One of the brilliant things about dermal fillers is that they involve little to no downtime, and they can offer a solution to aesthetic concerns without the need for drastic surgery. That said, dermal fillers are an injectable, and, as such, there'll always be the small risk of unwanted side effects. But what is normal, and what should you contact your practitioner about?
Bruising and swelling
Here at Eterno Aesthetics, Nurse Hannah is a highly skilled and experienced practitioner, so her injecting technique, along with dermal filler placement and high-quality products we use means this is kept to a minimum.
However, a small amount of bruising and swelling around the treated areas is completely normal and to be expected!! So plan your treatment in plenty of time ahead of holidays and special events. We recommend not having any treatments at least 2 weeks before any event; 4 weeks being optimal to allow things to settle and for any tweaks to be made.
We ask that patients allow a full x4 week period for residual swelling to subside and for filler to fully integrate. We can’t make tweaks before this because we can’t see the true results while swelling and bruising is present.
Pain around the treated area
With any dermal filler treatment, we are happy to apply anaesthetic cream before every procedure to keep pain to a minimum. There’s also a numbing agent contained within most of the dermal filler products we use.
Patients do report tenderness at injection sites, but this should subside over a few days, along with any associated swelling and redness. Always flag any ongoing severe pain after procedures.
Lumps and bumps
When it comes to dermal filler treatments, you will see immediate results while you are still in the clinic. However, the product needs time to settle under the skin.
This process can mean that you notice a few small lumps and bumps where the product has been placed, from trauma caused by the needle. This should subside over 7 - 10 days and full tissue integration occur by 4 weeks.
Filler seems to have worn off
In some cases of dermal filler treatments, it can feel like results have lasted a short period of time.
This is because swelling has subsided, which can feel like volume has been lost. For example, it is quite common for lip filler swelling to continue to worsen over 48 hours following treatment, and then go down over the next few days.
To see your true results, allow 2 weeks for swelling to completely settle. Often more than one treatment session will be required to achieve the desired result and this would be discussed with you at your consultation.
Whilst small lumps and bumps under the skin are quite typical after a dermal filler treatment, if you are experiencing particularly large, painful lumps, we recommend contacting the clinic for advice, as this may suggest a mild reaction.
Spreading redness, increasing pain, and a high temperature are signs of infection, which usually develop within the first few days after treatment.
It’s very uncommon to develop an infection with dermal fillers, but it’s extremely important to visit a highly experienced healthcare professional to minimise this risk! It’s important to keep the area clean for the first few days, avoid wearing makeup and touching injection sites for 24 hours.
Nurse Hannah is a medical professional and trained to deal with all types of side effects. We also provide personalised after-care advice post each treatment, as well as a 24-hour emergency point of contact should you have any concerns.
If you would like to book a dermal filler consultation, you can do so at our Sheffield-based skincare clinic located on Broadfield Road, close to Abbeydale Road / Chesterfield Road. Find out more about our dermal filler treatments here.