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by Barleta Photography

Continue to present yourself as a woman of loveliness and dignity, a woman who feels good and knows she’s looking her best.
—Angela Lansbury, The Gentlewoman, Autumn/Winter 2012

I know most women prefer to keep their beauty secrets a secret. I mean, that is why we call them that, right? But recently I had an experience that was so over-the-top incredible, I just had to share it! So here comes my disclaimer: if you don’t want to know about beauty procedures, needles, and the icky things some of us go through to fight aging, please don’t read past this sentence!

Ok, the rest of you, are we good? Here goes…

What’s a double chin? According to the dictionary, it’s “a roll of fatty flesh below a person’s chin.” According to many women past a certain age, it’s something that starts as a nuisance, and worsens until you’re turleneck-bound. Causes for that extra bit of flesh & skin under your jawline vary, from fitness and lifestyle to simple genetics. By the time you are an adult, you have a pre-determined and permanent amount of fat cells stored in your lower jawline and upper neck. You can’t change them, and until recently, only plastic surgery and lasers could do anything to minimize the natural aging process of this area of the body.

But something new has stepped onto the anti-aging scene, and it’s making major waves! When Silk Touch Med Spa recently held an informational luncheon about a strange new concept called “Kybella,” I was super curious and decided to check it out.

According to Silk Touch, “Kybella is the new FDA injectable that dissolves fat under the chin.  It’s the biggest thing to hit the beauty industry since Botox, with even Millennials experiencing sagging jowls thanks to ‘tech neck.'” It’s an injectable, which means needles, and not everyone loves those little poky things going into their skin. But on the other hand, it’s nice to have options, vs. scalpels and lasers, not to mention the downtime and potential side effects that go along with those methods!

The before & after photos of Kybella really shocked me, along with hearing about the minimized risks, side effects, and downtime associated with it. I decided to try it, because even though I’m not technically overweight, age and genetics have given me a slowly-growing little double-chin that was starting to get on my nerves in photos and videos. I figured, if there was a way to make that “go away,” without too much risk, why not give it a try? I asked a ton of questions, then prepared myself with two weeks out of the public eye to chart my results.

Here is a video of what Kybella injections really look like, done on me this last February 2016. Yup, there are needles, and yes, it did hurt! As the needles progress, the burning sensation grows, so if you do give Kybella a try, prepare yourself for some discomfort. Watch below!

I was pretty swollen right after, and the burning feeling in my neck continued for a while that day. I kept ice packs on it, but definitely wanted to go home and rest.

The photo above is hard for me to share publicly, but I’m doing it anyway, because if you’re considering doing Kybella yourself, I really, really want you to know that the swelling afterwards is no joke! Stay home a few days, if you can, and rest through it. That evening I took some ibuprofin, rubbed Arnica gel on my neck, and went to bed. The next day I was definitely still swollen; I felt like that lady who’s really a mask for Arnold Schwarzenegger in Total Recall…

Little by little, it subsided, and I started to feel like myself again! Within a week I was out seeing friends, and no one noticed. (Or if they did notice, they certainly didn’t make any comments). It felt like I was the only one who knew something was different about my neck.

Here’s a pic from my follow-up appointment, at around 12 weeks. The before & after change really floored me! Since I don’t often view myself from the side, I really had no idea how dramatic the improvement was until I saw the pictures all together.

These results definitely motivated me to do a second treatment (typically they recommend 2-4 for your best results.) I was still sore for quite a while, so I waited 18 weeks before going in to do the follow-up treatment, which was much quicker. And so was the downtime! Here’s a quick post-Kybella recap of my experience of the second treatment:

I recovered in a few days, and was confident enough for an on-stage appearance at Wine, Women & Shoes as one of the honorary Shoe Judges!

So here we are, a few months later, and despite how awful that first video probably looked to some of you, I am SO GLAD I did this! It’s been amazing to see such dramatic results; my photos look better, my jawline looks better, and I’m back to bopping around town, doing my blogger girl thing. And the most exciting part of this whole journey, is that the results are pretty much permanent, thanks to that genetic and finite number of fat cells that have been obliterated forever! They’re not growing back, at least not anytime soon.

I’d love your feedback in the comments! Have you considered doing a treatment like I did? What worked and/or didn’t work for you? Are there questions you’re dying to ask me? I’m not an expert, but I’ll answer honestly from my own personal experience. Much love to everyone who took the time to read my story, and special thanks to the crew at Silk Touch Med Spa for the opportunity to try Kybella!

XOXO,
Tanya