Some things people bring to a med spa need a doctor rather than a treatment room. Some things people bring to a med spa are not aesthetic problems and need a doctor rather than a treatment room. See a physician or a dermatologist, not us, if you have a mole or a mark that has changed shape, colour or size, or that bleeds, itches or will not heal; a sore anywhere that has been there more than three weeks; a rash you cannot explain; a patch of skin that is newly numb, hard or ulcerated; sudden hair loss in patches, or hair loss alongside fatigue or weight change; or swelling, heat and spreading redness that could be an infection. And if you have had filler treatment anywhere and the area becomes white or mottled, severely painful, or your vision changes, that is an emergency — telephone us immediately if we treated you, and go to an emergency room if you cannot reach somebody within minutes. We would far rather you rang a doctor and never rang us at all.
The active ingredient is a molecule your own body uses to break down dietary fat. Injected in a grid across a small pocket of fat, it disrupts the membranes of the fat cells there and your body clears the debris over the following weeks. Those particular fat cells do not return, which is why the result is described as permanent — though the fat cells you still have elsewhere behave normally, so substantial weight gain will still show under a chin.
It was designed for the pocket of fat under the chin and that is where it is used most, though small deposits elsewhere are sometimes treated. What it needs is a defined pocket of soft fat with reasonable skin over it. What it cannot do is tighten skin. If the fullness under your chin is loose skin rather than fat — which is common after weight loss and increasingly common with age — removing what fat is there makes the looseness more obvious rather than less, and we will tell you that at the consultation.
The recovery is the part that surprises people and it should be described honestly: the area swells markedly, for several days to a fortnight, and it is visible. This is not a lunchtime treatment. Most people take the first weekend quietly and prefer a high collar for a week. Anybody who tells you otherwise has not treated many people with it.
Who it suits, and who it does not
The assessment is mostly about skin, not fat.
A defined pocket, good skin
The ideal candidate: a discrete amount of soft fat under the chin, skin that springs back when pinched, a stable weight. Two or three sessions produce a clear change in the profile that lasts.
Loose skin rather than fat
The commonest reason we decline. If what you can pinch is skin and very little fat, dissolving what little there is leaves a slacker neck. Skin tightening, radiofrequency treatment or — honestly, sometimes — a surgeon is the right conversation, and we would rather have it than take your money.
A muscular band rather than a fat pad
Some of what people dislike under the chin is a band of the platysma muscle. That is not fat, will not respond to this, and is sometimes helped by a wrinkle-relaxing injection instead. Identifying it is part of the examination.
An unstable weight
If you are in the middle of significant weight change in either direction, this is the wrong month for it. Come back when things have settled: the result is judged against a body that is not moving.
The course, and the fortnight after each session
The honest version, which is more demanding than the marketing version.
The session
The area is numbed, a temporary grid is marked on the skin, and twenty to fifty small injections are placed across it. It takes about twenty minutes. There is a burning sensation for a few minutes afterwards that most people describe as strange rather than severe.
Days one to seven
Considerable swelling — this is the point of the treatment rather than a complication, since the swelling is the inflammatory response doing the work. It is visible, it can be uncomfortable, and it peaks around day two or three. Numbness in the area is common and normal.
Weeks two to six
Swelling resolves and the area often feels firm or lumpy under the skin for several weeks. This settles. The result of that session becomes apparent at around six weeks, which is when the next session is scheduled if one is needed.
Two or three sessions, sometimes four
Most people need two or three, spaced at least six weeks apart. We assess before each one and stop when the result is achieved rather than completing a package — there is no package, so there is nothing to complete.
Risks, and the one that matters
Mostly predictable and self-limiting, with one specific complication worth knowing about.
Swelling, bruising, numbness
Expected rather than unexpected. Numbness under the chin can persist for several weeks and resolves. Firmness under the skin is common for a month or two.
Nerve injury affecting the smile
A branch of the facial nerve runs close to the treatment area, and irritating it can cause an uneven smile. It is uncommon, it is temporary in almost every reported case, and it can take weeks to months to resolve. Careful mapping of the treatment area is how it is avoided, which is why we mark the grid rather than injecting by eye.
Injury to skin if injected too superficially
Placed too close to the surface, the solution can damage skin rather than fat. This is a technique problem rather than an inherent risk, and it is the reason this treatment should not be delegated to somebody learning on you.
We will not treat
Anybody pregnant or breastfeeding; anybody with an infection or a swelling in the area that has not been explained; anybody whose fullness is skin rather than fat; and anybody with a swallowing difficulty or a bleeding disorder without their physician's involvement.
Injectable Fat Reduction in western Queens
An injected solution that destroys fat cells in a small, defined pocket — most often under the chin. It swells substantially for a week, it needs two or three sessions, and it is permanent.
Every treatment here starts the same way: a full hour at a table in a room with no treatment couch in it, a proper medical history, your skin looked at in daylight, and then a plain statement of what we think would achieve what you described. You are told what it costs, how many sessions it usually takes, how long it lasts, what the recovery looks like and what can go wrong — on paper, to take home and read somewhere other than a treatment room. If the honest answer is a different treatment, or nothing, or a dermatologist, that is what you get instead, and it costs exactly the same.
Aesthetic treatment is elective medicine, and this page is not medical advice for you. Aesthetic treatment is elective, it is medicine wherever it breaks the skin, and nothing on this website is medical advice for you in particular. We do not diagnose disease. Every treatment here begins with a consultation and a medical history, because your health, your medication, your skin type and what you have had done before all change what is safe and what is sensible. Some people are told no. Being told no is a normal outcome of a consultation here rather than a failure of one, and it costs exactly the same as being told yes.
No before-and-after photographs, and no promised outcome. There are no before-and-after photographs on this website and there never will be. Every set you have seen somewhere else was chosen from a much larger pile, and the second picture is usually taken in different light, at a different angle, at a different time of day, often with makeup and frequently after retouching. Even an entirely honest pair shows you what happened to somebody else's face. What we publish instead is what a treatment typically changes, by roughly how much, how long it lasts, how many sessions it usually takes and how often people are disappointed. We do not guarantee an outcome, we cannot, and anybody who does is either guessing or selling.
The risks, plainly. Every treatment on this site has side effects and some carry real risks. The common ones are minor and short-lived — redness, swelling, tenderness, bruising, a day or two of looking like you have had something done. The uncommon ones matter more: burns, blistering and long-lasting pigment change from light-based treatment, which is a greater risk on deeper skin tones and on recently tanned skin; infection anywhere the skin is broken; and lumps, asymmetry and, very rarely, a blocked blood vessel from injectable filler, which is the one true emergency in this field. We screen for what makes each of these more likely, we tell you your own risk rather than the average one, and we decline to treat when the answer should be no.
What a med spa does not treat. We treat the appearance of healthy skin, hair and body. We do not diagnose or treat disease. If you bring us a mole, a changing mark, an unexplained rash, a sore that will not heal, skin that has become hard or numb, psoriasis, eczema, an autoimmune skin condition, or hair loss that came on suddenly or in patches, what you will get is the name of a doctor rather than a treatment plan. Aesthetic treatment applied on top of an undiagnosed skin problem can mask it, delay the diagnosis and occasionally make it worse. We would rather lose the booking.
Questions
Injectable Fat Reduction — the questions we are asked most
Is the fat really gone permanently?
The fat cells destroyed in the treated area do not come back, yes. That is not the same as a permanent result in all circumstances: the fat cells you still have can enlarge, so significant weight gain will still show under the chin. It is best thought of as permanently reducing the number of cells in one pocket rather than as a permanent guarantee about how your neck will look in ten years.
How swollen will I be?
Visibly, for several days to a fortnight, peaking around day two or three. This is a real recovery and not a lunchtime treatment. Most people are comfortable in public after four or five days with a high collar and are back to normal within two weeks. Book it with that in mind and not the week before a wedding.
Will it tighten the skin under my chin?
No. It reduces fat and does nothing directly to skin. Skin often retracts reasonably well once the fat beneath is reduced, particularly in younger clients, but that is a hopeful by-product rather than the treatment's effect. If loose skin is the main problem, this is the wrong treatment and we will tell you.
How many sessions will I need?
Two or three for most people, occasionally four, at least six weeks apart. You are assessed before each one and we stop when the result is achieved. Because there is no package to buy, stopping after one session costs you nothing further.
Does it hurt?
The injections themselves are managed with numbing. What people report is a strong burning sensation for five to fifteen minutes afterwards, described more often as odd than as severe, followed by an ache. Ordinary painkillers handle it.
Can I have this instead of losing weight?
No, and this is a treatment that is frequently mis-sold on exactly that basis. It reduces a small, defined pocket of fat in one place. It is not weight loss, it will not change your weight measurably, and it will not address a general fullness of the face and neck that comes with body weight. If weight is the real question, /medical-weight-management.html is the honest page to read instead.
Related
Often seen alongside this
Injectables & Facial Balancing
Wrinkle-Relaxing Injections
A small amount of a purified protein placed in a specific muscle so it stops pulling as hard. It softens the lines that appear when you move. It does very little to the lines that are there when your face is still.
Read more
Injectables & Facial Balancing
Dermal Fillers
A gel placed under the skin to restore volume or change a contour. It works immediately and lasts months to years. It is also the treatment in this building with the smallest margin for error.
Read more
Injectables & Facial Balancing
Lip Enhancement
Filler placed in the lip to restore what has thinned, improve a shape or balance an asymmetry. Done well it is unremarkable. Done to excess it is the most recognisable treatment in aesthetics.
Read moreA written plan and a written price before anything is booked
Book a consultation
Pick a clinician and an hour from the calendar — it shows only the times each of them genuinely has free. A consultation is a full hour at a table with no treatment couch in the room, and it costs $85, or $120 with the medical director. If you go ahead, that comes off your first treatment. If we tell you the answer is nothing, or a dermatologist, it costs exactly the same.