Chin Up

A CBS 2 News Special Assignment

CBS 2 News' Thelma Gutierrez reports that there's a new procedure that can help you hold your chin up.

Special Assignment: Chin Up aired Friday, October 16, 1998 at 11 p.m.

John Venti isn't overweight and he's only 32 years old, but like other men in his family, he was already developing a double chin, said CBS 2 News' Thelma Gutierrez.

"I started taking some pictures with my son, we were in Hawaii and I got back and I was looking at the photos and I just noticed I had a little bit extra (chin)," Venti told Gutierrez.

Modesty aside, Venti decided it was time to hold his chin high and seek the help of a plastic surgeon.

"A lot of my uncles, my dad has two brothers and pretty much they all, you know, have a little excess skin right here," Venti points to his chin. "It's something that I look at, I see a photo of myself, I don't like what I see right here and you know, that's the only reason I'm doing it."

Dr. Patrick Abergel will remove fat under Venti's chin with a new type of liposuction procedure that uses an external ultrasound probe.

"And what that does, it warms up the fat tissue and makes it easier to remove. So therefore, the procedure will be very quick, and the patient will have minimal pain, minimal bruising, minimal swelling after the surgery," Abergel told Gutierrez.

Abergel developed the technique as an alternative to standard ultrasonic liposuction, said Gutierrez.

"The ultrasonic liposuction required an introduction of a probe that was quite large that had risks of burning the skin," said Abergel.

Abergel's external probe cannot burn the skin and it allows him to use much smaller instruments to suck out the fat.

"This fat will not come back in the area (that it's taken out from), and the reason is that we can be extremely aggressive in removing all the fat cells, " he said. "The body cannot generate new fat cells so the treatment will be permanent. That's not true for other areas."

The small instruments allow Abergel to make an incision that's so small, there's no need for stitches and they don't leave a scar, said Gutierrez.

"I feel great, no pain at all," Venti said after his surgery. "It's just a little hard to talk."

Even though the whole procedure takes about an hour, it costs about $5,000. That price may be rough for some, but at least the surgery is relatively gentle, said Gutierrez.

A week after his surgery, Venti still has some swelling but the fat is gone for good.

More information:

• For a more flattering jaw line, contact Dr. Patrick Abergel in Santa Monica at (310) 829-2005.