My Kybella Experience

I have gone back and forth on whether to do a blog post about this- I mean beauty secrets are supposed to be secret right?

But, I just had to let the cat out of the bag! I had an experience that was so incredible that I HAD to share. So here it goes… back in February I had a KYBELLA treatment..

As the years have gone by, I’ve noticed my chin begin to… well… double. Yes, I said it, those dreaded words, the double chin. And it had developed to the point that I didn’t feel that I looked like myself anymore and became very self-conscious of it. I knew there had to be some sort of a solution out there but undergoing a surgery just wasn’t for me.

As I sat in my Dermatologists office, awaiting an appointment for my annual skin cancer screening, a pamphlet on KYBELLA caught my eye. KYBELLA is the new FDA injectable that dissolves fat under the chin.  It’s the biggest thing to hit the beauty industry since Botox.

The active ingredient in KYBELLA is deoxycholic acid, which is a naturally occurring molecule in the body that aids in the breakdown and absorption of dietary fat.  When injected into the fat beneath your chin, KYBELLA causes the destruction of fat cells.  Once destroyed, those cells cannot store or accumulate fat. WOO HOO!

Hardly any down time, non-surgical and the results are permanent.  Sign me up!

I want to start out by saying that everyone’s experience with injectables is different.  Your pain tolerance and how your body reacts to them will vary from person to person.  I am no medical expert, just a patient sharing my experience with KYBELLA.

Ok so here we go…..

KYBELLA IS an injectable, which means needles, and not everyone loves those little poky things going into their skin- especially me.  But when faced with either keeping my double chin or sucking it up through a few (and by a few I mean a heck of alot) injections I chose to suck it up.

First the doctor applies a grid to the areas they will inject.  It’s kind of like those temporary tattoos you used as a kid. Each of those little dots is an injection point.

The cost of the procedure depends on the amount of viles of medicine the doctor needs to use, typically running anywhere from $400-$600 per vile.  My treatment took four.

As the doctor began the injections, I felt a burning sensation (kind of like salt in a cut) which increases as the procedure progresses. I’m not going to sugar coat it, there are needles, they are INJECTING, and yes, it hurts!

As the needles progress, the burning sensation grows, so if you do give KYBELLA a try prepare yourself for some discomfort.

It took about 15-20 minutes to finish the injections.

Almost immediately after the procedure the treated area begins to swell, my doctor explained to me that the more it swells the better, that means the medicine is doing its job. The doctor then iced the area on and off for the first hour or so.

Then for the next 24 hours after the injections, my throat felt a little sore and I was hoarse. Opening my jaw too far, like to eat a double cheeseburger, was difficult but hey- I don’t really need to be eating that anyway LOL.

Even though these photos are hard for me to share (especially the before and after) I feel you should see the differences.

As you can see above, the swelling gets pretty big, this photo is the day after the treatment and I swear I looked like Ryan Reynolds in the beginning of “Just Friends”.

It felt like there was a water balloon inside my neck when I touched it—foreign and swooshy.

I’m not going to lie, it feels really weird and you may experience some numbness and tenderness in the treated area for the first couple months — the numbness subsided within 2 two months.

Your swelling will depend on the amount of fat that was treated, it will peak at 20-28 hours after the injections and will be mostly gone within 4-5 days. After the swelling recedes, the part that people can “see” is over but the medicine will continue to break down the fat.  The shrinking and tightening process will happen gradually over the next few weeks so don’t expect your double to become a single after only a few days.

On the 3rd or 4th day after treatment, the treated area starts to “gel.” 

Next, the “gel fat” will start to harden/solidify and then break into bits, called “nodules”. You will be able to feel these when you touch your neck but no one will be able to see them (eeww right?). At this point the body’s immune system macrophages (big eaters) are in full swing, eating the dead fat in the nodules and carrying the dead fat away to be eliminated from the body… and so the nodules gradually disappear over a few months. Again, they are felt but not seen and they will go away so don’t freak out.

About a month after the procedure, I saw a definite reduction in fat and tightening of skin in the treated area and at 6 weeks it was like a whole new me.  

Some people may need to undergo a second treatment to really get things tightened up — usually at the 8 week mark — but I was happy with my results so I kept it to just one treatment.

The “before” photo is moments before I went in for the treatment and the “After” is 8 weeks later.  HUGE difference right!

KYBELLA is one of the best decisions I have ever made.  I couldn’t be happier with the results and the most exciting part of this whole journey, is that the results are pretty much permanent, thanks to KYBELLA’s fat cell destroying super-powers those fat cells have been obliterated forever!

They’re not growing back, at least not anytime soon.  And if you want to make your double a single I would highly recommend you look into KYBELLA.