Facial filler can be a tempting way to turn back the clock. Having injectable hyaluronic acid products can be a quick way to achieve fuller lips, sharper jawlines, and less shadowing of the eyelids without going under the knife.
This type of procedure might be right for you if you've ever said:
“I started out with a little bit of filler and over time my face started looking pillowy.”
“I don’t recognize the way I look anymore.”
“I wasn’t ready for a facelift so I kept getting fillers.”
As we age, we all lose fat on our faces and our skin becomes more lax and loose. Fillers can be injected to help restore that fat that is lost or to smooth out contours that cause shadowing and the appearance of aging.
The challenges with fillers
Fillers can last sometimes over 1 year and can be a great way to dip your toes into the waters of plastic surgery. The challenge is that fillers can be injected by a host of people that are either not doctors or who haven’t really gone through the training that gives an appreciation of what facial harmony is as it relates to facial rejuvenation. This can lead to a strange facial appearance over time, and more and more filler is injected as a “substitute” for a surgical result. Rather than having a facelift or eyelid surgery to anatomically smooth contours and restore volume, fillers can occupy the space in a more nonspecific way. They can be a great tool in the correct situation, but if they are the only tool you use for every single facial rejuvenation over time you can end up looking…odd.
Over the last decade with the rise of social media and also increasing transparency that everyone was having plastic surgery procedures, filler usage became more mainstream. Most people loved their initial results and immediate gratification. Many people tend to keep getting filler instead of having a bigger surgery with the downtime and increased cost. We all know someone who has fallen into this pattern and we have certainly seen reports of celebrities who became unrecognizable after years of repeated filler injections.
The method
This is not an un-fixable problem. The initial step is a detailed consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon. Typically, some or all of the filler will be dissolved using a medicine called hyaluronidase that chews up filler and allows it to be resorbed by the body. Sometimes before you can fix the problem, you need to have a clean slate and start from scratch.
After the filler is dissolved, a true diagnosis can be made and an appropriately selected procedure or set of procedures can be selected to help you feel and look like yourself again.
Alternative solutions
This is never something you should be embarrassed about, and we’re happy to discuss your options for making you feel better about how you look. This is a correctable problem that requires patience, some tough love, and a penchant for problem-solving, which is what you will find at the Elston Clinic!