Fillers are reversed for safety reasons if a blood vessel has been inadvertently occluded by filler. Thankfully this is an extremely rare complication. If you suspect this of happening, you should contact your injector immediately.

The most effective way to treat swelling after fillers is to apply ice before, during and after injection (for a few days). Ice packs are one of the few treatments that are actually effective for bruising. Hirudoid cream, arnica cream and bromelain cream have not been shown to be effective.

The following medications can also be associated with more bruising and swelling:

• NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) e.g. aspirin and ibuprofin
• Herbal supplements including ginko, and ginseng
• Fish oil

Not all fillers can be dissolved. Only hyaluronic acid fillers can be dissolved. Collagen stimulating fillers cannot be dissolved which is why these types of fillers should only be used by injectable experts who know their anatomy and have low rates of cosmetic dissatisfaction.

At Face Doctors Clinic, we have an ultrasound scanning device on site which can help us confirm the exact location, size and type of filler. This means that the filler can be injected with more precision and only if we confirm that it is indeed filler causing the lump.

For superficially injected filler, we can sometimes manually extrude the filler with a needle puncture. Superficial filler often looks blue under the skin and has a semi-transparent quality. Filler lumps can occasionally be massaged especially in the early stages before they have started to integrate with the surrounding tissues.

If you have had hyaluronic acid filler dissolved in the past, the process is fairly straightforward as we know that hyalase is unlikely to cause an allergic reaction.
As hyalase can in rare cases cause severe allergic reactions for first-timers we perform a skin patch test to ensure that you do not react to the product. This involves injecting the forearm with a very small dose of hyalase to test if it causes a mild allergic reaction. If you pass the skin patch test we can proceed to dissolving the filler. After dissolving filler for the first time we prefer to observe you in clinic for an hour or so to ensure that you do not develop an allergic reaction.