Fat dissolving under the chin: how many sessions it really takes

Fat-dissolving injections place a solution into the small fat pad under the chin that breaks down the walls of the fat cells there. The body then clears the released fat gradually through its normal processes. The cells that are broken down do not come back.

Why more than one

Each session treats a portion of the pad safely. Treating everything at once would mean too much swelling and too much for the body to clear in one go. So a course is two to four sessions, six weeks apart, and each one builds on the last.

• A small pad: often two sessions.
• A moderate pad: three is typical.
• A fuller pad, or one that has been there for years: four, occasionally more.

The six weeks between

Swelling peaks in the first few days and settles over a fortnight. The fat clears over the following month. Judging the next dose before that has finished would mean treating skin that is still changing. Six weeks is not a delay; it is the treatment working.

Two products, one idea

The clinic uses both Lemon Bottle and Lip Lab. They differ slightly in how much swelling they cause and how quickly they work; the consultation matches the product to the area and to how much downtime you can take.

What a session is like

The area is marked while you sit upright, because a fat pad looks different lying down, and a numbing cream goes on for twenty minutes. The solution is then placed in a grid of small injections across the pad, usually eight to twenty points depending on its size. Each is a brief sting followed by a warm, spreading ache that lasts an hour or two. Fifteen minutes in the chair, a cold compress, and home with a written note of what the next week holds.

How the clinic decides the number

• The size of the pad, pinched and measured at the consultation, and whether it is soft or firm.
• How long it has been there: a pad of many years is denser and takes another session.
• Your diary, because each session carries a few days of swelling and the sessions should not clash with anything that matters.
• The first session itself, which shows how your tissue responds and settles the plan more than any prediction can.

What the result looks like

A smaller pad, a cleaner angle between chin and neck, and a profile that photographs differently from the side. It arrives gradually, session by session, which most people prefer to a sudden change that everyone notices. Where the skin over the pad has been stretched for years it may need help of its own once the fat has gone, and Radiesse along the jawline is the treatment the clinic reaches for then. The consultation looks at both from the start so nothing comes as a surprise.

Once the pad is smaller, Radiesse along the jawline is the treatment that gives the new profile a clean edge. Many people plan the two together.