How to keep patients looking natural for longer in the difficult area of lower face fillers

What is it about?

The lips, lines around the lips and the lower face are some of the commonest areas treated with dermal fillers. Unfortunately they also pose a challenge - it is easy to make the the face look unnatural over the longer term if the treatment provider does not consider the mobile nature of the region, muscle movement, balance and three-dimensional contours of the face while treating it. This article illustrates, using evidence from existing research on how the current popular fillers integrate with tissue, along with the author's own case studies, how a carefully planned and well understood treatment approach can keep our patients looking natural for many years.

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Why is it important?

At the current time in aesthetic medical practice, there is a tendency toward immediate gratification, and two-dimensional assessment of results. We need to be more forward-thinking than this. Doctors and Nurses offering these treatments need to be cognizant of the long term impact of imbalancing the highly mobile lower face, including lips, using multiple needle sticks and inflexible high volume fillers. We also need to be prepared to explain this to our patients, and have the confidence to refuse to use untested products in the hope that they can be dissolved with hyaluronidase. Every injection leaves a scar, whether we see it or not.

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