From middle schoolers mewing their way to more defined mandibles to 60-somethings flaunting their impossibly acute angles, we are, unequivocally, in our jawline era. Experts pin our collective fascination on the usual suspects: selfie culture, the persistence of Zoom, and the popularization of procedures aimed at improving the geometry of our jawlines.
One such technique captivating the social-media masses is submental liposuction, a minimally invasive fat-removal method that shrinks double-chins and sharpens profiles. Doctors use the terms submental lipo, chin lipo, neck lipo, and jawline lipo somewhat interchangeably, explaining that while treating the submentum (the area under the chin) is key, concerns are rarely isolated to this zone, so they typically sculpt along the jawbone and sometimes down the neck, as well.
With quick-fix vibes and striking before and afters, submental lipo has long held widespread appeal—attracting both men and women, younger folks (with naturally full necks) as well as older ones (with weakening jawlines). Last year, though, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) recorded a 6% increase in the procedure. And doctors confirm the spike. “Over the last two years, chin lipo has become the most common procedure I do,” says double board-certified facial plastic surgeon Sagar Patel, MD. In his Beverly Hills office, it has completely supplanted the buccal-fat craze that preceded it. Even after raising prices to help curb the demand, he hasn’t seen a slowdown. In experienced hands, “it’s a very high-yield, low-risk procedure,” he adds. Offering further evidence, he points to Reddit—more specifically, a chin lipo subreddit created in late 2023—where “the majority of people are, like, blown away by their results.”
Likewise, board-certified plastic surgeon Meredith Vandegrift, MD, tells me that, in the past year, requests for chin and neck improvements have “probably quadrupled” in her Huntington, New York practice. “Everyone’s focusing on the neck,” she tells me. And not just patients: In August, Jerry Chidester, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon in South Jordan, Utah, had over 100 cc’s of fat sucked from his own neck. “You can store up a lot of fat in this area,” he says. And removing superfluous cells can deliver “pretty awesome results.” His post-pregnancy patients often include submental lipo in their “mommy makeovers,” finding under-chin fat to be especially stubborn.
Not every surgeon is a chin-lipo enthusiast, however. Jonathan Cabin, MD, a double board-certified facial plastic surgeon in Washington, D.C., believes the ASPS-reported uptick is more a reflection of patients’ general desire to improve their jawlines—in some way—than it is a testament to the power or popularity of submental liposuction. “We’re talking about an area that bothers a lot of people,” he says. “And those people are looking for all kinds of ways to improve it. Submental lipo is one option, but it’s not the best solution for everyone.”
So, who is a candidate for jawline—or submental—liposuction?
The ideal candidate for jawline lipo is someone in their 20s or early 30s with reasonable expectations and good skin elasticity, who “genetically carries extra fat under their chin,” says Dr. Vandegrift. “Their skin is going to retract and their jawline is going to be nice and refined after the procedure.” That’s assuming the unwanted fat lies superficially, just below the skin. If the fat responsible for neck fullness sits deeper, under the platysma muscle, due to genetics or age, then doctors can’t access it with a liposuction cannula. Removing fat from beneath this broad muscle requires a scalpel and a surgeon who specializes in deep neck surgery.