Kybella vs CoolSculpting vs Morpheus8: Best Treatment for a Double Chin

Start with the cause, because these categories do different jobs.

The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) describes the right candidate for non-invasive fat reduction as someone with a small bulge of fat that remains despite diet and exercise, whose weight is in the normal range for their height — and it says outright that these treatments are not a weight-loss method.

Fullness under the chin is not always fat.

The Kybella label tells providers to screen for other causes of under-chin fullness, naming an enlarged thyroid and swollen lymph nodes, and to weigh the risks where there is excess skin laxity or prominent platysmal bands — the vertical bands of the neck muscle — because results may not look good there.

So the map reads: fullness caused by fat is what Kybella's approval and CoolSculpting's clearance cover; loose skin is what tightening devices such as Ultherapy are cleared to lift; a chin that sits back or a soft jawline is what the approved fillers change.

One expectation-setter from AAD before any of it: non-invasive fat removal gives subtle results — its own comparison is "pants a little looser" — while liposuction delivers more dramatic ones.

Our guide to double chin treatments walks each cause in more depth.

These two attack the same bulge in different ways.

Kybella (deoxycholic acid) is a prescription drug the FDA has approved to improve the appearance of moderate to severe fullness from under-chin (submental) fat in adults — and only that: the label says it is not approved for fat outside the submental region and that such use is not recommended.

CoolSculpting Elite is a device, cleared under 510(k) K233732 (12 Sep 2024) for cold-assisted fat breakdown of the upper arm, bra fat, back fat, banana roll, thigh, abdomen and flanks at a BMI of 30 or less — and of the submental and submandibular areas (under the chin and jaw) at a BMI up to 46.2.

The clearance adds that, used under the chin, the device can also affect the appearance of lax tissue in the submental area.

A device clearance is a different pathway from the drug approval Kybella holds; "cleared" and "approved" are not the same thing.

On course length: the label allows up to 6 Kybella treatments, spaced at least 1 month apart, and Kybella's pivotal trials enrolled adults aged 19 to 65 with a BMI of 40 or less.

AAD puts cryolipolysis at usually 2 sessions, with results starting as early as 3 weeks and full effect 3 to 6 months after the last treatment.

Which works better?

Our research found no head-to-head trial comparing the two under the chin, and Kybella's label reports results on composite rating scales rather than as a percentage of fat removed — so a page quoting a head-to-head winner, or a fat-reduction percentage for either one, is going beyond the record we could check.

What the record does say for both: the results are subtle next to liposuction.

The treatment-by-treatment detail is in our kybella and coolsculpting guides.

If the fullness is loose skin rather than fat, fat reduction is aimed at the wrong target — the Kybella label itself cautions providers to weigh the risks where there is excess skin laxity or prominent platysmal bands, because results may not look good.

Among devices, the under-chin clearances differ sharply.

Ultherapy is FDA-cleared (510(k) K243035, 24 Feb 2025) to lift the eyebrow, lift lax submental and neck tissue, improve décolleté lines and wrinkles, and improve the appearance of skin laxity on the abdomen and front and back of the arms — FDA first cleared it to lift lax under-chin and neck tissue in 2012 (K121700).

Its cleared purpose, per the clearance, is to achieve "temporary changes" in the appearance of the skin.

AAD's timeline for ultrasound tightening: one treatment, with most people seeing modest lifting in 2 to 6 months.

Morpheus8 is a radiofrequency microneedling device.

Its 90 applicator carries 510(k) K240017 (13 Jun 2024) — a general clearance for dermatological procedures needing coagulation or contraction of soft tissue, or hemostasis.

That clearance does not list wrinkles, acne scars or fat, and at energies above 62 mJ/pin it is limited to skin types I-IV.

The device-by-device tightening comparison — Sofwave, Thermage and the radiofrequency variants — is in our skin tightening guide, with ultherapy and morpheus8 covered in depth on their own pages.

No — not as an approved use.

There is no FDA-approved injectable or device specifically indicated to treat a double chin with Botox, and botulinum toxin for the lower face or jaw — other than the platysma bands — is off-label: it is not on any current US label for Botox Cosmetic.

Botox Cosmetic's approved cosmetic areas are frown lines, crow's feet, forehead lines and, since October 2024, platysma bands — the vertical neck bands, which are muscle, not fat.

Masseter toxin for jaw slimming is off-label for every US toxin as well; no toxin label includes the masseter.

When the issue reads as contour — a chin that sits back, a jawline without definition — filler is the category with FDA approvals behind it.

Juvéderm Volux XC is approved (PMA P110033/S065, 29 Jul 2022) to improve jawline definition in adults over 21 with moderate to severe loss of jawline definition. Restylane Lyft with Lidocaine is approved (P040024/S142, 4 Nov 2025) for chin augmentation in mild to moderate chin retrusion — a chin that sits back.

Juvéderm Voluma XC is approved for chin augmentation (S047, 12 Jun 2020), and Radiesse (+) is approved (P050052/S129, 1 Sep 2021) to improve moderate to severe loss of jawline contour in adults over 21.

None of those approvals covers removing or shrinking under-chin fat — filler changes projection and definition, so using it to treat the fullness itself is not on any current US label for these products.

Whether filler, a fat treatment or both make sense for your profile is a question for the licensed provider you consult.

What filler costs per syringe and how long it lasts are in our chin filler guide.

The table below lines up what the label, the clearances and AAD say, with each figure's source kept.

In Kybella's pooled pivotal trials, 87% of 513 treated subjects had swelling or edema (43% with placebo), bruising 72% (70% with placebo), pain 70%, numbness 66%, redness 27% and hardness 23%.

AAD says some people are extremely swollen for as long as 2 weeks after chin-fat injections, though they can return to normal activities, with full results about 3 to 4 months after the last treatment.

That swelling is why "no downtime" is not a claim we make about any treatment on this page.

On price, one national figure exists for the fat-reduction category: ASPS reports an average fee of $1,157 for nonsurgical fat reduction — the category that includes both cryolipolysis and Kybella — in its latest statistics (read October 2026).

It is the average fee ASPS member surgeons reported, not a med spa price, and ASPS says it excludes related expenses.

Beyond that, the record is thin on purpose: no manufacturer list price per CoolSculpting cycle, no standard cycle count and no national average CoolSculpting price is published by Allergan, the FDA or a professional body, our research found.

For the tightening devices, Ultherapy and RF microneedling included, we found no national price range from a source we could verify either.

Whatever the treatment, the questions that make two quotes comparable are the same: is the price per session or a package, how many sessions does the plan assume, and what changes if you stop after one.

Kybella's course is spread across separate visits, each at least a month apart, so ask how many of those visits the quote assumes.

How a Kybella quote is built is in how much Kybella costs.

Two of the options on this page — Kybella and filler — are prescription injections: the FDA says the only FDA-approved fillers are prescription products injected by a licensed professional, and Kybella is a prescription drug.

AmSpa, the industry's trade association, describes injecting a prescription drug such as botulinum toxin as the practice of medicine, to be done by a physician, an independent-practice nurse practitioner or another licensed professional working within their scope, with the specifics varying by state.

MedSpaStandard's vetted directory is not live yet, so this page cannot send you to a specific clinic.

When you call offices near you, the questions that matter are the ones this page has already answered for each treatment: what is causing your fullness, what the recommended treatment is approved or cleared for, and how many sessions and how much swelling the plan involves.

Our guides to how to choose a med spa and injector credentials cover the vetting in detail.