Fillers

Dermal fillers are an excellent option for facial balancing and rejuvenation without surgery or significant downtime. 

Fillers come in a wide variety of products and forms such as hyaluronic acids (e.g. Restylane®, Juvederm®), a substance that occurs naturally in the body and helps keep the skin hydrated and youthful. Biostimulating fillers like calcium hydroxylapatite (Radiesse®) and poly-L-lactic Acid (Sculptra®) work by triggering your body to make new collagen.  

During your consultation, we will evaluate your facial structure, skin quality, and aesthetic goals to customized a plan that is just right for you. Your dermatologist may recommend a consultation first followed by a separate appointment for treatment.   

Before your Treatment

Please come to the office with a clean face and no makeup (this includes foundation and powders). Bruising and swelling is a common side effect of filler injections.  For this reason, we recommend you schedule your treatments at least 1 month before any important events or engagements.

To minimize bruising, it helps if you do not take aspirin (unless it’s prescribed by your doctor), NSAIDs (e.g. ibuprofen, Aleve, Motrin), fish oil the week before your appointment.  If these medications were prescribed by your doctor, do not stop them and please consult with your dermatologist.  Alcohol can thin your blood too and it helps to avoid drinking alcohol 24 hours before your appointment.  

During the treatment

A small needle or cannula is used to place the product in just the right location and plane to achieve the end goal.  You may feel a little poke with the needle. Sometimes topical creams are used to numb the skin. The fillers also have numbing in them. Treatment times can vary. 

Recovery

Bruising and swelling are very common and will settle down in about a week. There may be tenderness in the areas of injection. To ease this, you can apply ice packs (but don’t press on the injected areas too hard) and take acetaminophen (Tylenol). If you experience significant pain at the time of injection or after your treatment please call your dermatologist as soon a possible. For bruises, topical over the counter Arnica gel can be applied a few times a day to speed up the disappearance.

Results

The length of results vary depending on the product and how much was used.  Results from hyaluronic acids ( Restylane® products) and calcium hydroxylapetite (Radiesse®) can be seen immediately and often evolve nicely with time as the product integrates with your skin. Patients who use Sculptra® may see an initial volumizing of the face, which goes down about 24 hours after.  As the skin’s collagen is stimulated, changes develop gradually over the next few months.