territory, along with the cervical branch of the facial nerve and the lymphatic pathways of the neck. Dr. Day performs every Kybella treatment personally, mapping the injection grid around structures he knows as a surgeon.
And because this practice also performs chin liposuction and neck lifts, the recommendation you get is the right tool, never the only tool on the shelf.
The treatment
Non-surgical care in a plastic surgeon's practice.
After topical numbing, a treatment grid is marked across the submental area and twenty to fifty small injections are placed per session. The deoxycholic acid disrupts fat-cell membranes; your body then clears the cells over the following weeks through its ordinary metabolic routes.
Be ready for the sensation, because it is the part patients are least prepared for. Most describe stinging or burning during the injections and for a few minutes afterward. It is brief, it is expected, and it settles before you leave.
The mechanism is worth separating from its neighbours. Liposuction removes fat physically through a cannula. Cryolipolysis chills it. Kybella works chemically, from a molecule already present in your digestion, which is why it is delivered as a series of office visits rather than a single procedure.
Kybella was validated across Allergan's clinical-trial program — more than twenty trials and 2,600-plus patients — and its results build session by session, with most plans running two to four sessions spaced four to six weeks apart.
Three ways to treat a double chin
All three are performed here, which is what makes the recommendation worth trusting.
Kybella
A modest, well-defined fat pocket with skin that will retract. No surgery, no anesthesia, spread over a series of short visits.
Chin liposuction
A larger volume of fat, cleared in one session rather than four. More efficient when the pocket is substantial.
Neck lift
The answer when the problem is loose skin or banding rather than fat. Removing fat from beneath lax skin can make the laxity more visible, not less.
Is it right for you
Kybella suits an adult with a modest, well-defined fat pocket under the chin, at or near a stable weight, with skin tone good enough to retract as the fat clears. It is approved for patients eighteen and older, and there is no upper age limit — skin quality decides candidacy far more than age does.
The honest limitation, stated before you start rather than after: Kybella treats fat and does nothing to skin. It does not tighten, and it will not help a neck whose problem is looseness. Where fat volume is the whole story, reducing it can improve the contour on its own; where it is not, you will be pointed to the operation that actually addresses it.
That triage happens candidly at consultation, with all three tools on the table.
What to expect
Swelling under the chin is expected for days to a couple of weeks after each session — it is the treatment working, and it is the reason to schedule sessions at least two weeks ahead of important events. Bruising, tenderness, numbness, and firmness in the area are common alongside it.
Most patients are back to work the same day or the next. The numbness and firmness fade as the tissue settles, and the full result of a series reads four to twelve weeks after the final session, because your body clears the treated cells on its own schedule rather than yours.
Questions, answered
The rest belong in a conversation. Consultations are unhurried by design.
Do the treated fat cells come back?
Cells cleared this way do not regenerate. That is not the same as a result that can never change: the fat cells still present in the area can enlarge if your weight climbs, so how long the contour holds tracks how stable your weight stays.
Does Kybella tighten skin?
No. It treats fat and leaves skin to do whatever it was already going to do. Where tone is good, the skin retracts as volume drops and the contour improves. Where the skin is genuinely lax, a neck lift is the honest recommendation, and clearing fat first can make the looseness more obvious rather than less.
Does it hurt?
There is a real stinging or burning sensation during the injections and for a few minutes after. Topical numbing is applied first and the discomfort typically resolves before you leave. It is the part patients most want warned about, so consider it warned.
How many sessions will I need?
Most patients need two to four, spaced four to six weeks apart; up to six for larger pockets. The consultation gives you a realistic count before you start, so the total commitment is clear.
How much swelling should I expect?
Real swelling for several days to two weeks per session — plan social events at least two weeks out. It is the visible sign the deoxycholic acid is doing its work.
Kybella or chin liposuction?
Kybella clears a modest pocket over a series of office visits with no surgery; liposuction clears a larger volume in one session. Skin quality and pocket size decide it, and both options live in this practice, so the advice is unbiased.
Is it safe?
In trained hands, yes — the FDA approval rests on a program of more than twenty clinical trials. The safety variable is the injector: the marginal mandibular nerve runs through the treatment area, and knowing exactly where it lives is a surgeon's advantage.
How much does Kybella cost?
Kybella sessions range from $1,250 to $5,000, based on the vials your treatment plan requires, quoted in writing before you begin the series.