Dermal Filler Dissolving

Against a backdrop of ‘botched’ procedures and a pandemic-fuelled return to natural beauty, it would seem many are following the direction of a more natural approach to dermal filler procedure. We explore dermal filler dissolving to uncover whether this may be the next trend in the industry.

It’s fact that no trend moves straight up for long. There are always going to be oscillations, dips, and spikes with every trend – and dermal fillers don’t differ from the statistic.  

Despite the rise of dermal filler treatments, the trend of go-big-or-go-home has seen a decrease in popularity with patients opting for a more natural approach with their dermal filler procedures. 

Like any industry, trends within the aesthetic field come and go. However, since the global COVID-19 pandemic, patients became all too familiar with adopting a more natural look. Now, in 2022, it seems that this adaptation has stuck despite dermal filler appointments becoming easily available with restrictions easing.  

Due to the now-in era of a contemporary, supermodel-like look – patients are swaying towards subtle enhancements to help embrace a more toned-down look whilst still boasting volume and definition. Patients new to dermal filler treatments are wasting no time in the over-filled phase and delving straight into natural enhancements. However, those already flaunting the filler look are now turning to clinics for filler dissolving treatments. And so, the rise in dissolving to do-over begins with dermal filler dissolving treatments steadily on the rise.  

Unsurprisingly, the most common treatment of dermal filler dissolving is carried out on the lips. This comes after mass hysteria of the dreaded ‘duck-pout’ that circulates social media with patients sparing no efforts to avoid falling into this category. 

If you’re an aesthetician or practitioner, there’s no doubt that lip augmentation is one of the most highly requested treatments amongst others. With an ever-growing culture of people desperate for the perfect pout, many patients now view regular lip augmentation top-ups as necessary as a nail appointment. 

As many know, celebrity beauty trends will always influence consumer habits, especially in the aesthetics industry. One of the highest-profile celebrities, renowned for their love for dermal filler, is Kylie Jenner. After famously announcing her plan of action to have her lip fillers dissolved in favour of a subtler approach – dermal dissolving is quickly becoming one of the most requested procedures in clinics. However, this isn’t to say that the mass bookings of this procedure are solely down to Jenner’s doing. There are various reasons why people opt to have their lip fillers dissolved, so let’s delve into them. 

Reasons For Dissolving Lip Filler 

1. Patients want to take a more natural approach

As prementioned, the shift of dermal filler treatments has taken favour of a more natural approach. This is because patients are beginning to understand that now more than ever, less is more with a subtle enhancement often looking more flattering for the face. Moreover, some individuals may simply feel like they’ve almost outgrown the exaggerated lip look by seeing the return of a more natural look as the best personal option. This isn’t to say, by any means, that an overfilled lip is unflattering however – the preference of a subtle enhancement over a substantial one is seemingly taking the top spot.  

As aforesaid, celebrity culture also has a key impact on consumer habits which may also enforce the reason for a subtler look, with Hollywood’s long list of supermodels boasting subtle yet contemporary looking features. 

2. To Resolve issues with Previous Treatment

It’s often that we hear stories of a ‘botched’ lip look. Whether this is from articles we see on social media or word-of-mouth, it’s a prominent fear within the industry.

This undesirable result may be due to an overfilled injection site or a wrongly placed needle – something easily avoidable for those who have the correct skillset. Overfilled lip augmentations can not only make the lips look uneven and unnaturally voluminous, but they can also cause the patient pain and discomfort. An overfilled dermal filler treatment can result in extreme bruising and swelling, a side effect all practitioners understand the potential risk of.   Moreover, poor placement of the needle during a lip augmentation procedure can create various issues for the patient. One of the major issues of this is the potential blocking of veins or arteries. Besides excessive swelling and potential infection, an incorrect injection protocol can also lead to vascular occlusion and in more serious cases, necrosis.

Vascular occlusion is when blood is no longer able to pass through a blood vessel. It may be a complete occlusion or partial occlusion, resulting in a diminished blood supply. This can be caused when the dermal filler is accidentally injected into the artery – resulting in a blockage of circulation in oxygen and nutrients to the cells. Furthermore, necrosis is the fatal result of vascular occlusion if left untreated. 

Necrosis can be defined as, “the death of most or all the cells in an organ or tissue due to disease, injury, or failure of the blood supply”. While necrosis is a very real and serious complication of dermal filler treatments, actual occurrences are quite rare. Reports suggest that for all dermal filler treatments, only 1 in 100,000 results in necrosis.

3.To start fresh

Now more than ever especially, patients are opting for dermal filler dissolving treatments to have their lips re-filled in pursuit of a precise, yet subtle pout. After a session of dermal filler dissolving, the lips will return to normal after a few days, depending on the amount of dermal filler pre-injected into the lip.  

Once the lip filler has dissolved, patients can then take another visit to their practitioner where they can have their lips re-filled whilst taking a more natural approach. One of the more popular lip options which have taken the industry by storm is the ‘Russian Lip Technique’. For those who have had previous lip augmentation, The Russian Lip Technique requires no filler placed around the top borders of your lip. So, for the technique to be carried out to its full potential, a dissolve of the previous lip filler is required. 

For those who regret having lip fillers, or maybe just want to take the plunge to a more natural look, it’s possible to get dermal fillers dissolved. But how hard is it to reverse lipa augmentation fillers? What does ‘dissolving’ mean? 

How To Dissolve Dermal Filler 

Firstly, the body naturally breaks down dermal filler that is injected into the body. However, for a quicker and more effective dissolving process, there is a quicker solution – an injection of Hyaluronidase. Hyaluronidase is an enzyme that is naturally produced in the body, working to dissolve Hyaluronic Acid – the primary ingredient in dermal fillers.The injection process of Hyaluronidase will aid in regaining the natural shape of the lip faster than usual. With this dissolving treatment, results will be visible within 3-4 days as opposed to a few months with the natural dissolving process. Essentially, a Hyaluronidase treatment works to break down any remains of dermal filler safely and comfortably.  

Moreover, because, like the dermal fillers themselves, this treatment uses a naturally occurring enzyme in the body – this treatment is very safe. However, there is a small risk of an allergic reaction to the hyaluronidase injected. This reaction may cause the injected treatment to continue to dissolve the natural hyaluronic acid in your lips present there before your lip fillers treatment, so it could take away some of the volume.  Please note that dissolving lip fillers alongside any other aesthetic practice is only ever safe when performed by a medically trained professional.   Hyaluronidase is sold online by the reliable online aesthetic supplier, Fox Pharma.  *This is a prescription-only item and requires a prescription from a registered UK prescriber before it can be dispatched.

By Florence Goulbourne