I’m a dermatologist – here’s 4 places I would never inject filler for fear of dangerous consequences
AS giving our faces nips and tweaks has gained popularity in recent years, we’ve all seen our fare share of botched injection pictures.
Getting filler in your face won’t just leave you with comical swelling.
In some cases, an injection gone wrong can have dangerous consequences.
Getting jabs in certain parts of your face could leave you more vulnerable to experiencing those, according to cosmetic dermatologist Denisse Serrano.
Speaking in a TikTok video, Denisse said clients frequently ask what their chances are of going blind or having a vascular occlusion are if they get filler in their tear troughs.
This is a non-surgical procedure that involves injecting a gel-like substance into specific areas around the eyes, which works to replace the lost volume brought about through the ageing process.
But according to the cosmetic dermatologist, filler placed underneath the eyes doesn’t carry as much risk as other placements.
A vascular occlusion happens when an artery gets infiltrated with dermal filler, she explained, blood can’t pass through it.
In fact, having filler placed anywhere central in the face more dangerous having it injected on the outer areas, Denisse said, indicating her under-eyes and cheekbones.
This because the arteries located centrally in your face are actually closer to your eyes – so if filler gets in them, this could cause blindness.
According to a recent article in the Journal of Aesthetic Nursing, adverse vascular events such as vascular occlusion “are unequivocally the most feared complication resulting from injection of dermal filler”.
“The potentially life-changing consequences, which include tissue necrosis, scarring, blindness, stroke and even death, are not always understood by clients seeking aesthetic intervention,” cosmetic surgeon Julia Sen stated.
According to Denisse, the four most dangerous areas in the face to inject filler are:
- the glabella – in between your eyebrows
- the forehead
- the nose
- your smile lines
Filler in the glabella has 39 per cent risk of causing an adverse vascular event leading to blindness, according to the Journal of Aesthetic Nursing,
The risk is lower for filler placed in the nose (26 per cent), smile lines (13 per cent) and forehead (12 per cent).
In the comments under her video, Denisse likened the risk of having filler to ‘flying on an airplane’.
“It doesn’t something will happen, but it is a risk,” she explained.
The dermatologist added that all nose filler injections pose a small risk of blindness, ‘especially the tip’.
She stressed: “This doesn’t mean you will have a complication, it’s just a risk.”
But Denisse said she did not recommend non-surgical rhinoplasty unless you go to someone ‘extremely experienced’.
She also noted that having Botox in the areas she named can’t cause a vascular occlusion, in the way filler might.
In posting the video on her TikTok, Denisse said she didn’t want to scare anyone who was hoping to get some filler.
Instead, the dermatologist wanted to make sure her viewers went to someone they trusted and were fully aware the risks of any procedures they chose to have.
Another beauty expert warned that following the trend of getting Russian lips puts you at increased risk of vascular occlusion, sharing horrific Before and After images.
Meanwhile, an aesthetics nurse said she makes a point of never treating clients under 30 for a few key reasons.
Denisse recently shared which two cheap products you should be using if you want ageless skin.