Dermal Fillers

Why Dermal Fillers?

As the skin ages, it gradually loses collagen, elastin and fat. These are the components of the skin that give it structure – the scaffolding of the skin. When present in high amounts, skin is supple, firm and plump. As the levels of these components decrease, our skin becomes thinner, more lined and wrinkled with reduced volume, plumpness and fullness.

Strategically placed fillers take the place of lost fat pads and collagen. Some even promote the production of collagen. This helps to restore the skin’s volume and fill deep wrinkles, thus giving the face a firmer, more youthful appearance.

Not only are injectable fillers used to restore lost volume and firmness, they can also be used to sculpt and change the appearance of your face.

Lip Fillers

Celebrity culture has both popularised and demonised lip fillers, and many people now mistakenly associate lip fillers with ‘trout pouts’ and ‘duck lips’. There is no denying the impact the Kardashian’s have had on the use of lip fillers.

As we age, lips naturally lose volume and plumpness. This is due to the overall decrease in collagen and elastin that occurs as we age. These are the proteins in our skin which provide structure, support and elasticity. This, coupled with a natural change in the shape of the lips as we age, means that our lips get thinner and smaller as we get older.

In the correct, highly-skilled, highly-qualified hands, lips can be enhanced and rejuvenated beautifully and subtly, balancing and harmonising the lips with the face, and ensuring you look great from all angles.

Not only can strategically placed dermal fillers help restore lost volume, they can also be used to redefine and reshape lips. Lip volume is best built up in stages, so it may be that you have smaller volumes of filler added over a period of months to get the desired outcome.

How do you prepare for a filler treatment?

In the week before the treatment, avoid taking aspirin (unless prescribed by a doctor), ibuprofen, vitamin E and fish oil supplements. These may increase bleeding and bruising. You can take paracetamol.

You must inform your practitioner of any prescription medication you are taking.

What happens during a filler treatment?

Step One – Consultation and Consent

It is important to understand that, whilst dermal fillers are not prescription only medicines, the medication needed to dissolve fillers, hyaluronidase, is. Additionally, the anatomy of the face is complex, it is advisable the you only allow medically qualified practitioners carry out filler treatments.

Step Two – The Treatment

Your treatment will take around 20-40 minutes. The first part of your treatment will be administering an anaesthetic to make your treatment as comfortable as possible.

Step Three – The Check-Up

It is good practice for your practitioner to offer a free check-up, two weeks after your treatment. This allows them to check that the dose they administered was appropriate for the agreed outcome.

Step Four – The Repeat Treatment

Depending on how quickly you metabolise the filler and which product you were treated with, you will require a repeat treatment 6-12 months after your initial treatment. Your practitioner will advise regarding when you may require a repeat treatment.

What happens after a filler treatment?

After your treatment, you can go about your normal day. Post-treatment advice may include:

• iced water soaks or ice packs to help to reduce swelling (although this is generally not required);
• the use of painkillers such as paracetamol, is often not required but may be used if needed for a few days after treatment;
• arnica (a homeopathic remedy) cream or tablets are sometimes recommended a few days before and a few days after treatment as there is some evidence that this can reduce bruising.

Bruising and swelling should go down after a couple of days but can persist for a week.

If you continue to experience excessive swelling, pain, skin colour changes or if any blistering occurs, you should contact your practitioner immediately.

Similarly, if you experience any delayed reactions such as lumpy redness occurring any time after treatment, you should contact the person who treated you immediately.

What are the side effects and risks of lip fillers?

Depending on the area being injected, the type of filler being used and the pain relief method being used, clients may find this procedure relatively painless to uncomfortable. Treatments around the nose and lips are usually more painful than other areas but most clients find filler treatments bearable.

You must discuss pain management options with your practitioner and let them know if you are finding the procedure too uncomfortable.

The obvious, immediate and most common side effect is slight bleeding after the needle has been inserted into the skin.

Other risks include bruising, tenderness, redness and swelling around the injection site. These signs may take 2-3 days to vanish completely, especially around the lips where there is little flesh and skin is tender.

Occasionally, a ‘bleb’ will occur. This is where the filler has been injected too superficially (close to the surface) and will need to be dissolved.

Rarely, allergic type reactions can occur after a filler treatment. These include prolonged redness, swelling, itching and/or hardness and bumps in the skin. Such signs may appear at some or all injection points. Sometimes, they can last several months or longer, but this is extremely unusual.

Another rare side effect is occlusions. This is where filler is accidentally injected into a blood vessel, creating a blockage. This presents as whitening of the skin, followed by the area turning greyish-purple. If left untreated, this can result in tissue loss in the affected area. There have been reports of this in lip and nose treatments.

One particular type of occlusion is an ocular occlusion. This is where a blood vessel supplying the eye gets blocked. This results in partial or complete blindness.

If you exhibit any symptoms of occlusion, you need to seek the advice of your practitioner and/or visit accident and emergency immediately. You will need to be prescribed emergency treatment medicines, which is why it is important that you have access to a practitioner who is able to prescribe medicine.

As with any skin treatment, injections should be avoided in areas where the skin is swollen or where infections are present – e.g. active acne.

If you have a history of cold sores, or fever blisters in the treated area, filler injections may result in break outs. In this case, your practitioner may recommend that you take a course of anti-viral medicine before treatment.

If you have a known allergy to hyaluronic fillers or any of the ingredients in the filler product, you must inform your practitioner. An alternative treatment will need to be carried out.

Dermal fillers have not been tested on pregnant women. No practitioner would carry out a filler treatment on a pregnant woman.