How do dermal fillers work?
Ahead of any filler, it helps to know what is going under your skin and who is putting it there.
What filler does under the skin
Dermal fillers are injectable products placed under the skin to change how an area looks. Ask your provider which product they use, what it contains, how deep it goes and how long they expect it to stay, and ask for printed information about it.
Product questions and injector questions
Keep questions about the product apart from questions about the person.
About the product:
- What is it called, and what is it made of?
- Can it be reversed or dissolved if you are unhappy with it or have a problem?
- Which area and what depth will it be placed in?
About the provider:
- Who will inject, and what are their qualifications?
- If the area reacts later, who takes the call?
If you want an overview first, read the American Society of Plastic Surgeons overview of dermal fillers. Then ask the clinic about its staff and how it handles a problem.
Two published reviews describe what clinicians watch for once filler is in. The systematic review and meta-analysis of adverse events from hyaluronic acid filler injections to the face pools reported events. If your filler is going near the eyes, read the review of complications after cosmetic periocular filler, which deals with preventing and handling problems there. Neither can tell you how your own result will go.
What to carry home from a filler visit
Leave with the filler's name, aftercare instructions and an after-hours contact. Write down what you were told about expected changes in the first days so you can compare them with what you see. Anything sudden, severe or getting rapidly worse needs medical attention the same day, and anything that feels like an emergency means calling emergency services.
Filler questions that can sit until the follow-up
Questions about how the result looks can wait for a routine appointment.