We all hate it … the double chin. It’s a small section of fat, skin (or both) that has made a home for itself just underneath your chin. Unfortunately, because of its location, a double chin is difficult to eliminate. For some, simply losing weight can do the trick, but for most a procedure is needed.

Submental (under the chin) liposuction is a procedure growing in popularity and it is easy to see why. With some techniques, general anesthesia is not needed, the procedure can take only about 30 minutes, the recovery time is little to none and the price is affordable. Unfortunately, with the good always comes the…not so good.

Simple submental liposuction is not always the best choice.  It is difficult to liposuction the chin area well with most blind liposuction techniques (those used under local anesthesia). What we’ve often seen – as the patient ages – an unnatural scarred appearance develops under the chin (not very attractive) and the sagging continues.

In addition, fat under the chin can be in two distinct pads, one close to the skin and a deeper pad, which is under the platysma muscle. Liposuction in this deep area is dangerous and is typically not performed – yet many patients have most of their fat in this area.

What would Dr. Franckle of William Franckle, MD, FACS recommend to get rid of that stubborn double chin?  A safer and more effective approach to address this area is with direct excision performed during a mini neck lift procedure. This procedure can safely tighten the area under the chin, restore the angle between the neck and jaw-line, and reduce the fat from around that pesky platysma muscle.  Depending on the situation, the mini neck lift may be just enough to fix that neck and double chin and restore you to a more youthful appearance.