Dermal Fillers

• Dermal fillers are injections that plump up wrinkles and smooth lines on your face. There are several types of dermal fillers. This common cosmetic procedure typically produces results right away, and can last months or years.

• Dermal filler injections are a type of nonsurgical cosmetic procedure. Dermal fillers plump up wrinkles, smooth lines and restore volume in your face.  The substances are injected just under your skin.

• People choose to get dermal fillers to enhance their facial features or gain a more youthful appearance. This elective treatment usually takes less than half an hour, and recovery time is minimal. Results are seen right away and last months to years depending on the type of filler and the location.

• There are several kinds of dermal fillers. Options will be discussed during your consultation.

• As with any cosmetic procedure, there are risks, including infection, bleeding and bruising.

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• Why are dermal fillers used?

• As you age, your body starts to lose collagen. Collagen is an important substance that exists all over your body, including in your skin, muscles, bones and connective tissues. Decreased amounts of collagen in your skin causes skin laxity (loose) and loss of volume. Skin becomes thinner, loses its elasticity and starts to sag.

• You may choose to get dermal fillers to:

• Add volume to sagging skin.

• Make your facial features more symmetrical.

• Plump up lips and cheeks.

• Smooth wrinkles and creases in your face.

• Lip Augmentation

• Smokers Lines - upper lip 

• Increased Lip volume

• Marionette Lines

• Naso-Labial Folds

• Immediately after your dermal filler treatment you may notice a few of the following things:

• Swelling

• Bruising

• Red needle puncture marks

• Asymmetry

• Tenderness

• Itching in the area

• These issues above are common with dermal filler aftercare, and should resolve over the next few days to weeks. Your final result will be seen at about 4 weeks after treatment, and you can be reviewed to see if further treatments are required to achieve the planned results.

• Immediately after the injections you face will be cleaned. You should not touch your face for 6 hours. After this you may clean your skin with water and a gentle cleanser.

• Apply makeup after 6 hours, although it is ideal to avoiding makeup on the day of the procedure.

• Things to avoid:

• Do not expose the area to intense heat (eg solarium or sauna)

• Avoid pressure on the treated areas for the first few nights (i.e. sleep on back of possible)

• Avoid strenuous exercise for 24 hours.

• Avoid alcohol for 24 hours

• Do not use AHA, Retinols/Vitamin C therapy or oil based make-up for 24 hours

• Avoid facials, facial waxing, Glycolic or AHA peels, IPL or energy based treatments and microdermabrasion for two weeks after treatment. 

• Pain relief

• Pain is usually mild and sometimes moderate after filler injections. There are areas which can be quite painful like the chin and the lips. Pain relief such as paracetamol may be taken as directed by the packaging.

• Swelling relief

• Apply a cool compress for 10 minutes every hour on the day of treatment (do not apply ice directly on your skin). A cool compress applied regularly for the first 24 hours after injections may help to reduce the amount of swelling. Some patients use arnica before and after treatment to reduce the swelling.

• Bruising relief

• Patients on aspirin, fish oil or other drugs associated with increased bruising may find their risk increased. For the treatment of bruising, there are over the counter treatments available, including Arnica.

• Cold sores and dermal filler

• There may be a small chance that a treatment may induce an outbreak of facial cold sores in patients with a previous history.

• Some patients take preventative antivirals to help reduce the risk of cold sores. If you get cold sores after a treatment, you should see your doctor.

• Aesthetic review

• Reviewing the results of dermal filler should be performed at 4 weeks (except for cosmetic emergencies like infection or vascular occlusions, which should be reviewed immediately)

• Reviewing prior to 4 weeks is not useful as there is often a small amount of swelling still present, so the results cannot be judged until this has resolved. This is particularly important with regards to symmetry. Symmetry should not be reviewed prior to 4 weeks.

• Retreatment

• Retreatment should occur at any time between 1-6 months after a first treatment. Once peak filler has been achieved, and the client is on maintenance injections, they might have filler once per year.

• Complications

• Cosmetic complications include vascular occlusion and infection. Vascular occlusions mostly occur in the treatment chair, this is visible and aesthetics are able to treat this straight away. An area may go white, or there may be an area of skin that looks like fishnet stockings, or there may be skin discolouration in a distant area where the skin wasn’t injected. After an occlusion, there may be an area that has small blisters on the skin. If any concern they capillary return of the skin will be checked. If clients see any of these things on their skin, they should call their aesthetician immediately.

• Early infections may occur after a few days after the treatment. The patient might notice increasing redness, tenderness, swelling, pain, heat, nodules or pus. Patients should see their doctor if this occurs and inform the aesthetician.

• Lip filler After care

• Lip dermal filler aftercare needs a special mention: When the lips are injected, the upper lip tends to swell much more than the lower lip and often patients think that their upper lip has had too much filler injected into it. Once the swelling calms down, they realise this is not the case. The typical ratio that most people choose for their lip proportion is 40% in the upper and 60% in the lower, so most likely the upper lip is going to be smaller than the lower lip once the swelling resolves (unless the patient has asked for a less natural-appearing lip).

• Temple fillers

• Headaches are common after temple biostimulator injections. Pain relief should be used to treat them if required. Often the veins in the temple protrude and become more obvious temporarily after fillers.

• Jawline fillers

• Often you may feel dermal filler lumpiness along the jawline. This will resolve over the next few weeks as the filler integrates with the skin

• Forehead fillers

• Lumpiness is a common issue after forehead fillers. Several treatments may be required to achieve the best results on the forehead

• Concerns after filler treatment

• If you are concerned post-treatment, please call your clinic. If you are unable to contact your clinic or your doctor and you are concerned that it is an emergency, please visit the emergency department of your local hospital.

A consultation is required prior to any dermal filler procedure.