Frequently Asked Questions - Soft tissue fillers

A soft tissue filler or dermal filler is an injectable solution used to correct wrinkles, lines, or creases. It is a cross-linked viscous gel-like substance that is injected under the skin and then moulded into place.  The main component is hyaluronic acid which is a hydrophilic glycosaminoglycan (a protein in the body which plays a role in cell growth and proliferation amongst other things).

Soft tissue fillers can be used to restore lip plumpness, remove or deminish smokers lines, smooth out nasolabial folds and marionette lines.  More advanced treatment options are used to contour the jaw and nose, eliminate deep glabellar lines, add volume back to your cheeks and rejuvinate tear troughs amongst other things.  I currently do not offer advanced filler treatments, but I can put you in touch with a trusted aesthetician who can.

This is a difficult question to answer as everybodies pain threshold is different.  I found them slightly uncomfortable, but only slightly.  The areas being injected will be numbed first with a cream, and a lot of the products contain lidocaine (a local anaesthetic).  Please let me know during your initial consultation if you're not good with pain, and I will take this into account when choosing the best product for you.

On the whole, yes.  But they are only going to be as safe as the person carrying out the procedure.  Make sure that your aesthetician knows how to recognise potential problems such as a vascular occlusion and has the correct treatment to hand to reverse this.  Make sure you are 100% confident in their ability before agreeing to any procedure.  The risk of having an allergic reation to filler is minimal, but can happen.  I will advise you on what to do if this occurs.

This is a slightly more grey area than with toxin injections.  All drugs need to go through a rigourous testing phase, but it is unethical to test drugs on pregnant patients due to the potential of foetal abnormalities.  So the answer to this question is that we just simply don't know whether it's safe or not, and so advise to avoid having soft tissue fillers until after you stop breastfeeding.  

Allergic reactions are rare.  The most common side effect is swelling and bruising.  I bruised like an absolute peach when I had mine done!  Bruising occurs due to the dermis being punctured with the needle, this can cause bleeding under the skin, which is effectively a bruise.  Don't worry it doesn't last long, but may take a couple of weeks to go away.  The initial swelling only lasts a matter of days.

Arnica is a herbal remedy used to treat bruises.  You can either take it in a tablet form or you can apply arnica cream.  If after your treatment I notice a bruise start to form I will give you a complimentary 5ml pot of arnica cream to apply for the next couple of days.

The effects can last up to two years.  This is dependent on product used and on which area.