New scientific report gives fillers the all-clear – if deployed by professionals

Dermal fillers are a commonplace procedure these days, to the extent that people were giving them as Christmas presents this holiday season – but a new report released last month outlined that potential clients have to ensure they get their treatment from trained professionals.

The report, which was published in the American online journal JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery in mid-December, is the most comprehensive study yet of complications wrought by incorrect filler procedures, and underlined the importance of going to the right people for treatment.

No harm when done properly

As Dr Hani Rayess – an otolaryngology resident at the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit and the lead author of the study – pointed out, the vast majority of filler procedures carried out by trained cosmetic surgeons are safe and successful. “The paper demonstrated that fillers are very safe and that the most common complications are swelling and infection, which are relatively benign complications, with no permanent side effects.”

However, there is an extremely minimal risk that things can go wrong, leading to litigation and both short-term and long-term damage. This highlights a concern felt across the board by the aesthetic surgery community: the rise in physicians (and even members of the public) who are not trained or licenced, offering filler treatments. According to another study published by the Aesthetic Surgery Journal last summer, a mere 17.8 per cent of plastic surgery-related posts in North America appear to come from board-certified cosmetic surgeons: the rest seemed to come from non-certified professionals.

Check who you’re dealing with

It’s safe to say that fillers are a victim of their own success: it’s routinely flagged up as a walk-in, walk-out treatment with instant results, which everyone appears to be using. However, a filler procedure is more complicated than that. A trained professional knows exactly where to inject filler material, how much to inject, and how far under the skin it should go. Too many untrained practitioners do not.

Moral of the story: it’s vital that you do your research and know who you’re putting your business towards.

  • Share: