The dermal filler procedure and recovery

Injection treatments with dermal fillers are performed at beauty salons, polyclinics and plastic surgery clinics. The procedure is simple and quick but is a medical treatment and should therefore be performed by a doctor or nurse.

Prior to your first filler treatment you normally, but not necessarily, visit a doctor or nurse at your chosen clinic for a free consultation.

At your consultation you will be informed about how the product works, how the treatment is performed, any possible side effects and the price of the treatment.

After your consultation you book your treatement or in some cases you can get it performed straight away. The procedure itself is no more dramatic than a visit to the dentist and is done in 30-40 minutes.

The dermal filler procedure step-by-step:

1. Sometimes a simple allergy test is performed before treatment with a collagen based filler.
2. The doctor/nurse performs a thorough assessment of your skins condition and of the area that is to be filled.
3. In some cases the injection spots are marked with a pen in order to facilitate the treatment.
4. The injection areas are cleaned and disinfected with an antibacterial solution and numbed with ice or numbing cream depending on the patient’s wishes.
5. In some cases injectable fillers contain local anaesthetic and in others the doctor/nurse decides to do it separately. This anaesthesia is the same type used at the dentists.
6. The actual injection process is very quick and treatment with a series of injections are often done in less than 20 minutes.
7. After the injections the area is washed. When necessary the patient is provided with an ice bag in order to minimise the temporary discomfort/burning sensation that sometimes occurs after the injections. The patient can wear make up after 4 hours but should avoid putting pressure on the injected area.
8. The results of a treatment with dermal fillers are almost instantly visible. Sometimes a slight swelling and bruising occurs in the treated area.
9. The patient can normally return to work and normal activities directly after the procedure.

The after cycle for injection treatments with dermal fillers

Immediately after treatment you may feel some pain, be swollen and bruised in the treated area. The treated area can also feel slightly numb and the skin can look red and irritated.

When using certain fillers the area may look as if it has been overfilled directly after the treatment and for a few days after. This is because the doctor/nurse intentionally overfills in order to compensate for the immediate absorption of the filler by the body.

It is important to remember that the treatment results that one achieves with non-permanent fillers are, as the name suggests, only temporary. The increased tissue volume will regress within 3-18 months depending on the filler product used and the injected area.

Due to age related changes in surrounding tissue, there is a risk of permanent fillers shifting position or appearing as a lump under the skin. Correcting this demands complicated surgery.

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