First and foremost, fillers immediately add volume to the areas of the face where they’re injected, which fills in creases, folds, depressions and scars. They can also smooth out wrinkles in the face.

Fillers also act as a cushion underneath the previous folds it has corrected. The cushion reduces how much the skin can crease with facial movements, like frowning, thus preventing the wrinkle from returning.

Fillers are made from a compound that naturally occurs in the skin and has the ability to lock in moisture, so they also provide hydrating benefits for the skin, and there is evidence to suggest that they also stimulate natural collagen production in your skin.

Dermal fillers can be injected anywhere that volume is required to fill in or plump up a fold, a sagging structural feature, a wrinkle or a depression. They can also be used to enhance facial features.

Most common sites for dermal filler injections are:

• Frown lines, grooves and folds around the mouth, the smile lines and the jowling lines, and the tear trough hollows under the eyes.
• Lips
• Forehead and temple
• Cheekbones and chin in the case of a recessed chin.
• Nose – alter the shape of your nose.
• Jawline – achieve a more youthful structure to or create a more angular, lifted and filled jawline.
• Surgical scars or indented post-acne scars on the face or anywhere on the body.

Dermal fillers have a fast-acting local anaesthetic mixed into the gel, and the actual injection time is very short, so any discomfort that may present is gone very quickly.

The injected area may be numb for about 20 minutes after the procedure, and it may become tender to the touch, but any tenderness should subside in just a few days.

In most cases, you’ll be able to return to your normal daily activities straight away. There may be some temporary redness which can be masked with a mineral powder. Bruising can occur, but we do our best to minimise bruising with post-treatment pressure on the needle entry points.

Swelling is apparent for a few hours but is usually not uncomfortable. It settles relatively quickly depending on your skin type, the site of the injection and the amount of product used.

Lip enhancements tend to require more time for the swelling to go down, so you may prefer to do them after work instead of midday.

It is very important for you to revisit the clinic for a follow up consultation and “moulding” within one to two days after the dermal filler is injected. We prefer not to massage too firmly or mould the filler immediately after an injection as this can lead to unnecessary bruising.

The injected fillers will often move slightly over the first day, so post injection massage and moulding is necessary. This involves smoothing out the gel padding, to ensure that there are no lumps and that the dermal filler is providing the maximum repair and support in the correct area that it was intended to be inserted.

• Anti-wrinkle injections are safe muscle-relaxing solutions that are placed via a series of small injections into individual muscles that are causing wrinkles. This prevents the muscles from making unnecessary facial expressions and further creasing and damaging the skin. This in turn prevents wrinkles long term.
• Dermal fillers, on the other hand, are made of safe gel-like compounds that are injected under the skin for instant plumping of lines and creases, so you appear younger by recreating volume you’ve lost.

In a nutshell, wrinkle prevention injections stop the muscle from creating lines and fillers add volume to fill the lines where the skin has previously been creased.

Dermal fillers can be used to fill in the vertical frown lines between the eyebrows and horizontal lines beneath the eyes, but anti-wrinkle injections are a better option for horizontal lines across the forehead where the skin is naturally thinner.

For a full facial rejuvenation, dermal fillers and anti-wrinkle injections work best together because different areas of the face may be more suited to one treatment over the other.

Yes, they even work better in conjunction with each other. For example, when a deep frown line has formed between the eyebrows, filler may be used to fill out the crease while anti-wrinkle injections prevent it from creasing further, enhancing and prolonging the result. Similarly, when the sides of the mouth begin to droop, anti-wrinkle injections will relax the depressor muscles of the mouth while dermal fillers support, lift and straighten the angle of the mouth.

There are certain areas of the face for which dermal fillers work better, such as smile lines and under the eyes, and other areas where anti-wrinkle injections are a better option, such as horizontal lines in the forehead, where the skin tends to be thinner, naturally.

No, dermal fillers will not stretch out your skin. When they are used for anti-ageing purposes, dermal fillers are used to restore lost volume in areas where the skin is already lax. Additionally, the fillers themselves are soft enough to move with the skin without stretching it out.

For facial contouring treatments, fillers are placed slightly deeper at specific anchor points where they can support the skin without any stretching.

There is also ample evidence to suggest that when fillers are first injected, they stimulate a regenerative response in the collagen matrix of your skin. This means that fillers may even contribute to preserving natural elasticity in your skin. They do not stretch it out.