The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an injection to get rid of double-chin fat.
An FDA news release says Kybella has been approved as a treatment for “adults with moderate-to-severe fat below the chin, known as submental fat.” When injected below the chin, Kybella will destroy fat cells. But the release cautions that injecting Kybella elsewhere could be harmful.
Kybella was approved after two clinical trials with 1,022 adults with moderate or sever submental fat. After patients were randomly assigned to receive Kybella or a placebo, reductions in the fat below the chin were observed more frequently in those patients who had received Kybella.
Kybella could be an attractive alternative for patients seeking a reduction in chin fat who don’t want surgery.
“Options at the moment for submental fat are [to] cut it out or suck it out,” Dr. Susan Weinkle, a dermatologist in Florida who has been working with the drug in trials since 2007, told ABC News. “However, this is going to be a noninvasive in-the-office procedure that can be performed by your dermatologist and [gets] excellent results.”
According to the FDA, the most common side effects of Kybella are swelling, bruising, pain, numbness, redness and hardness in the treatment area.
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