34 Years Old, Ready to Lose the Double Chin!!! - Richmond, VA

I am 34 years old with 4 kids. I had a Mommy Makeover (tummy tuck, breast lift, and lipo of hips, flanks and thighs) in February of 2014. You can read my review of that if you feel so inclined. That was the best decision I have ever made for myself. I have since reached and maintained my goal weight, and am ready to address the two problem areas that I still have. The first is my double chin, which is hereditary, and has been plaguing me since childhood. This is where Kybella comes in. I gave some thought to just doing lipo of the chin, but a very reputable plastic surgeon in my area who was not supportive of Kybella when it was first approved by the FDA has since changed his opinion and is now offering the injections. If it is effective enough to change a doctor's mind who's primary focus is facial surgery, I'm willing to give it a try before going the surgery route. So I went to Ideal Image, which is a med spa in my area for a consultation, since their business hours coincide better with my schedule than the PS office, and I made an appointment for my first session next week. I scheduled two sessions, one on 1/21, with the next six weeks after. Both sessions will include two vials of Kybella. I'm cautiously optimistic about what my results will be. I paid for two sessions, with the understanding that three may be needed to achieve desired results. I assume a third session would cost an additional $1,000, and I am hopeful that two sessions will give me the result I'm hoping for, otherwise the money would have been better spent on lipo! I'm posting some before pictures today, and will post updates along the way!

I had my first treatment at noon today. They took me back to take some "before" pictures, then took me to the injection room. While in there, they told me I would need at least 2, maybe 3 vials for my first treatment. That seemed a little misleading, since at my consultation, she told me I would need two treatments, which included 4 vials, and I paid for both of them up front. I was a little put off by being told before the procedure even began that I might have to buy more vials. But she continued to tell me about the procedure while she was drawing lines on my neck to mark where to put the dots. She gave me an ice pack to numb the area, but didn't talk about a numbing gel or numbing injections or anything. After all the marking and the placement of the dots, it was determined that I only needed 13 shots, and that wasn't going to use 2 vials. So that made me feel a little better. The actual injections took about 10 minutes and didn't hurt at all. Eyebrow waxing is more painful. I started to get a little woozy near the end just because of the thought of all the shots (which made me feel like a bit of a sissy). But The procedure was over quickly and I was on my way.

I have a follow up appointment in 5 weeks for my next treatment. I'm very swollen right now, but oddly no one has noticed (or if they have, they're too polite to mention it). The area is tender, and it feels sore to turn my head in both directions, but I'm not in pain. I guess we'll see what tomorrow brings. I'll be happy when this initial swelling goes down and I start seeing results!

I was told to expect more pain and bruising today, but it hasn't been bad at all. It's much less sore than it was yesterday, and I have no bruising. It's still very swollen - not much change from yesterday, as you can see from the photos. It's bigger than my normal double chin, and feels like it's filled with jello. I don't have any lumps painful spots. I still haven't had anyone say anything about the swelling (I didn't tell anyone I was doing this - not even my husband, because I wanted honest reactions of the treatment and the outcome). My husband hasn't said anything about the swelling, so while I notice it and am very self-conscious about it, it's obviously not severe enough for him to notice and ask what the heck happened to my chin. My kids haven't said anything either, and we all know kids have no filter. So I'm going to say my swelling isn't that bad, even if I feel like a bullfrog.

But no pain and no more swelling than yesterday - I'll consider that a win!