Looking after your Lip Filler and Anti Wrinkle Injections – A Clients Experience by Emily A.

You’ve just had a top up to your frown lines and your very first ml of filler into your lips. You are looking fabulous, you walk out of the treatment, a little swollen but ready for your injectables to take full effect. 

Your nurse or doctor gave you that little hand held mirror and now you can’t take your eyes off yourself. You are in complete awe, amazement and you can’t believe how fantastic you look. In that very moment you have opened your eyes, stopped clenching your teeth and your nurse has revealed to you her work and it is a work of art. Your lips are plump, the lip symmetry is improved and they are full of volume. 

Before you left your consultation, your nurse discussed the post care instructions with you and how to look after your lip filler and anti wrinkle treatment areas, but were you really listening? 

It is natural to want to show off your new face as soon as it is done, but let’s remember a few things. Anti wrinkle injections does not take full effect until 10-14 days after the procedure has been treated. Some people notice the results within 4 days. When receiving any type of anti wrinkle or filler you have to remember that everyone is different. Some women I know, their bodies breakdown the product so much faster than other people. As someone who personally gets procedures done, I am one of those people whose body does not metabolise filler very fast. It had been years since my last ml was injected into my lips and I had people regularly ask me if I had had them done recently, to their surprise when I would say “No not since September of 2018”.

I have recently started having my frown lines treated. I noticed the effect about day 4 almost 10 days before the full effectiveness of the treatment and thank goodness as I couldn’t wait for the 14 days to to be over. I was very happy with the results. I looked fresher, smoother and felt more confident in my appearance.  I had to tell people I was frowning at them because I had absolutely no movement whatsoever. I was treated in December and only now it’s the end of March so you can expect to get approximately 3 months from the antiwrinkle treatment.  I can see movement come back and people are much more aware of my frown lines.

When it comes to looking after my filler and anti wrinkle treatments I have made some mistakes along the way. The first time I had my lips injected with filler the nurse gave me post care instructions which said; rest for the remainder of the day, apply ice to help reduce bruising and swelling, Don’t expose yourself to excessive heat like excessive exercise, going for a run or sitting in a sauna. That day after work I went home and had a hot steamy shower, put on my pj’s, my dressing gown and jumped into my bed and put electric blanket on. It is safe to say that I woke up in the middle of the night with lips exretmely swollen from the excessive heat from the electric blanket. I was in shock, fortunately over the next couple of days the swelling settled down. 

 You might be thinking, why is it important not to have excessive heat and filler treatments? When your body is exposed to heat after the filler has been injected into the treated area, it causes the blood vessels to dilate and can contribute to more bruising and a fair amount of discomfort and let me tell you my lips were so swollen. 

After my experience, if you are thinking about getting filler done please listen to the post care instructions which include;

  • NO excessive exercise for 6 hours which includes; gym, running,
  • No alcohol for 24 hours
  • Avoid excessive heat/sun exposure for 7 days 
  • Keep hydrated
  • Avoid makeup for 12 hours
  • Do not lay down for four hours post treatment
  • No massaging or rubbing of the injected areas
  • Gently Ice the area for up to 20 minutes per hour 
  • Avoid any skin needling or laser for 2 weeks 
  • No Covid vaccines for 2 weeks before or after your treatments 
  • No Dental treatments for 2 weeks before or after your treatments
  • Avoid aspirin, ibuprofen & fish oil 48 hours post treatment 

 With regards to anti wrinkle treatments, if you would like the most out of that “liquid gold”, please avoid the following;  

  • No rubbing or massaging the injected area for at least 6 hours
  • Avoid strenuous exercise for 24 hours that means you can take a free pass. 
  • Don’t wear tight fitting headwear that covers the area like hats 
  • Don’t lying face down. 
  • Sitting up right for 4 plus hours after your treatment 
  • Avoid alcohol 
  • Avoid makeup following all treatments.
  • Avoid heat exposure 
  • Avoid laser treatments, skin needling, and covid vaccines 2 weeks prior or after treatment

Please remember directly after having filler injected into your lips, you will be swollen for 48-72 hours and you will have numb lips. As we have rolled into 2021, anti wrinkle and lip filler is not a taboo subject. Whenever I have a compliment on my lips I love telling people and say “Thank you so much, I’ve been having them done for years.”

Alysha from Peninsula Aesthetics has been my absolute saving grace! From previous injectors, my lip filler was bumpy, migrating and my lips were uneven. I went to Alysha being in two minds, do I get more? Or do I get it all dissolved and start again. To begin with I had a lip flip, I did not add any volume. I had antiwrinkle injections in the upper lip also known as a lip flip. The lip flip simply turned the top lip out and it looked beautiful. Not long after that I went in and had half a ml injected mainly to my top lip which is where I felt that I had lost most of my volume in my lips and each side were asymmetrical. Since then, I do not think I have had more compliments on my lips ever!