It's a common misconception that dermal fillers, which are metabolized by the body over time and require touch-ups to maintain the effect, will eventually dissolve on their own if injections are stopped. However, this is not the case. Different fillers tend to naturally dissolve at different rates. Most hyaluronic acid fillers used on the lips, jaw and cheeks, such as Juvederm and Restylane, are metabolized after 6 months to a year.
Sculptra can continue to work on the face for up to two years. In my medical practice, I use an enzyme called hyaluronidase to dissolve filler daily. This is often for people who have had filler injected elsewhere. There are many providers who give injections with different skills and backgrounds, such as nurse injectors, doctors who engage in fillers as a “secondary job to their primary medical specialty” and injectors who don't have as much information about the types and techniques of fillings required around the eyes as an oculoplastic surgeon does. The effects of the enzyme will decrease in 48-72 hours, depending on the area and the amount of filler required to dissolve. However, it will take up to two weeks for the entire filler to completely dissolve and settle naturally.
In this post I describe which fillers can be dissolved, how the enzyme that dissolves the filling works, and what data is available in the literature to talk about the safety of this procedure. Because the dissolution filler is “off label”, there is no manufacturer's guide to how much to use to dissolve HA fillers. Often, a small superficial lump on the lip can dissolve quickly. However, larger nodules or extended areas of integration of the filler break down into sections, where one may feel that the filling has disappeared in some areas while still being seen in others. The term rheology refers to the properties of the filler and physicians choose fillers for different applications based on these properties. Before receiving your first filler injection, you may want to know how soon you'll see results, how long your results will last, and how long it will take for the fillers to dissolve if you don't like the results in the end. Some injectors prefer to wait a few weeks after the dissolved filler has completely dissipated before re-injecting.
However, if inversion of the filler is simple, Dr. Once the filler has completely dissolved and settled after two weeks, you can inject it into the area again in a correct and subtle manner. Before and after dissolving under-eye filler for a swollen area due to wrong type of filler (Voluma) placed too superficially. In addition, the filler is quite soft and mobile for the first 48 hours after treatment. This can cause some compression or movement of product around areas of greatest muscle contraction or if a patient swells much after treatment. There are cases where it is necessary to dissolve filler before surgery or to redo a refill with a clean slate.
