I've seen a few posts asking about fat dissolving injections, so I thought I'd share my experience at different clinics. No before or after pictures though... Sorry.

I've gotten injections at 365MC, Girin, and Xenia. The TLDR is each of them had their pros and cons and none of them really stand out as being better than the others.

Before I get into the individual clinic reviews, here’s some stuff to know about fat dissolving injections in Korea based on my experience.

— Solution Types —

Unless you’re getting V-OLET, which is a standardized fat dissolving injection, all fat dissolving injections are different by clinic as each clinic makes their own based on what their doctors think is best. In other words, some some clinic’s injections may be more effective than those at others.

Additionally — most clinics have fat dissolving injections with and without steroids. The injections that are made with steroids will give you a better results as they help shrink the remaining fat cells (according to my research). However, the result is temporary. Once the effect of the steroid wears off, the fat cells that weren’t dissolved by the injection will return to their normal size. Additionally, the steroids can negatively impact your hormones, especially if you are a female. Personally, I opted for injections without steroids to avoid any unnecessary side effects caused by hormone imbalances.

You should also know that you are likely to develop bruises from the injections even if the injections themselves don’t hurt.

— Intervals —

Fat dissolving injections require multiple sessions to show notable results, so I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone coming to Korea for only a week or two.

The intervals for the injections will differ by clinic and area of the body, but typically it’s recommended you get a round of injections every 1-3 weeks and do at least 3-5 rounds to see results.

Here are the recommended intervals from the clinics I went to.

365MC Face: ?? Body: Weekly

Girin Face: Every 1-2 weeks Body: Every 2-3 weeks

Xenia Face: ?? Body: Every 1-2 Weeks

Lastly, a lot of Korean clinics engage in influencer marketing, so if you see a TikTok video or blog post reviewing fat dissolving injections or other treatments, even one that is in Korean, please remember there is a chance the content was created in exchange for a free/discounted treatment even if there is no disclosure in the caption. I’m not saying this is true for all content featuring clinics. I’m just saying be aware.

— Clinic Reviews —

Now for my reviews!

365MC

The fat dissolving injections I got here were part of my aftercare treatments after getting LAMS on my abdomen and love handles. I think I did about 6 sessions of injections over the course of 3 months.

Pros

I liked that the RNs doing the injections were very obviously following a grid-like pattern while giving me the injections as all the injection points were evenly spaced out. They were also especially meticulous about making sure they treated my whole abdomen and love handle area. They also made sure to do some extra injections where needed and asked me if I would like additional injections anywhere else on my abdomen/love handles. 

Additionally, I didn’t have to make any appointments for my injections. I could just walk in during their open hours and be walking out within 20-30 minutes. I’m not sure if only their LAMS/lipo patients can be walk-ins or if anyone can be.. I do know you need to make a reservation for a consultation even if you just want to do the fat dissolving injections though.

Cons

As for something I didn’t like, they didn’t really explain the aftercare of the injections beforehand. Instead they told me while they were doing the injections.. Obviously, I could have asked during the consult, but given that they were the first place I ever went to for these, I didn’t even realize there would be aftercare involved since it wasn’t mentioned during the consult for my LAMS treatment. That was partially my mistake for not thinking to ask.

Results

Because these shots were part of my aftercare, I can’t say how effective they were. My body was swollen from the LAMS procedure and was shrinking every week so it wasn’t possible to tell how much of the shrinking was due to the decrease in swelling and how much was a result of the injections.

Final Thoughts

The staff and doctors were all lovely and I would definitely go there again for injections even though I’m still not too sure about how effective they really were.

Note — The injections at 365MC are preformed by RNs, not doctors. I felt they were all knowledgeable and had no issue with them performing the injections, but it’s something to note if you’re considering going there!

Girin

At Girin, I got 4 rounds of injections for my lower face, jawline, and double chin. I also got 2 rounds of injections in the backs of my arms and 1 round in my thighs (inner and outer).

Pros

What I especially liked about Girin was that they gave the most thorough consultation out of the 3 clinics. They also made suggestions on where to get the injections for the results I wanted (ex. lower cheeks, whole cheek, etc). They also sent me a lot of aftercare information via Kakao so that I wouldn’t forget and the doctor reminded me of the aftercare procedures during/after every session even though I was going in weekly for injections.

I also liked that they are open on Sundays (unlike all other clinics I know of) and every time I visited the clinic, it wasn’t overly packed with people. It was also so easy to make an appointment for the weekend just a few days before — some clinics get their weekends booked out 1-2 weeks in advance, so this was a big plus for me.

Last, but not least, you are able to book a specific doctor for your injections if you end up finding one you prefer.If you don’t have a preference, they will assign any available doctor to do your injections. I never specified a doctor, so I had different ones each time, but they were all nice and did a good job IMO.

Cons

What I didn’t like as much was that they didn’t seem to follow any type of guide as to where they injected the solution so that it is evenly distributed — at least not one that I could tell. For my face, every thing seemed to be evenly spaced, but for my arms and legs, they seemed to inject the solution wherever they felt it was needed even if the spots were different from where they were on the other arm/leg. Perhaps there was a reason for this as I’m not suffering from any asymmetry, but it did make me a bit nervous when I noticed they were injected the solution in slightly different areas.

This clinic was the most expensive compared to the other two if you only do one round of injections. The pricing becomes similar if you get a package though. (Hence, why I bought a package for my face as it was my main concern.)

Results

I noticed a bit of change in my face and double chin as I actually did multiple rounds there. But when it comes to my arms and thighs, I didn’t notice much of a change. Granted, you’re supposed to do several rounds to see any true changes so perhaps that’s why.

Final Thoughts

Overall the staff and doctors I met were all friendly and knowledgeable. The clinic also didn’t seem like they were trying to rush me through the consultation or procedures or even upsell me. I remember when I told them I just wanted to do one round of injections to see how it goes before investing in a package, they said no problem and didn’t try to persuade me into purchasing a package. In fact, they actually made some suggestions on how to plan the injections so that I could save a bit of money. In the end, I did end up going back to purchase a package for injections in my face and I would definitely go there again.

Xenia

I am currently doing laser hair removal at Xenia and took the opportunity to also book 1 session of fat dissolving injections for my thighs just to see if I liked the experience there more than at Girin since they are more affordable.

For the consult, a doctor(?) asked me where I wanted the injections and made some suggestions based on my desired results and even recommend a solution amount per thigh. Overall, the consultation was pretty good, however I do wish he had more thoroughly explained the treatment intervals and aftercare as they can be different by clinic. However, I do recognize he may not have shared this information because of a misunderstanding. When he asked me if I’d gotten fat dissolving injections before, I said yes. I meant at other clinics, but looking back I think he meant at their clinic…

Pros

As for the actual treatment, I liked that I was given more privacy than at the other clinics as I was in a private room where they had me lay down on a bed while injecting the solution into my thighs. The doctor/RN (not sure which) was very nice and injected the solution in a grid pattern in my inner thighs so that everything was evenly distributed.

Cons

As for things I didn’t like as much, I felt the clinic was overly crowded. I assume that this is a result of them working with a lot of influencers who made them go viral on social media. I felt extremely overwhelmed in the waiting area because of how many people there were and it was a bit hectic in there..

Additionally, because of its popularity, I couldn’t book an appointment right away like at most Korean clinics. The soonest weekday appointment was about 2 weeks out and the soonest weekend appointment was over a month out. As someone who lives in Korea and has gotten accustomed to being able to book an appointment for the next day, this was a major con for me.

Note — I visited the clinic for the second time today for another round of laser hair removal and there weren’t nearly as many people in the waiting area… literally just 3 compared to the over 20 there were last time, so it wasn’t overwhelming at all. Perhaps that first time was just a fluke or maybe they tend to be more busy in the fall than in the winter??

Results

I didn’t notice much of a change. But that was to be expected since they recommend you do 3-5 sessions. I mainly just wanted to see if I liked the experience of doing it at their clinic or not.

Final Thoughts

Despite all the people during my first visit, the clinic was very efficient and I didn’t have to wait long at all. They also gave great customer service that reminded me of western customer service (which is a good thing, because IYKYK).

I’m still on the fence as to whether I would get injections from Xenia again simply because of the scheduling and amount of people there were the first time I went in. But if my future laser appointments prove the first time was just a fluke, then I will consider going there for injections as they did offer the most comfortable experience for injections…

— Cost —

I didn't include pricing in this post because it really varies by the clinic, part of the body you want injected and how much solution they recommend having injected. Basically, there are too many variables. However, a good range for 1 session of fat dissolving injections in one area of the body (double chin, thighs, etc) is 150K - 400K won. If you get a package, you could end up paying 750K - 1 million+ for 3 sessions.

Hope this was helpful!