Price Awareness: Fat-dissolving injections

An injection that actually dissolves your fat… It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Unlike a lot of ‘fat-loss’ treatments in the aesthetics and beauty spaces, this one is actually legit. A solution containing deoxycholic acid – a derivative of stomach bile – is injected into an area of stubborn, unwanted fat, and makes it disappear by attacking the fat cells.

The body then naturally expels the remnants of the dissolved cells, and you’re left fat-free. That’s it in a nutshell – there are of course contraindications, caveats and aftercare rules that need to be followed to get the best results. The injections only work on small areas of fat – they’re not a solution to obesity and they and won’t give you weight loss. They sting and swell for a week or so and itch like mad, and you may well need more than one round of them. But, providing you’re the right candidate and the area you want dissolving is an area the product is indicated for, this treatment really can get rid of unwanted fat.

There are only a small handful of brands in the fat-dissolving arena. Aqualyx and Belkyra (the European-licensed name for American Kybella), are the two that we have the most clinical data on, have established safety profiles and are used by top practitioners, so these are the ones that get the go-ahead from The Tweakments Guide.

If you’re considering fat-dissolving injections, make sure you see a practitioner experienced with these treatments, because depending on the amount of skin laxity you have, you could be left with some skin sagging once the injections have worked their magic. This could mean you’re not suitable for treatment, or that you’d likely need a course of skin-tightening tweakments afterwards – which will increase the overall price of the endeavour. Aqualyx does actually claim to tighten the skin in the area to some degree, but this level of tightening wouldn’t make up for the potential of sagging in an area with a heavy amount of fat.

What influences the cost of fat-dissolving treatment?

As mentioned above, because there aren’t many brands in the fat-dissolving market, prices for this tweakment don’t vary as much as others. That being said, there are a still a couple of things that will come into play.

• Treatment area – Fat-dissolving injections target small pockets of fat. So, generally speaking, the bigger the area of fat being dissolved, the more vials of solution that will be required. The smallest areas will cost the least – double chin (called the submental area), above the knees and a small amount of back fat, for example. The stomach, bingo wings, inner or outer thighs and the flanks will require more vials and will therefore be more expensive to treat.
• Practitioner’s product of choice – Aqualyx is cheaper than Belkyra, with Aqualyx priced at around £395-£495 per session and Belkyra considerably more – £750-£1000 per session.
• Practitioner’s experience – A practitioner who is new to fat-dissolving injections and has just completed their training may offer an introductory discount, but bear in mind that this probably means they don’t have loads of experience with the treatment. They also may not be able to show you many before-and-after images from other patients or be able to give you much idea of how well-tolerated the treatment is, in their personal experience. There are things that can go wrong, so it’s best to choose a practitioner who has experience with fat-dissolving injections and knows how to manage the side effects and potential complications.
• Location – Those of us in the capital will always pay a premium on just about anything, tweakments included. If you live somewhere where the cost of living is generally lower, the price of tweakments is likely to be lower, too.
• How many treatments you’ll need – With both Aqualyx and Belkyra you’ll usually have three treatments, regardless of the area you’re dissolving. However, this does of course vary on a case-by-case basis, and it’s not unheard of for someone to need up to eight sessions. Equally, sometimes people just need one to achieve their desired results.
• How much fat you have – Obviously, the more fat in the area, the more treatments it’ll take to get rid of it.
• Ongoing maintenance – There actually isn’t any with fat-dissolving injections. Once you’re done and the fat has gone, you’re done for good. Providing of course that you don’t gain back a lot of weight in that area.

How much does fat-dissolving treatment cost?

Fat-dissolving is one of the more straightforward tweakments to give an accurate price range for.

If you go for Aqualyx, you’re looking at a minimum of around £1,200 for the average three sessions, and with Belkyra it’ll be more like £2,250.