How Long Does it Take Dermal Fillers to Work?

Just coming out of a beauty clinic can make you feel like you can’t wait to flaunt the results of your dermal filler treatments. But findings say it might be a good idea to wait until your skin adjusts to the treatment so that you get the best results possible. However, you may be wondering how much time you’ll spend doing this.

So how long does it take for dermal fillers to work? While immediate results may be seen after the treatment, it may take a while for the full result of the procedure to be revealed. It takes approximately 4 weeks for your skin to adjust and fully integrate the injectable filler. If you don’t see any results within the prescribed time period, consult with your aesthetics provider.

How Dermal Fillers Work

There are different target areas where dermal filler injection is applied to. After all, facial fillers don’t just target every wrinkle, it also aims to add volume or enhance the appearance of your tear trough, lip area, and cheeks. Filler injections may be in the form of cheek filler, lip filler, tear trough filler, or filler treatments for your nasolabial fold.

Dermal filler treatment is a personalized cosmetic procedure. The amount of filler and other details about the treatment plan varies per person. Unlike other cosmetic treatments and facial plastic surgery procedures, dermal fillers almost work instantly to enhance your look. But it usually takes some time to fully integrate into your skin tissues.

Generally, it takes 2 weeks for the dermal fillers to settle in your dermal tissues. It will then interact with the water in your skin. In the process, it gives you a healthier, more youthful appearance by hydrating your skin.

The results from the procedure tend to improve over the first months after the dermal filler treatment. For any side effects such as bruising, among others, it’s important to consult with your aesthetic provider. Be sure to also touch on your recovery plan when creating your treatment plan.

When Will My Dermal Filler Treatment Results be Visible?

So most patients report that they see the result from their procedure almost immediately after the treatment. While in some cases, the treatment area improves over the first few months. It varies from person to person, just like how treatment plans are personalized.

It may take 2 weeks for your dermal fillers to completely settle in, which is why some restrictions are extended up to that time period. But the peak effect for dermal fillers is 4 weeks, which may be why some patients report to have seen the best results from their procedure during this time period.

The process of “settling in” of the dermal fillers on your face should be accompanied with proper care in consideration of the restrictions. To allow injectable filler treatments to fully settle in the face without disruptions, gentle interactions with the skin are advised.

So when you cleanse your skin, you should avoid applying pressure or massaging it. Other procedures and treatments (e.g, facials, laser treatments, waxing) should also be put on hold at least until the facial fillers settle in after 2 weeks. Furthermore, excessive hot temperatures and exercise are also factors that may disrupt the settling of your facial fillers.

There may be cases when your facial fillers (e.g, lip filler, tear trough filler) seem to fade after 2 weeks of the procedure. This is because swelling filled in the treatment area much more than the injected facial fillers. If that’s the case, this problem may simply be resolved by additional touch-ups.

1. Factors that Affect Efficacy of Dermal Fillers

The efficacy of dermal fillers depend on certain factors that affect how long it will last before the results from the procedure wears off, such as the following:

• Your body’s response to the treatment
• The type of filler you have chosen
• The consistency of your maintenance treatments

a. Your Skin’s Reaction to the Treatment

The response of your body to the dermal fillers injected may be affected by some of your individual characteristics such as your metabolism and lifestyle, among others. Side effects may vary depending on how your body reacts so you may expect some bruising or swelling. These are something that are easy to prevent with a few tips.

The longevity of the effect of the filler treatment also depends on the location of the treatment area. Treatments done on mobile areas tend to wear off more quickly.

b. Type of Dermal Filler

So dermal fillers are personalized treatments, which means that there’s really no exact answer to the question: how long will it last? But there are certain characteristics or guidelines on the types of dermal fillers that may be helpful to set your expectations on its longevity.

Its lasting effect should be the least of your concerns as dermal fillers are temporary treatments. Consult with your plastic surgeon for the appropriate type of filler injection treatments for you.

c. The Consistency of Maintenance Treatments

The number of filler injection touch-ups you had contributes to the efficacy of the filler. The dermal filler applied to your skin and touch-up intervals tend to be longer if maintenance treatments are done consistently.

2. Efficacy of Each Type of Dermal Filler

Dermal filler treatment is a non-invasive procedure that has temporary results, although its effects may be visible for up to 6 months or several years. The longevity of the effects of dermal filler treatments usually depend on the active ingredient of dermal filler, type of dermal filler, how the filler was applied, and how much filler will be injected. Some of the known active ingredients of dermal fillers are the following:

• Deoxycholic acid
• poly-L lactic acid
• Calcium hydroxylapatite
• Hyaluronic acid

a. Deoxycholic Acid

Deoxycholic acid is a naturally produced chemical compound of your body, which processes and eliminates dietary fat. This is an active ingredient of Kybella, a dermal filler treatment that aims to reduce excess fat under the chin and around the neck, known as submental fullness.

When injected to your skin, deoxycholic acid removes the localized white fat cells around the treatment area. It’s good to note that this involves a series of injections received by the patient over time. But the results of this treatment are evident within 4 to 6 weeks following your dermal filler treatment.

b. Poly-L Lactic Acid

Sculptra Aesthetic contains this active ingredient. This dermal filler treatment is specifically designed to address all sorts of volume loss and facial lines. The amount of filler injections given to the patient depends on the decade of age. This allows you to achieve the best result from your dermal filler procedure. Patients typically see the final results of this procedure around 6 weeks after the treatment.

c. Calcium Hydroxylapatite

Radiesse contains this active ingredient, and like other dermal fillers, this is also used for facial lines, wrinkles, laxity, and loss of volume. But this ingredient is mostly associated with procedures designed to improve facial fat loss associated with the HIV virus. This may be done with or without lidocaine, an anesthetic liquid to minimize pain or discomfort during the dermal filler procedure.

d. Hyaluronic Acid (HA Filler)

Injectable dermal fillers using this active ingredient are the most widely used fillers when it comes to facial filler treatments because of its composition and use. It’s the most common content of lip fillers, tear trough fillers, and other dermal filler injections for fine lines such as nasolabial fold or any facial wrinkle.

Results from hyaluronic acid fillers using this active ingredient are generally seen around 8 weeks after the treatment, although this may differ depending on your skin’s response to the material. Moreover, hyaluronic acid filler treatment procedures are as follows:

• Restylane
• Juvederm
• Belotero

Type of HA Filler	Procedure	Target Area
Restylane	Restylane Silk	Lip area
	Restylane Lyft	Midface, Forehead
	Restylane Refyne	Laugh lines or nasolabial fold
	Restylane Defyne	Laugh lines or nasolabial fold (moderate to severe)
	Restylane Kysse	Upper lip lines, lip color
	Restylane Contour	Midface
Juvederm	Juvederm Ultra XC	Lip area
	Juvederm Volbella XC	Lip area
	Juvederm Voluma XC	Midface
	Juvederm Vollure XC	Facial lines and wrinkles (moderate to severe)
Belotero	Belotero Balance	Nasolabial folds (moderate to severe)

3. Comparison with Botox Cosmetic Procedures

Another non-invasive plastic surgery is Botox, which are also injectable treatment procedures. Comparing Botox injection treatments with dermal filler procedures involves evaluating not only the period of time before full results are visible, but also the longevity of the results. Shown below in the table is how they differ based on the considerations mentioned:

Considerations	Botox Treatments	Dermal Fillers
Visibility of final results	3 to 7 days	2 to 4 weeks
Longevity	3 to 4 months	9 months to 2 years

Dermal Fillers Aftercare for Longer-Lasting Results

The period of time before the final results are seen, as well as the extent of time that these results are visible depends on your body’s reaction to the injected fillers.

It helps to avoid certain things right after the treatment to avoid bruising or swelling, and speed up the recovery process so you could see the final results. But your aftercare habits after the procedure also contributes to the maintenance and longevity of dermal fillers. Below are some aftercare tips for longer-lasting dermal filler results:

1. Minimal UV Exposure

Overexposure to UV light is one of the common causes of skin damage. It’s important to minimize exposure from the sun using sunscreen with at least SPF 45 to protect your skin from UV radiation.

2. Consistent Skincare

Constantly moisturize and keep your skin healthy to avoid contradicting the results of the treatment. You can do this by staying hydrated and using the skincare products recommended by your doctor to enhance the effects of your dermal fillers.

3. Avoidance of Stress

Stress speeds up the aging process, and affects the lasting result of your face fillers. Avoiding it may be difficult but it’s important to at least minimize your stress levels to extend the effects of your fillers.

4. Regular Dermal Filler Treatment Maintenance

Even if the results haven’t faded yet, regular touch-ups to your facial fillers are recommended as maintenance treatments to enhance the effects of the facial filler treatments. This also trains your muscles to have better response to the material injected

Treatments Offered at Dr. Lanna Aesthetics

With a wide range of dermal filler treatments to choose from (e.g, lip fillers, tear trough filler, cheek filler, and other facial fillers), you may achieve your beauty goals with Dr. Lanna Aesthetics.

We offer a variety of safe aesthetic services perfect for your aesthetic needs and plastic surgery needs, such as the following:

• Laser treatment procedures (e.g, laser hair removal, laser skin resurfacing)
• Lip treatments (lip filler treatments, lip augmentation, lip injection procedures)
• Restylane (e.g, Restylane Silk, Restylane Lyft, Restylane Refyne, Restylane Defyne, Restylane Kysse, Restylane Contour)
• Juvederm (e.g, Juvederm Ultra XC, Juvederm Volbella XC, Juvederm Voluma XC, Juvederm Vollure XC)
• Other dermal filler treatments (e.g, Belotero Balance)
• Other injectable treatment procedures (Botox cosmetic procedures)

Achieve Your Beauty Goals with Dr. Lanna Aesthetics’ Services

Dr. Lanna Aesthetics is one of NYC’s most sought-after groups of aesthetic experts when it comes to injectable treatments and other aesthetic procedures. We are dedicated to serving you with safe and long-lasting treatments and procedures to help you achieve your beauty goals.

We offer a wide range of aesthetic procedures including dermal filler treatments, Botox, and other cosmetic procedures. To know more about the services we offer, you may check out our website at http://doctorlanna.com/ or contact us at (929) 565 - 7539.