Skin tightening cream (micro sculpting creams) as good as Kybella?

Question

Let's say I buy a skin tightening cream from Sephora or Macy's to help me with my excess fat saggy skin underneath my neck or chin? Do these skin tightening creams really work? Do they work just as good as kybella?

Alexander Q. Ereso, MD, FACS · Answer

Kybella acts to eliminate the fat in the area it is injected. When the volume decreases, the skin hopefully contracts to accommodate the new, smaller volume. Thus, complaints like heaviness, sagging skin, an obtuse neck/chin angle, and fullness under the chin can be improved. Skin tightening creams help to firm the skin. The way they accomplish this varies. Regardless, you can see that by only affecting the skin, the scope of improvement of skin tightening creams are limited compared to Kybella.

Sabrina Fabi, MD · Answer

The kinds of skin creams you might find at retail can do a good job of making your skin look plumper, but can't cause any lasting changes. Kybella consists of a series of injections of deoxycholic acid – a substance found in bile that breaks down fat for digestion. When injected into a double chin, Kybella's deoxycholic acid actually melts the fat so that it can be eliminated from the body over time. There is no skin cream on the market that can accomplish anything like that. As the fat is eliminated with Kybella, the skin tends to shrink to accommodate to the loss of volume, which means your chin area will look sleeker and tighter than it did before. It takes at least two or three sessions of Kybella to get the results you want.Here's another important difference between Kybella and OTC products: The results are permanent. Once you've melted away the fat with Kybella, it will not return (unless you gain weight, in which case some of the fat cells left can enlarge). In other words, after you've finished your third session of Kybella, you should never need another as long as you maintain your weight. Consulting a board-certified dermatologist will let you learn about how Kybella can help you and also about other options to help you with your aging concerns.

Nelson Castillo, MD · Answer

Thank you for sharing your question.  Skin tightening creams do not really work, no matter what store you buy them from and are not a substitute for a physician directed procedure like Kybella.  I would recommend seeing an ASPS board certified plastic surgeon in consultation to discuss your breast treatment options - Kybella, liposuction, or neck lift.  The best operation is that which addresses your chief areas of concern.  Hope this helps.

Dallas Buchanan, MD · Answer

Thank you for your question. This one is very easy to answer.......the answer is no....and no. No skin creams sold over the counter at a department store and going to actually do much in the way of eliminating skin excess.....they will mostly serve to remove money from your wallet. Kybella is an FDA approved injectable treatment for submental fullness, which means that is has been proven effective at eliminating adipose tissue underneath the chin. However, it has not been proven to be an effective skin tightening agent and is not FDA approved for this indication. For those familiar with the product, there is some element of skin tightening from the inflammation, but this can vary from patient to patient and is not the main goal of the product. To determine whether you would be a good candidate for Kybella treatments, make sure you see a local board certified surgeon for an assessment. Hope this helps!

Kenneth D. Steinsapir, MD · Answer

A skin cream is a moisturizer.  It is not even in the same universe as Kybella.  If you need help under you chin, a moisturizer is not going to make a whit of difference.  Kybella has its issues and is not effective in all patients but it can and does make a real difference for many patients over a series of treatments.  Don't get fooled by the fancy suggestive writing associated with skin cream marketing.

Jason Emer, MD · Answer

No, those creams don't have the same degree of success as Kybella. Keep in mind, Kybella requires a series of treatments to get improvement. For best results with Kybella, I recommend a combination approach with thermage, ultherapy, exilis. VASER liposuction in combination with ThermiRF is an alternative for contouring the chin, if you're a candidate. Please see an expert.  Best, Dr. Emer.

Joel Schlessinger, MD · Answer

When you are considering a treatment for a double chin, treatments such as Kybella or CoolMINI are great options, but the important thing to remember is that they don't really work on sagging chins or 'turkey necks'.  These are anatomically different than a fat-related double chin and are best treated with surgery.  Creams can help a little bit with wrinkles on the neck but don't address fat at all.  Good luck!!

Margaret Weiss, MD · Answer

I wish you had uploaded some photos, because it's difficult to tell if you would be a good candidate for Kybella. If you have saggy skin, you would need combination treatment with Ultherapy or some other skin-tightening modality to get the best results. As for hoping to find a cream that can mimic Kybella's results, there is nothing like that on the market currently and it is unlikely that such a product could be developed. Kybella is injected into the fat, where it actually breaks it up and melts it so it can be eliminated by the body. A topical treatment would not be able to accomplish that feat. Please see a board-certified dermatologist to find out if you are a candidate for Kybella alone, Kybella with Ultherapy, or another noninvasive fat-removal technique.

Alex Eshaghian, MD, PhD · Answer

Thank you for your question jessica.alba. Kybella is the first and thus-far only FDA-approved non-surgical
injectable treatment for the double chin. Kybella is designed to eliminate fat. Creams sometimes tighten the skin. In my experience I have not found any creams that tighten the skin as well as a treatment such as fractional CO2 laser resurfacing. Please consult with a doctor for specific recommendations. Good luck!

Kouros Azar, MD · Answer

In all honesty, I don't think that skin tightening creams work. However, even if they did, Kybella does something different. It actually melts the fat cells in the treated area. This can produce a bit of a skin tightening effect but the real purpose of Kybella is non-surgical fat removal. Hope this helps --

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