Miami dermatologist S. Manjula Jegasothy, MD, is a big fan of Kybella. While the injection is “the first and only FDA-approved injectable treatment” to reduce fat under the specific area of the chin, she’s seeing it do some amazing things in other areas of the body—including upper arms, saddlebags of the thighs, knees, bra line, abdomen, love handles, “muffin tops,” posterior upper thighs and even the inner thighs.
“Kybella, which is deoxycholate [a bile-derived salt similar to what the gallbladder naturally produces] works by emulsifying, and therefore, destroying fat cells in the areas where it is injected,” she says. “The body’s immune system then resorbs the fat cell remnants over a period of one-to-three months.”
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In her case studies (as published in Modern Aesthetics with before-and-after images shown here), a physically fit 26-year-old patient had Kybella injected off-label into the lower abdomen. Results shown are six weeks after one treatment and the patient was “highly satisfied” with the treatment outcome.
“The areas that I think are the most interesting are the areas that have been notoriously difficult to liposuction because of drooping skin or dimpling afterward,” Dr. Jegasothy says, and pegs an unexpected bonus as part of the treatment. “These areas include the outer thighs, the bra line, the inner thighs and the upper posterior thighs. While Kybella does not have a mechanism of action for tightening dimpled skin over the areas of fat loss, in patients under 55 years of age, I am generally seeing a nice skin-tightening result in treated areas as well!”
