Fat Dissolving Injections

Have you found that there are areas on your body where the fat just won’t budge?  You may have lost weight, exercised, toned up, but still there are areas that have grabbable fat and wobble that you are not pleased with.  When fat cells increase in size, they don’t often go back down to their former size after weight loss, and you are left with the unwanted appearance of the fat.  Sometimes hormones cause fat cells to increase, other times it‘s pregnancy or past weight gain.  Most people perceive excessive areas of fat to be cosmetically unwanted.

One way of getting rid of these unwanted areas of fat is to inject them with fat dissolving injections. These injections are administered directly into the pockets of unwanted fat and dissolve away the fat, permanently. Getting rid of this fat can make us feel better about ourselves and make us happier in our clothing. I know we might give cute names to our fat – ‘love handles’ and ‘muffin top’, but let’s face it, most of us would be happier if that fat wasn’t there!  Almost every patient I see wishes they were a little slimmer, thinner or weighed less.  Even the slim people often have unwanted pockets of fat.  And the older we get, the more likely you are to encounter this. These injections are sometimes described as ‘liquid lipo’.

The fat dissolving injections are performed using a product called Lipodissolve, which contains the active ingredient, PTC (Phosphatidylcholine).  PTC is naturally occurring in the body though the cosmetic PTC is made from soybeans. PTC breaks down the cell membrane of fat cells which causes them to release their contents into the surrounding area. It is released as a soluble form which is then gradually absorbed and removed by normal liver and kidney function.  This is an inflammatory process and hence the you will get redness and swelling with the procedure. This is a good thing though, as it can contribute to skin tightening too. When the fat cells are broken down, this happens during a process called ‘Lipolysis’ which literally means fat (lipo) cell dissolving (lysis).  It works gradually over a 4-6 week period to destroys fat cells, permanently.

You can think of fat cells as being a little bit like a balloon with water inside.  When you gain weight, the balloon fills up.  But when you lose weight, you only lose a little bit of water from inside the balloon, not all of it, and the balloon always stays a little stretched. The balloon never quite returns back to its pre-inflation state. As does your fat cells. Hence why you get grabbable areas of fat.  These injections destroy the balloon (fat cells) permanently. Though they don’t destroy all the fat cells.  So if you gain weight again, the remaining balloons would fill up. 

Lipolysis treatment has been around for many years across the globe and has been found to be very safe and effective.  It can be performed anywhere on the body where there is stubborn fat.  Classically this will be under the chin (the double chin), the stomach, ‘bra fat’, back fat, thighs (inner and outer), buttocks, knees, ankles and arms. 

Why do people opt for fat dissolving injections?

Often pockets of fat are perceived as being negative for your appearance.  Removing a double chin for instance often makes people feel that they look many years younger.  It can also improve your side profile and sharped your jawline.  As we age and the face starts to sag, one of the biggest complaints I here is about unwanted jowls.  These can be treated too and soften the profile of the lower face, making your feel more aesthetically attractive.  By having body fat injections it can slim areas down and make you feel better in your clothes without unwanted overhanging pockets of fat, such as in the bra-fat area, or the muffin top.  

How many treatments will I need?

It is expected that you will need 3-5 treatments to achieve the effect you want.  Larger areas are likely to need more treatments.  Very small pockets of fat may be resolved with only 1 or 2 treatments.

What are the side effects of fat dissolving injections?

The side effect that freaks most people out is the swelling.  And everyone is different in how they respond.  Some people are natural swellers, some people are not.  The swelling can be quite dramatic though and it can swell up to double the size of the original area.  We that it mind it can be a good idea to start with a slightly lower dose to see how you tolerate it, before going forwards.

After the swelling it will feel sore and bruised. This will be worse initially, then settle gradually. It is also likely to feel lumpy during the inflammatory phase. The take home message for you before you go through with this treatment is that you know that there will be some side effects, and it will feels worse before it gets better.  Don’t be despondent though.  After repeated treatments the area will improve and look slimmer.  

The injections are quite tolerable and have a anaesthetic in them.  If you are worried about a sensitive area being injected then I recommend using numbing cream first.

The side effects are temporary and include:

• Pain – Usually the first side effect is a pain or aching in the injected area that lasts a few hours.  It’s a bit like the pain when you’ve been stung by a bee.  You can take painkillers such as paracetamol or ibuprofen to ease this.   This pain will settle then the area will feel achey or a little bruised for a few days.  It will improve over 3-6 days.  There might still be mild tenderness over the area for a few weeks if touched.
• Swelling – this is the most shocking side effect for patients.  You will swell after these injections and some people swell a lot, others less so.  The swelling can even be twice the size as the original area injected.  With that in mind, time your injections carefully so that you are not bothered at work or socially by this side effect.  It is worse in the first week, but can take 3-4 weeks to fully settle. 
• Tenderness – this lasts for a few weeks after the injections, but gradually improves. 
• Subcutaneous induration – these are areas of hardness under the skin that are tender.  They often happen a couple of weeks after the initial injections.  Usually they resolve over a few days to weeks.  Massaging them can help to break them down faster. 
• Redness – this is the effect from the inflammatory reaction.  It will be be a little red and warm to the touch. 
• Bruising – when the fat cells are broken down you will see some mild bruising and discolouration over the skin.  Bruising gets affected by gravity so you might find that there is discolouration in areas not injected.  For instance, if your upper thighs are injected you may see bruising around your lower thighs.
• Itching – inflammatory reactions are often itchy.  Just apply your favourite soothing moisturiser or aftersun to the area to settle this. 
• Abdo pains – depending on the dose administered, higher doses can cause a stomach upset and tiredness for a couple of days afterwards. For this reason, slightly lower doses are often given at the start and they are increased depending on tolerance. 
• Though rare, it is possible when having double chin injections to have difficult swallowing afterwards and have nerve damage from the injections.  Having the injections placed in a away from the nerves reduces the risk of this, thus it is important to ensure your injector is experienced before proceeding.