A double chin, also known as submental fat, is a common cosmetic concern characterized by a layer of fat that forms below the chin. While often associated with weight gain, genetics, aging, and poor posture can also contribute to its development. This article explores the various causes of a double chin and examines the effectiveness of weight loss and other strategies in reducing or eliminating it. Living in a tech-driven and often superficial world doesn't help. Seeing faults in the mirror, a family photo, or a selfie you just took can make you self-critical. The longer you stare at your reflection or picture, the more you may notice certain imperfections. One imperfection that many people seem to struggle with is a double chin.
Understanding Double Chins
A double chin is an excess weight carried beneath the chin, typically between the chin and neck. It makes your neck look bigger and may sometimes make you look older. Several people carry excess weight on their chins and necks, which can change the way your face and jaw look. Some people may even lose their jawline altogether because of the extra weight. The main symptoms of having a double chin include a change in facial structure, excess weight in the chin and neck area, and appearing older than you are.
Causes of Double Chin
Double chin causes are relatively straightforward. Mostly, a double chin results from being obese or even slightly overweight. While a double chin isn't necessarily something to worry about, the root cause can cause health issues. For example, obesity, which is the main cause of a double chin, can be linked to several health issues, including a higher mortality rate, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and more.Genetics also plays a role. As such, some individuals end up with a stronger or softer jawline, thanks to hereditary factors. Even thin people may have a double chin due to a lack of muscle density, resulting in a higher body fat composition.
The Role of Weight Loss
If your double chin is being caused by weight gain, losing weight may make it smaller or get rid of it. Weight loss can have a significant impact on reducing the appearance of a double chin, especially if the extra fat is due to weight gain. When you lose weight, your body burns fat for energy from various parts, including the neck and chin area. If the double chin is primarily due to excess fat and not genetics or loose skin, reducing your overall body fat through a healthy diet and regular exercise may significantly improve its appearance.
Effective Weight Loss Strategies
The best way to lose weight is to eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly. Aim for a nutritious diet that can help you manage your calorie intake. Incorporate the following into your diet:
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- Fruits and Vegetables: Eat more servings of fruit and vegetables per day. Your diet should have fiber-rich vegetables and fruits.
- Whole Grains: Replace refined grains with whole grains.
- Lean Protein: Eat lean protein, such as poultry and fish.
- Healthy Fats: Eat healthy fats, such as olive oil, avocados, and nuts.
- Low-Fat Dairy: Eat low-fat dairy products.
In addition to diet, regular physical activity is crucial for weight loss. As the number drops on your scale, your face may get thinner. Before starting a diet and exercise program, talk with your doctor. They’ll address any health concerns you have and help you set healthy weight loss goals.
Exercises for a Defined Jawline
If your double chin is caused by genetics, tightening up the area with exercise may help. Even with significant weight loss, many people find that their double chin lingers. Although no exercise can “spot reduce” fat from a specific area, strengthening the muscles around the chin and neck can help improve definition and firmness. While there’s no scientific evidence that chin exercises work to get rid of your double chin, there’s anecdotal evidence.
Chin and Neck Exercises
Here are six exercises that may help strengthen and tone the muscles and skin in the area of your double chin. Unless otherwise indicated, repeat each exercise several times daily. Always consult with your doctor before trying a new exercise. In addition to weight loss, there are many exercises you can perform to tone your jawline. Common exercises include:
Straight Jaw Jut:
- Tilt your head back and look toward the ceiling.
- Push your lower jaw forward to feel a stretch under the chin.
- Hold for a count of 10.
- Relax your jaw and return your head to a neutral position.
- Repeat 10 times.
Ball Exercise:
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- Place a 9- to 10-inch ball under the chin.
- Press your chin down against the ball.
- Repeat several times daily.
- Do three sets of 8-10 repetitions each.
Pucker Up:
- With head tilted back, look at the ceiling.
- Pucker your lips as if you’re kissing the ceiling to stretch the area beneath your chin.
- Stop puckering and bring your head back to its normal position.
- Do three sets of 8-10 repetitions each.
Tongue Stretch:
- Looking straight ahead, stick your tongue out as far as you can.
- Lift your tongue upward and toward your nose.
- Hold for 10 seconds and release.
- Repeat 10 times.
- Do three sets of 8-10 repetitions each.
Neck Stretch:
- Tilt your head back and look at the ceiling.
- Press your tongue against the roof of your mouth.
- Hold for 5 to 10 seconds and release.
- Repeat 10 times.
Bottom Jaw Jut:
- Tilt your head back and look at the ceiling.
- Turn your head to the right.
- Slide your bottom jaw forward.
- Hold for 5 to 10 seconds and release.
- Repeat with head turned to the left.
- Repeat 10 times.
Chin to Ceiling:
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- The chin-to-ceiling exercise helps activate neck and jaw muscles and should be performed 10-20 times a day.
- It requires you to stand or sit with your spine straight and then tilt your head backward, looking up to the ceiling.
- Gently guide your lower jaw forward, toward the ceiling.
- Hold this position for 10 seconds.
Lion’s Roar:
- This exercise helps you tone your chin and should be performed 10 to 20 times a day.
- Begin by opening your mouth wide and sticking your tongue out as far as you can.
- You'll need to hold this position for 10 seconds.
- Return to your normal position and restart.
Cheek Swishing:
- Cheek swishing is an exercise that you often do without realizing it - such as when you're brushing your teeth or washing your mouth.
- You can use water to help, but you can also perform this exercise with just air.
- All you need to do is vigorously swish around your cheeks for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Similar to the other exercises, you should aim to perform this exercise 10 to 20 times a day.
Jaw Muscle Exercises
Jaw muscle exercises help augment your jaw muscles and define your jawline. They use small biting tools to exercise the chewing muscles on either side of your face. With appropriate use, jaw exercises can help enhance your jawline. But like any workout, you could get injured if you use jaw exercise tools unsafely and inaccurately. You can overwork and strain your neck and jaw muscles. Your overstrained muscles become burdened and sore, causing discomfort in your jaw, neck, shoulder, and back.
Medical and Cosmetic Procedures
If weight loss and exercise are not sufficient, several medical and cosmetic procedures can help reduce or eliminate a double chin. In this case, your doctor may recommend invasive procedures. For quicker results, you can try cosmetic treatments or surgery.
Lipolysis
Also known as liposculpture, lipolysis uses liposuction or heat from a laser to melt away fat and contour the skin. In most cases, a local anesthetic is all that’s needed during lipolysis to treat a double chin. Laser treatment uses light energy to melt excess fat tissues underneath the skin. Laser liposuction is a common laser treatment among skin surgeons. It allows your doctor to target the area requiring treatment and effectively remove excess fat. Liposuction is a common procedure that involves removing fat from beneath the skin. This is done through a small tube inserted into a small incision made by a surgeon. When performed on the neck area, your surgeon will also sculpt and contour your chin and neck to reshape your jawline. It's a simple procedure requiring only local anesthetic to numb the affected area.
Lipolysis only treats fat. It doesn’t remove excess skin or increase skin elasticity. Side effects of lipolysis may include:
- Swelling
- Bruising
- Pain
Mesotherapy
Mesotherapy is a minimally invasive procedure that delivers small amounts of fat-dissolving compounds through a series of injections. Injectable treatments include:
- Mesotherapy: Mesotherapy injects ingredients into the chin that liquefy fat. The treatment process can last up to six months and may require more than 100 injections based on the amount of fat present.If not done right, mesotherapy runs the risk of causing nerve damage.
In 2015, the Food and Drug Administration approved deoxycholic acid (Kybella), an injectable drug used in mesotherapy. Deoxycholic acid helps your body absorb fats. Kybella is an injectable medication accepted by the United States Food and Drug Administration. One treatment injects 50 shots of the medicine into the extra fat layer. It may take up to six treatments to see full results. Every Kybella journey at Elegance Aesthetics begins with a personalized consultation. During treatment, your injector will apply a numbing cream for comfort. Mild swelling, tenderness, and bruising are common after Kybella but typically resolve within a few days.
It may take 20 or more injections of deoxycholic acid per treatment to treat a double chin. You can have up to six treatments total and you must wait at least 1 month between treatments. Deoxycholic acid may cause serious nerve damage if injected improperly. Only a dermatologist or a doctor with plastic surgery experience who is knowledgeable about the drug should perform these injections.
Potential side effects of deoxycholic acid and other mesotherapy injectables include:
- Swelling
- Bruising
- Pain
- Numbness
- Redness
Other Surgical Options
Another option to help reduce or get rid of a double chin is surgery. There are three common types of double chin surgery, including:
- Facelift: A facelift generally requires the patient to be under general anesthesia, but sometimes it can be done with local anesthesia. During a facelift, your doctor will remove any fat and saggy skin around your chin and neck area.
- Neck Lift: There are a few different types of neck-lift procedures. One is known as cervicoplasty and aims to remove extra skin from around the neck and chin. Another procedure, platysmaplasty, aims to tighten neck muscles. Both procedures help improve your neck and chin's contour.
Sometimes, more than one procedure is needed, and you may require both a liposuction and a face or neck lift to remove your double chin completely. Some doctors also combine face and neck lifts for better results. However, this combination often results in a tight feeling in the neck that can last several months. Recovery time for surgery is around 10 to 14 days. You may experience bruising and swelling during this period. Your doctor will discuss any surgical methods needed to help you with your double chin and will inform you whether you need more than one operation.
Non-Surgical Alternatives
- Double chin fat freezing: Another treatment option is to freeze fat cells with a vacuum-pressured device. This device sucks the skin and fat into a suction cup. The suction cup chills the skin and fat and then warms the fat back up. This results in a process known as apoptosis, which causes the fat cells to die. This procedure can take up to two months to work.
- Cryolipolysis (CoolSculpting): Cryolipolysis, also known as CoolSculpting, is a noninvasive cosmetic procedure using controlled cooling to eliminate fat cells underneath the skin that are resistant to diet and exercise. In the Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Department, we attach an applicator to your chin and neck area. You may initially feel slight discomfort, because the machine produces a vacuum suction sensation and intense coolness. Each treatment lasts one hour, so it can be completed over your lunch. Many people read, play on their phones or even take a nap. Most people require one to two 45-minute treatments. You will begin to see gradual results about three to six weeks later and full results by three months. Because the results are not instantaneous like some other cosmetic procedures, no one needs to know about it, unless you tell them.
- Belkyra: Belkyra is a popular fat dissolving injection used to treat double chins. It’s injected into the subcutaneous tissue directly into fatty deposits. Through a localised reaction, it literally breaks open fat (or adipose) cells. This causes a transient stinging for about two minutes, and then, over the course of six to eight weeks, the fat cells will get cleared by the body that results in the slimmer overall contour.
- Emerald Laser: The Emerald laser is a non-invasive laser treatment designed to target and reduce fat without damaging the surrounding tissues. It works by using a specific wavelength of light to penetrate the skin and target fat cells, causing them to temporarily open pores and release their contents, which are then naturally processed and eliminated by the body.
Lifestyle Adjustments and Prevention
Maintaining a healthy weight will help you avoid a double chin in many cases. This also has added benefits because it reduces your overall risk of:
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Sleep apnea
- Heart disease
- Certain cancers
- Stroke
Additional Tips
- Be patient. Unless you go through liposuction or laser lipolysis, it won’t diminish overnight. Depending on the size of your double chin, it may take a few months before it’s less noticeable.
- There's no specific diet for a double chin. However, weight loss is the best natural approach. Aim for a nutritious diet that can help you manage your calorie intake.
- There’s no fast way to get rid of a double chin other than surgical intervention, which isn’t necessarily fast as you have to account for recovery time. If the cause is weight gain, the best way to get rid of it is to lead a healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet and regular exercise.
- Chewing gum may improve your chewing and swallowing ability, as noted in a 2018 study. However, it won’t help give you a chiseled jawline, as a 2019 study shows that it only strengthens tongue and cheek muscles.
Scientific Studies on Cervical and Chin Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue (SAT)
Accumulation of cervical and chin subcutaneous adipose tissues (SAT) represent known phenotypes of obesity. Cervical and chin-SATs are dynamic fat depots that correspond with weight-loss and are associated with changes in cardiometabolic profile. In long-term, chin-SAT displays a larger rebound compared with cervical-SAT. Chin-SAT accumulation is associated with in insulin-resistance, independent of central obesity.
Study Design and Methods
A study randomly assigned 278 participants with abdominal-obesity/dyslipidemia to low-fat or Mediterranean/low-carbohydrate diets +/− physical-activity. All participants underwent an 18 month whole-body magnetic resonance imaging follow-up, from which we assessed cervical and chin SAT-areas. The CENTRAL randomized controlled trial aimed to determine the impact of different weight-loss-directed lifestyle strategies on the distribution of body fat depots. The CENTRAL trial primary outcomes were (1) changes in body fat composition, (2) changes in weight, and (3) changes in waist circumference. The specific aim of the present analysis is to thoroughly describe and address the 18-month changes in cervical and chin subcutaneous fat compartments during lifestyle interventions and their associations with cardiometabolic risk at baseline and following weight loss.
Key Findings
Participants (age = 48 years; 90% men; body-mass-index = 30.9 kg/m2) had an 18-month adherence-rate of 86%. Cervical-SAT and chin-SAT decreased after 6-months (−13.1% and −5.3%, respectively, p < 0.001). After 18-months only cervical-SAT remained decreased compared to baseline (−5%, p < 0.001). Cervical and chin-SAT 18-month changes were associated with changes in weight (r = 0.70, r = 0.66 respectively; <0.001 for both) and visceral-adipose-tissue (VAT; r = 0.35, r = 0.42 respectively; <0.001 for both). After adjustment to VAT, waist-circumference, or weight-changes, chin-SAT 18-month reduction was associated with favorable changes in fasting-glucose (β = 0.10; p = 0.05), HbA1c (β = 0.12; p = 0.03), and homeostasis-model-assessment-of-insulin-resistance (β = 0.12; p = 0.03). Cervical-SAT 18-month reduction was associated with decreased triglycerides (β = 0.16; p = 0.02) and leptin (β = 0.19; p = 0.01) independent of VAT.