Preparing for a hyaluronic acid (filler) injection

Hyaluronic acid is a molecule the skin makes itself and loses over the years. Injected as a gel, it replaces support that has gone. It resorbs on its own within months, and an enzyme can dissolve it within days if the result is not right.

What to expect

Allow thirty to forty-five minutes depending on the areas. A numbing cream is applied twenty minutes beforehand, and most gels contain a local anaesthetic themselves.

The volume shows immediately, but it is exaggerated by swelling in the first days. The real result is judged at fifteen days, not on leaving the practice.

Preparing, 72 hours before

As with any injection: no aspirin, anti-inflammatories or omega-3 for three days, and no alcohol the night before. This is what most clearly reduces the risk of bruising.

Avoid scheduling the injection within two weeks of a wedding, a trip or an important photograph. Swelling is unpredictable, and postponing is always simpler than an aesthetic emergency.

What to tell us

Recurrent cold sores — a preventive treatment is then prescribed before a lip injection —, an auto-immune disease, anticoagulant therapy, pregnancy, breastfeeding, or an injection of an unknown product received elsewhere.

Mention any dental work planned within the month: it is better to space it from the injection.

How the session goes

The product is placed in small controlled amounts, with a needle or a cannula depending on the area, sitting you up regularly to judge the result. The gel’s name, batch and quantities are recorded — this is required, and it is what allows precise dissolution if needed.

Afterwards, and what to do

Cold on the area for the first hours, no massage, no intense exercise, no hammam or sauna for forty-eight hours. Sleep on your back the first night if the lips or under-eyes were treated.

Swelling, tenderness and sometimes bruising are expected. On the lips, swelling in the first forty-eight hours can be significant: this is not the result.

When to call us back

Call immediately if pain increases instead of easing, if the skin blanches or becomes mottled, or if you experience visual disturbance or eye pain. These signs are rare but require immediate care: do not wait until the next day.

None of the above replaces the prior consultation: it alone says whether this procedure is right for you, and on what terms.