Many of us have tried this treatment for facial volumization, feature enhancement, wrinkles, fine lines, and dermal fillers. It is a non-surgical winner. However, many patients reconsider that choice and ask Can you dissolve fillers? The silver lining, however, is that dermal filler removal is something that can be done (though not with every filler, every area, or at every time). When and How Filler Can Be Removed The 2nd of December 2022 For cosmetic practitioners, the answer to the question of if, when, and how fillers can be removed is vital information that needs to be at the forefront of your mind whenever with a patient.
What are the dermal fillers?
Dermal fillers are injectable products that help replace lost volume and fill in lines and contours. Most fillers are made of hyaluronic acid (HA), a substance that exists naturally in the skin to add moisture and volume. HA fillers such as Juvederm and Restylane are the most common injected fillers used due to their biocompatibility and reversibility. Fillers like Calcium Hydroxylapatite (CaHA) and Poly-L-Lactic Acid (PLLA) provide longer-lasting structural support and collagen stimulation but are less easily dissolved compared to HA. The ideal type of filler differs depending on your desired results, injection area, and treatment goals.
Why Might Someone Want to Remove Their Fillers?
Though fillers are meant to be eventually absorbed and therefore reversible, sometimes patients come in wanting them removed for the opposite reason. These may include:
Poor Results: If the filler looks bumpy, unnatural, or is otherwise not quite what the patient wanted, then a patient may get less than complete satisfaction.
Overfilling or Migration: Fillers sometimes migrate away from the original injection site, creating an uneven or unwanted look.
Aesthetic Values Change: Some patients may just wish to look more natural as they age.
Hypersensitivity or Other Edema or Pain: Occasionally there is an allergy or unending swelling or irritation that may need filler removal.
A good understanding of the reasons allows practitioners to handle the patients concerns and to better sail through the removals with their patients.
Can All Fillers Be Removed?
Part of these injections are irreversible. Hyaluronic acid fillers are the most flexible, as they can be dissolved with hyaluronidase, an enzyme. While HA fillers can be dissolved easily, non-HA fillers (Calcium Hydroxylapatite and Poly-L-Lactic Acid) cannot be dissolved so easily. These fills, however, have fewer options to be dissolved and can take a year or more for the filler to go away by itself, based on the filler and metabolic patience.
Patients must be informed about these limitations during the consult: data shown can aid in guiding decisions and be framed relative to filler type and whether it is permanent and reversible or irreversible.
How Are Dermal Fillers Removed?
For HA filler patients, the removal process utilizes an enzyme known as hyaluronidase to digest hyaluronic acid. So with that now out of the way, here is what exactly that process looks like:
Assessment and Plan: The practitioner will start with an assessment of what you are getting worked on and talk about what you want to see happen. They ensure to deposit hyaluronidase solely in the areas they wish to dissolve filler, lessening the risk of untreated areas getting disturbed.
The application of the hyaluronidase: The enzyme is gently injected into the region where it is necessary to dissolve the filler. In general, the whole procedure takes just minutes to complete, and patients might feel the effects within 24 to 48 hours as the filler dissolves.
Continued Aftercare: If there was a heavy amount of filler to dissolve, most patients will need to come back for several sessions. They will make sure that the filler does not entirely dissipate and this region heals uniformly.
Non-HA fillers are harder to remove. The only negative thing is that one has to wait for the body to get rid of the filler passively, as it takes approximately one or more years. Surgical removal may be an option in some extreme scenarios, but this action must only be a possibility if it is essential for wellbeing motives, as this will be followed by scarring and complications.
What to Expect During and After the Removal Process
It’s generally a quick process to get rid of a filler, particularly when using hyaluronidase to dissolve HA fillers, but there are some risk factors and complications that could occur with this treatment:
Acute Reaction and Ecchymosis: You may have mild swelling, redness, or bruise at the site of the injection. These symptoms usually self-resolve within 3 days.
Dissolving a High Volume of HA: A large volume of HA filler dissolved can mean a fast loss of volume.
Healing (and settling) time is 3–7 days. At this time, patients should also avoid extreme sun exposure and not do any sort of heavy exercise or pressure on the area.
Follow-Up Appointments: These appointments allow the practitioner to monitor progress and satisfy any outstanding treatment needs or adjustments.
Giving patients an idea of the recovery time for each procedure can help them to prepare for any possible temporary physical changes.
When Is It Safe to Reapply Fillers?
Our patients have been away from fillers for some time, and few even wish to get the fillers re-done this time, either to maintain the look or because the fillers they removed also had other problems—nursing them as well. When this will be depends on:
Healing Period: Most of the practitioners suggest waiting at least 2 weeks after having filler dissolved because it takes some time for the zone to heal completely.
Patient Willingness: The patient may need longer to think about re-treatment, especially where there was a complication or discomfort involved in their motivation for initial removal.
New Filler Class: If a non-HA filler was previously used, switching to a HA filler may be prudent due to their reversibility.
That means that patients can accomplish what they set out to do, but also patients are directed to how frequently they should be safely reapplying.
Article’s Summary
It is necessary to know how fillers dissolve, as well as which fillers cannot be dissolved, in order to give the patient complete information. Because hyaluronic acid fillers can be decomposed with hyaluronidase injections, hyaluronic acid persistent fillers are difficult to remove and can take many months to dissolve the joint. Understanding options in consultations helps translate to satisfied outcomes, ultimately creating a safe, pleasant dermal filler experience for patients.
Patients and providers are provided flexibility and peace of mind at any given time. If there was a cosmetic or preference or even a medical reason, lines of fillers could be withdrawn when needed.