The latest craze sweeping TikTok is a fat-dissolving injection meant for parts of the body with ‘stubborn fat,’ like the chin, abdomen, and arms.
Videos on social media touting a cosmetic procedure called Lemon Bottle Fat Dissolving Injections show people being injected – or injecting themselves – with a product that contains ingredients claiming to ‘dissolve’ fat.
The product, increasingly being dubbed the new blockbuster drug Ozempic, have earned legions of fans who may be apprehensive about surgical interventions such as liposuction.
It cosmetic procedure is minimally invasive and only requires numbing cream and a brief injection over several sessions.
Despite earning glowing reviews from estheticians and med spas, doctors fear this latest fad born on social media could lead to troubling side effects and may not work in the first place.
Experts are warning the shots have not been clinically researched and could lead to bruising, infection, abscesses, and even necrosis – the death of body tissue.
The above shows a woman before receiving Lemon Bottle shots to her chin on the left next to the results after the shots
While the shots are recommended to be administered in a med spa or doctor’s office, many people perform the shots themselves using products purchased online
Dr Mr Naveen Cavale, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon based in the UK, said: ‘It’s being touted as the fastest fat dissolver there is, but it doesn’t appear to have clinical evidence behind it to lay claim to this.
‘My advice would be don’t rush in for it. It still needs assessing and regulating before it would appear on my personal roster of treatments. It might turn out to be great, it might also be a disaster, so I would personally say it’s not worth rolling the dice.’
The injections are huge in the UK and are now being administered in US spas. Because they don’t require a prescrition, Lemon Bottle can also be purchased on Amazon and other sites online for between $135 and $220.
The Lemon Bottle Fat Dissolving injections are typically administered in areas where difficult-to-lose fat sits, such as love handles, the stomach, the back of the arms, the chin, and the back.
A staffer at a medical spa maps out the areas to target, applies numbing cream, and marks spots to target with the shots.
Fans online have given Lemon Bottle shots glowing reviews.
Lemon Bottle does not contain the industry standard ingredient deoxycholic acid meaning it is classified as a cosmetic rather than a medical drug and is therefore unregulated
The TikTok Lemon Bottle trend has amassed a huge following, which some before and after shots earning millions of views
One woman said ‘10/10 recommend’, another said ‘I’ve had 4 sessions over 4 weeks, and my results are amazing’, and another said her client ‘looked like she lost so much weight under her chin because of that.’
While the shots are available at med spas for $50 to $200, many people do the injections themselves at home using bottles of the fat cell-dissolving concoction they purchased online, raising the risk of getting counterfeit products and performing the injections incorrectly.
Board-certified plastic surgeon Dr Yannis Alexandrides told Glamour: ‘Lemon Bottle fat dissolving injections may be trending on social media but my personal assessment and initial research finds no scientific papers to support the efficacy and safety of this product.
‘At present, the current research is too flimsy for me to feel safe and confident to offer this treatment.
‘New non-surgical treatments like this one need to be properly assessed and scrutinized by scientific publications.’
Lemon Bottle’s key ingredients include bromelain, riboflavin and lecithin. But none of the ingredients have shown conclusive evidence of directly dissolving fat cells as Lemon Bottle claims.
It does not contain the industry standard ingredient deoxycholic acid, which is safety tested and proven to dissolve fat cells, meaning it is classified as a cosmetic rather than a medical drug and is therefore unregulated.
The trend on TikTok has been aimed at luring in Gen Z’ers as well, a population especially inclined toward disordered eating and poor body image issues.
And while the injections may be a risky endeavor, it would not be the first unproven health trend to take the internet by storm, such as when buccal fat
Dr Ahmed El Muntasar, an esthetician and general doctor, said of Lemon Bottle injections: ‘People end up doing these procedures at home, thinking it is perfectly safe, when it is particularly dangerous on areas of the face.
‘Even experienced doctors don’t inject fat dissolver into the face as people can end up with lifelong complications, including nerve and vascular damage, dry mouth and issues with their eyes.’
