A trendy cosmetic treatment might sculpt your jawline now — but it could spell trouble if you’re eyeing a face-lift later in life.
That’s the warning from Dr. Prem Tripathi, a board-certified facial plastic surgeon, who said a popular nonsurgical procedure used to dissolve stubborn chin fat could turn future surgery into a nightmare that looks a lot like your lunch.
“If you take apart a sandwich — the bread, the cheese, the meat — they separate from each other very nicely,” he said in a recent TikTok video. “But if you toast it, everything is melted together. If you try to rip it apart, it just tears.”
“That is what happens when you do Kybella,” Tripathi continued. “So when we’re trying to separate layers during a face-lift that you’re getting twenty years later, it’s a mess.”
Kybella is a first‑of‑its‑kind injectable used to reduce the appearance of submental fullness, also known as the dreaded double chin. It’s a popular nonsurgical alternative to liposuction, offering less downtime and a quicker recovery.
Kybella’s key ingredient, deoxycholic acid — a substance your body naturally produces — works by breaking down fat cell membranes when injected under the chin.
This causes the fat cells to rupture and release their contents, which your body naturally flushes out, leaving behind a more sculpted jawline.
Once destroyed, those fat cells can’t store fat again, so results can last for years — as long as you avoid excessive weight gain, according to Pacific Sound Plastic Surgery.
But the process is slow, with results typically showing up over the course of several months. Some people see improvements after two to four treatments, but many need up to six sessions to get the look they want.
While plenty rave about their results, some patients say it’s far from perfect.
“Kybella is a joke,” one TikTok user commented on Tripathi’s post. “I have never heard of anyone who liked their results — myself included — so now I’m future f – – ked too?!?!”
“I regret my Kybella already, this is just icing on the cake,” another chimed in.
In a separate TikTok, Tripathi explained that Kybella and similar injections can cause scar tissue to form, complicating future cosmetic surgeries.
If significant scarring forms, it could make it harder for surgeons to reposition tissue and achieve a smooth, sculpted look with a face-lift or neck-lift, Dr. Carlos Mata, a board-certified plastic surgeon, explained on RealSelf.com.
In some cases, the presence of scar tissue can also increase the risk of bleeding, swelling and irregularities both during and after a face-lift.
Tripathi mentioned he has observed similar effects on face-lifts in patients who previously underwent a thread lift — another minimally invasive procedure that uses dissolvable sutures to lift and tighten sagging skin.
“Here’s the honest truth: Double chins are a surgical issue,” he wrote in an Instagram post.
