I Dissolved The Filler In My Face

It only feels right to start this post with a disclaimer that this is not medical or aesthetic advice. I’m not a licensed injector or esthetician. I am just sharing my story, and strongly suggest you consult with your own medical professional for treatment. 

Okay, now that that’s out of the way…..

Phew, I’ve been on a journey in the injectable department. Can anyone else relate?

Alright, so if you’ve read my post about tips for your next botox appointment, then you know that I’ve been now stranger to Botox for the last few years. 

And then if you read my post about injections like Botox, Dysport, and filler then you’ll know that I hadn’t had any filler in my face….at that point. Okay, I’d done one syringe in my lips, but I’m talking about my face-face, ya know.

Not long after that post, I ended up getting filler under my eyes. 

And, just to paint the full picture, I had two hour-long consultations with two specialists before deciding to do it. These were separate appointments from getting the filler itself. I like to mention this, because it’s super important to get consults first, rather than just booking the injectable straight away.

Anyways, I got half of a syringe under the eyes. But not tear trough filler. It was more about smoothing out the bags under my eyes, so it was actually more like between the cheek and under eye, rather than directly under the eye itself.

I loved it. 

Straight away it gave me a more *refreshed look* while also helping to smooth out some of the lines around my eyes from volume loss. 

It was super subtle. No one noticed…but in a good way, ya know? 

The thing was I loved it, until I didn’t. And I loved it until it turned on me. 

Yep, this another story from another woman who had a bad experience with under eye filler. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about…just Google it. Because there’s a lot of stories about it. 

To be fair, I knew that going into it. I just thought: I’m getting such a small amount, and people do it all the time….so it probably won’t happen to me. 

Turns out I was wrong. 

Read this post with a licensed dermatologist on all the tips and tricks for your skin and beauty needs. 

Read this post with my facialist and laser tech for top skincare picks according to an expert.

I Dissolved The Filler In My Face

Let me start by giving you the facts upfront:

I had half of a syringe distributed under both eyes (that’s a pretty tiny amount). The filler used was Volbella, and I had it for 6 months before things got….weird.

How I Knew I Needed To Dissolve The Filler

Like I mentioned in the beginning, I loved the look of the filler immediately. I shouted it from the rooftops. I told my friends about it. I thought it was the greatest thing ever. 

So subtle, but made a big difference in the volume loss and wrinkles around my eyes. 

Plus, I felt like I always looked more awake, even if I’d literally just woken up. 

But then….things changed. 

Sinus Infection

The first thing that happened was that I got sick after a big trip. I had all the symptoms of Covid, but was testing negative. Think congestion, fever, sore throat, low energy…the works. But nothing too crazy. 

After having it for a few days, I was actually starting to feel better when I woke up and the right side of my face was extremely swollen and painful. 

My eye was puffy, my cheek was huge, and the right side of my mouth started to droop a little from the inflammation 

So, I went to the ER. Because this wasn’t normal for a cold/flu situation. Plus, it hurt a lot. 

After a CT scan of my face, they just found that one sinus was super blocked and not draining which caused the inflammation and puffiness. Okay…nothing to worry about at least. 

But also odd, because I haven’t had a sinus infection since childhood, and typically have NO drainage problems. 

Puffiness

At this point, I’m still not thinking it could be the filler. I just thought it was kind of a weird fluke thing, and wanted to move on from it. 

I went to my acupuncturist, and she put needles in my face, and the swelling reduced about 80% right away. I got away with treating the infection herbally, without having to take antibiotics, which I was relieved about in the midst of fertility drugs and whatnot. 

Although I felt better almost right away after acupuncture, I noticed that I was still really puffy. But, that’s also normal when you’re congested, or even just sick for that matter. 

But then I noticed that the puffiness was only right where the filler was.

Swelling

At this point, I’m starting to get skeptical about the filler. But, I was still wondering why it would only affect one side of my face, when both sides had filler in them. 

A few days later, we drove across the country to settle in a new state for a few months, and I noticed the puffiness was still there. At this point, it had been one week since the ER visit, and I felt totally fine from a sickness perspective. 

Visible Bump Under The Skin

What started as puffiness turned into swelling, and then the swelling stayed put as this visible kind bump under my skin exactly where the filler was. 

It was like the filler was inflamed, but everything else had gone down to normal size, which made the filler stand out even more. 

So now, the thing that was once subtle and natural looking looked like a puffy botched version of under eye filler. Great.

Intuition

Okay, but for real- it was really only noticeable if you sat there and studied my face. I was still going on my stories every day, and taking photos, and it really wasn’t that obvious.

I actually had to point it out to my wife for her to notice it. But once I did, she couldn’t not see it.

Needless to say, even though it wasn’t *that* bad, and even though I still liked that it smoothed out my under eye bags ... .something just didn’t feel right about it. 

I knew that it could all be a fluke, and I just had a bad sinus infection that had nothing to do with the filler, and I was freaking out over nothing. 

But my gut was telling me otherwise. 

So, I decided to book an hour-long consultation again with a new practitioner (not because I wouldn’t go back to the first person, but because we were in an entirely different state at this point). 

After that hour-long consult, I got the answer that I already knew: it would be best to dissolve it. 

How To Dissolve Filler

As I mentioned earlier in this post, I always book a consultation separate from the appointment itself. This way I can get the full hour with the practitioner to ask as many questions and deep dive as much as possible. 

Plus, most places will waive the consult fee should you choose to book any treatment with them afterwards. 

But also, even if you don’t, I think the rate is well worth an hour of medical professional’s time rather than trying to do my own research online. 

So, the steps to getting my filler dissolved were pretty simple. 

Step 1: Book A Consult

First and foremost, book that consultation to make sure the provider knows what you really want, what your questions are, what your issues may be. 

This will ensure you’re not rushed along the process, and that you can get as much clarity as needed. 

Step 2: Choose An Injector That You Trust

The other point of a consult is for you to feel out the injector. Do you trust this person?

I’m talking looking beyond the reviews or their social media following ...how does your body respond when you’re in a consultation with them?

If you have a consultation where you feel unsure, then book a consultation with someone else! You can interview people. You don’t need to rush into anything.

Step 3: Book An Appointment For Dissolving

Once you’ve done the consultation, and you land on the injector that you trust, then it’s time to actually book the appointment for dissolving the filler. 

Of course this is usually people’s main gripe about wanting the consultation baked into the injectable appointment itself in that you have to drive there twice, you have to carve out two appointment times instead of just once ...but it’s also, ummm, your face. 

This isn’t an area you want to just go with convenience. 

What To Expect When You Dissolve Filler In Your Face

At this point, I’m sure you’re wondering how the actual dissolving process went. So, let’s get into the top questions I know you have for me, shall we.

How much Hyaluronidase do I need?

This is why you need that consultation! It’s super helpful if you can tell your provider what kind of filler you have, how much you have, and how long you’ve had it. 

If you don’t know all these answers, then call the place where you had the filler done and get the records. This is super important in knowing how much of the Hyaluronidase to use. 

Apparently some injectors out there are going a bit ham on the dissolving and putting upwards of 10 vials in people’s faces who have only had one syringe of filler. Red flag. 

Get another consult if someone suggests that.

I personally went in for one vial, and after 24 hours had a follow up and saw that it wasn’t enough. So, I got a second vial. Keep in mind, I only had half of a syringe of filler, but that also kind of goes to show that it had balled up so tightly it needed more than she had initially thought.

How long does it take for the dissolving process to happen?

It’s honestly wild how fast it works. You can see it go down by about 50% right after the injection. Maybe even more for some people. 

As I just mentioned, I ended up getting two vials total spaced out over 48 hours. By the second vial, I saw it go down about 80% by about 1 - 2 days after the injection. 

I still have a tiny bit of filler left, and I’m going to wait for another few weeks to see if it breaks down more before getting anymore Hyaluronidase.

Is it painful?

I mean, it doesn’t feel good by any means. But, I will say, I was braced for a lot worse, because I’d read how horribly painful it is to dissolve filler. 

What I will say is that my right side hurt more than my left (that’s where the infection was), and the filler on the right side was a lot harder than the left, which made it more stingy to penetrate. 

This only confirmed that the infection and the filler were linked, and made me really happy about the choice to get it dissolved…even if it hurt a little bit in the process. 

What’s the downtime?

I personally didn’t need any downtime after dissolving the filler. I was a little tender afterwards, but nothing that prevented me from doing my daily activities, or changing the way I looked. 

My practitioner did say that if someone has had a lot of filler, or has filler that balled up into nodules, then it can be more painful and a longer downtime simply from soreness and achiness. 

Is it expensive?

Of course every place will have slightly different pricing, but I paid $200/vial. I got two vials, which means I paid $400 to dissolve the filler that I paid about the same price for. 

So yeah, that’s a lot of money. Especially when I only had the filler for 6 months.

But, I will say that I’d rather spend that money getting it out of my face now, then waiting until I’m sick again and seeing what the heck might happen the next go around. 

Don’t forget that a lot of injectors and medspas offer payment plans should you need financial assistance in your treatments. Make sure to ask in your consultation!

After this long saga of getting poked in the face one too many times, I think it’s safe to say that my time with hyaluronic acid filler is likely over. 

Look, I know it works for a lot of people. And it looks wonderful on so many people. But it seems like my body isn’t too happy about it. 

So, it’s back to the drawing board for this millennial trying to figure out how to age gracefully while also maintaining a youthful *glow.*

Of course I’ll keep you posted on whatever else I decide to guinea pig myself through along the way. 

Stay tuned!

xx, 

K