Post-Kybella Side Effects: What to Do About Swelling

An inflammatory reaction characterized by post-treatment swelling can occur after a Kybella injectable procedure. Its occurrence depends on the dosage a patient receives. Nonetheless, the amount of inflammation differs from patient to patient.

In most cases, your physician can address inflammation with medications that can resolve the swelling. 

Swelling Due To Kybella

Swelling caused by Kybella usually peaks within the first few days and subsides between seven to fourteen days after the procedure.

The inflammation is much more pronounced when the patient has large fat deposits, or it's their first time receiving the treatment.

Kybella is a procedure that provides chin fat reduction results that tend to establish themselves a month following the process. Improvements progress for up to six months after the injections have been provided.

Kybella requires several treatments, each spread months apart, and each one causes less inflammation as the body gets accustomed to the procedures and establishes more tolerance.

What You Can Do To Reduce Swelling Faster

Treatment providers sometimes recommend an over-the-contour antihistamine and may even suggest taking one pill the day before the procedure and one the day after to suppress swelling. Always vet your doctors' credentials before any treatment and follow their instructions closely. 

Other providers recommend lymphatic massages, ice therapy, or compression garments to address the unwanted swelling. Patients may be told to sleep with their heads upright for the initial few days to reduce their swelling.

Here are some other post-Kybella care guidelines that you are often provided:

1. The patient should ice the swollen area but never put ice directly on the site that has been treated—wrap ice cubes in a clean cloth to ice the swelling indirectly.
2. When a patient lies down, they should elevate the treated area above the rest of their body to address the swelling.
3. A compression garment can be worn per the recommendation of the doctor to assist with swelling.
4. Salt intake should be reduced for a few days.
5. If you're having pain or discomfort, the patient can take three to four pills of ibuprofen if approved by their doctor.

Elite Body Sculpture in Houston

For some patients, a Kybella procedure can cause more significant aesthetic complications such as lumpy or asymmetrical results. In that case, a revision treatment is often your best bet.

The AirSculpt® Injection Revision is a minimally invasive process developed by Elite Body Sculpture designed to fix botched results from a Kybella treatment. 

It's a comfortable experience, given that we don't use a scalpel, needle, stitches, or general anesthesia, meaning you'll be awake during the entire process. Nonetheless, we target fat directly with a delicate, patented technique that removes it cell-by-cell. This means we provide instant changes that continue to improve as swelling subsides rather than leave patients waiting months for anything to change. A smooth and even submental area can be restored gently, and AirSculpt only requires a downtime of a day or two. 

For more information about our revision treatments, call our Houston office to schedule your first consultation about AirSculpt.