Filler: What are they?
The lip fillers are filling materials, of natural and / or synthetic derivation, which are injected with the aid of thin needles inside the labial mucosa or along the contour of the same.
Before practicing lip filler, the specialist should give some important information to the patient:
- Identify the characteristics and properties of the filler components
- Define the technical methods with which the treatment will take place
- Make known any precautionary measures to be implemented
- Respect the clinical indications (besides those dictated by aesthetics)
- Inform the patient of the aesthetic results that the treatment can give to the lips
Anesthesia and duration
An anesthetic ointment is applied half an hour before treatment, as intradermal injections can be bothersome and painful for some patients.
Injection of the filler into the oral mucosa generally takes place in the clinic and the session lasts about an hour.
Injection mode
The classic technique involves needle injection and can be:
- Linear . The needle is inserted along the area to be filled and the needle is retracted to inject the material continuously. The component that makes up the filler goes to occupy the space that the needle lets loose.
- Serial . The filler is injected with more punctures, usually 4-5 per lip. The injected material is contiguous in all areas of application.
The doctor may choose to use a flexible microcanule, rather than a needle, in order to make the application even less traumatic and to allow a uniform distribution of the material. This technique allows the treatment of the entire surface of the lips, limiting the entry points at the two corners of the mouth (only one entrance hole for each lip).
To be taken into consideration before resorting to lip filler treatment:
- the use of lip fillers is simple, but it is necessary to explain precisely the nature of the treatment and the relative result that can be obtained, in order to avoid any disappointment in the patient's expectations.
- The treatment usually involves several applications: the patient must be informed of the impossibility of obtaining the desired result with a single injection during a single session.
- If during application with the filler an edema appears at the injection site, it may be difficult to establish whether sufficient material has been injected or whether the filler has been injected symmetrically or not. The patient can undergo control after 1-2 weeks in order to evaluate the treatment result and correct any asymmetric areas.
- Every treatment with lip filler should be applied in a "conservative" way: it is possible to inject other material, but if it is exceeded with the application, it is only possible to wait for the reabsorption of the component (possibly favored by the injection of the hyaluronidase enzyme in the case of filler is based on hyaluronic acid, which when practiced by expert hands can eliminate most of the unwanted hyaluronic deposits).
Directions to be followed after treatment:
- Avoid the sun or any activity in the cold until the swelling disappears.
- Do not expose yourself to the sun if an edema or bruise is evident.
- Do not take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, unless otherwise prescribed by a doctor
- Use an antiedema cream, if prescribed by your doctor
- Avoid alcohol
- Do not use make-up within the next 12 hours
Results
The results appear evident immediately and are definitive in a few days, after the disappearance of the typical post-treatment swelling.
Complications
Usually the complications caused by treatment with labial fillers are mild or modest: many resolve spontaneously, representing a transient problem.
The complications that arise can be:
- Superficial necrosis due to vessel congestion.
- Transient bleaching of the treated area, usually transient.
How to prevent it: avoid exerting excessive pressure in the area subjected to filling with filler.
- Hematic reinfusion with the formation of a small necrotic area.
How to prevent it : pay attention to the inoculation plan to avoid an overinjection.
- Formation of a hematoma or ecchymosis.
The typical swelling that occurs following the injection of the lip filler generally disappears after 24-48 hours.
To alleviate the sensation of discomfort linked to the onset of this effect, it is possible to use warm-moist compresses and / or the use of topical cortisone (to be applied in the treated region).
Final considerations
The aesthetic treatments of the labial and perioral area can be considered an integral part of the aesthetic treatment of the smile.
In order to optimize the activity performed by the specialist doctor it is essential:
- inform the patient in detail about how the technical procedure for labial filler injection will be carried out (as foreseen for all medical procedures);
- describe the presence of any complications related to the infiltration of the filler;
- explain the need to perform several treatment sessions, in order to obtain the best result desired by the patient;
- define the economic terms of the treatment.
The doctor can collect photographic evidence of his activity related to the treatment with the lip filler, from the pre-operative phase to the post-operative phase, as an "objective" support to the patient's documentation.
Over the years, lip fillers have allowed us to obtain increasingly natural and non-invasive, but above all personalized results, in order to respect the proportions and the harmony of the face.
