Ideal candidates for chin and neck liposuction have excess fat, along with good skin elasticity, so that the skin can bounce back into its newly contoured shape after the unwanted fat is removed.Â
At your initial consultation, your surgeon will assess your skin elasticity, recommend a treatment plan, and discuss realistic expectations for your outcome. “In certain cases, we’ll need to point out to patients that if they do liposuction alone, they’re going to be left with loose, wrinkly skin,” Dr. Mesa says. “It’s like sucking out the contents of a grape—you wind up with a raisin.”
If you have modest skin laxity, your provider may pair lipo with a skin-tightening procedure, such as Morpheus8. In cases of more significant laxity, they may recommend a neck lift or lower facelift to remove excess skin.
A double chin liposuction procedure is not recommended for people who are obese. “Chin liposuction only removes superficial fat,” Dr. Mesa says. “But in someone who’s very overweight, there’s a layer of deeper fat [called subplatysmal fat] in the area that chin liposuction doesn’t touch. That will remain after the procedure.” Additional surgery (usually a neck lift with manual fat removal) is the only way to address this deeper fat pocket.
Research shows that people who aren’t within 30% of their ideal body mass index (BMI) are also at greater risk for complications, including hematomas, a pocket of blood that can form if a vessel starts to leak after surgery.Â
RealSelf Tip: Wondering about the difference between chin and neck lipo? There really isn’t one, according to doctors on RealSelf: the terms mean the same thing and are used interchangeably.
“The amount and distribution of fat below the jawline varies from person to person,” says Dr. Raffy Karamanoukian, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Santa Monica, California. “Some patients will only need lipo underneath the chin, whereas others need the fat removed to the level of the Adam’s apple.”
