Kybella Injections Finally FDA-approved

By Soheila Rostami, MD

What Is Kybella?

Kybella is the first FDA-approved product that can safely melt away chin fat, also known as submental fat, or “double chin.”

What Makes Kybella Safer Than Other Products?

Kybella injections offer a safe alternative to other products used in the past to melt body fat, such as animal enzymes. Such products had severe complications and had to be taken off the market after a few months. Kybella is a synthetic product made from deoxycholic acid, but it is very similar to the human gallbladder enzyme, which breaks down fat during digestion.

Kybella or Liposuction?

Liposuction has been and remains a surgical alternative to improving the appearance of severe fullness associated with chin and submental fat in adults. Kybella offers a safe, non-surgical approach to melting moderate fat in the chin area, an option patients did not have before Kybella became FDA-approved.

How Is Kybella Administered?

The product is injected into the chin with very small needles during a short, 15-minute procedure. This method is relatively painless even patients who are afraid of needles were able to receive treatment with little discomfort. For best results, the treatment has to be repeated 4-6 times, in one-month intervals.

What Are the Side Effects?

Fortunately, the studies with Kybella show very few side effects. The major side effects reported with this product are hematoma (large bruises), edema (swelling), slight pain and discomfort, numbness and tingling (which resolved after few weeks), nodules (small lumps), and itchiness.

Who Is Qualified To Administer Kybella?

Patients should trust only an experienced physician to perform Kybella injections. The neck is an anatomically complicated area that should be left to physicians who specialize in neck procedures, and who are experienced in Kybella injections.

What Is The Cost of Kybella
Injections?

The fees that physicians charge for Kybella injections have not yet been determined. Dr. Rostami is at the forefront of Kybella research and training and will be ready to introduce it to her patients once the product is launched in late summer.