What is Lip Filler Migration? How to Avoid It?
Probably one of the safest, easiest, and most effective methods to acquire full lips is to undergo an injection of lip fillers. The procedure might hydrate, contour, and augment your lips in just a few minutes.
Still, a significant number of people treat injections of lip fillers with caution, mainly due to a number of complications they might cause, product migration being one of them.
So, what exactly is lip filler migration? Why do dermal fillers migrate? And, finally, how to avoid migration of a lip filler? Let us figure it out together right away!
Please note: You have to be a certified healthcare practitioner if you would like to buy lip fillers online or locally.
Before We Start: A Few Words on Dermal Fillers
In order to understand what the migration of lip fillers is, it is essential to take a quick look at the definition of a dermal filler itself. In simple words, it might be defined as one of the most popular cosmetic injectables of gel-like nature in the aesthetics market.
According to their main active components, dermal fillers might be divided into hyaluronic acid, calcium hydroxylapatite, poly-L-lactic acid, and other types. Naturally, each of them has its own peculiarities.
Please note: In most cases, lip fillers employ a naturally occurring substance of hyaluronic acid as their main active component. However, some other dermal filler types might also be efficiently administered into the tender lip mucosa.
Moreover, there exists a great variety of dermal filler brands, such as:
Please note: A vast majority of dermal filler brands have a wide selection of products in their range, a special lip filler solution being one of them. For instance, the Belotero product line includes two injectable fillers for lips, namely Belotero Lips Shape and Belotero Lips Contour.
Dermal fillers belong to products intended for professional use. Thus, they should be administered only by licensed medical professionals. These cosmetic injectables should be injected under a patient’s skin with a fine gauge needle.
Please note: When it comes to lip fillers, it is essential to mention that they should be injected directly into the lip mucosa of a patient. It is important to adhere to a special injection technique in order to avoid any complications.
Under normal circumstances, a dermal filler injected under a patient’s skin ensures a durable result that might last from several months to a couple of years. Still, it strongly depends on the individual peculiarities of a patient.
Please note: Among the main factors that influence how long a soft filler injection might last are a patient’s individual health condition, skin type, age, lifestyle, and habits. As well, the duration of the final result depends on the nature of the problem that has to be treated, the volume of a dermal filler that has to be injected, and so on.
The aim of all dermal filler injections is to rejuvenate and enhance the overall appearance of a patient. It is achieved by their capability to accelerate the production of collagen (a natural substance found in human skin tissues) and:
- Fill static facial wrinkles (for instance, nasolabial folds, marionette lines, or crow’s feet);
- Tighten the sagging skin by means of making it more elastic;
- Improve facial anatomy with the help of augmenting cheeks or chin;
- Augment, contour, and hydrate lips;
- And so on.
Please note: Due to a great number of aesthetic indications for injections of soft tissue fillers, they serve as solid substitutions for plastic surgeries. While rejuvenating and enhancing the overall appearance of patients in a minimally invasive way, they provide an instant result and do not require any downtime. At the same time, however, they fade away with time and, therefore, require follow-up treatments from time to time.
What Is the Migration of Dermal Fillers?
Under normal circumstances, dermal fillers from trusted brands belong to exceptionally safe products. Therefore, they do not tend to cause any serious complications or side effects.
Please note: Despite being a safe treatment, the injection of a dermal filler might cause a temporary inflammatory response of the skin (such as redness, itching, or swelling of the injection site). However, it does not tend to require medical supervision.
In some cases, however, a dermal filler might move beyond the intended injection area or, in other words, migrate. It might eventually have the following effect:
- The feeling of discomfort at the injection site;
- Unwanted lumps or lumps;
- Facial asymmetry;
- And so on;
Moreover, a dermal filler migration might lead to serious health complications. Therefore, a patient should immediately contact a medical professional in case of noticing it happening.
Please note: When it comes to lip fillers, they usually migrate beyond the lip border (namely, either above or below the lower or upper lip). The migrated filler usually makes the perioral area look very unnatural.
We have written an article A Guide to the Best Facial Fillers and Cosmetic Injectables in 2022 that will be useful just for you. The newly written article is a supplement to this one and you need to know it.
Why Do Dermal Filler Products Migrate?
There exist several reasons that cause dermal filler migration. Among the crucial things that make it happen are:
- Poor injection technique. Probably the main reason for dermal filler migration is its improper administration. An inexperienced healthcare practitioner might inject a product in the wrong way, which will most probably lead to its movement from one particular area to another;
- Administration of too much filler. Another widely spread reason for the migration of a cosmetic injectable is its improperly calculated dosage. Therefore, it is of vital importance for a healthcare practitioner to know exactly how much filler to inject in each particular case;
- Incorrectly chosen type of dermal filler. Each brand of cosmetic injectables has its own peculiarities (such as manufacturing technology, active substance concentration, or particle size). In some cases, the choice of the wrong filler tends to cause a number of unwanted complications;
- And other factors.
Please note: The clinical performance of a certain dermal filler varies from one patient to another. For instance, while some patients claim to experience a slight migration of a hyaluronic acid filler after its injections, others do not have any patient’s reaction of such nature. Thus, the individual peculiarities of each patient may also define whether a filler will migrate or not.
Apart from the above-mentioned reasons for dermal filler migration (that are primarily connected to a healthcare practitioner’s fault), it might also occur if a patient does not follow the healthcare practitioner’s aftercare instructions attentively.
Please note: In order to reduce the risk of any complications after the injection of a dermal filler (including its migration), a patient should stay away from direct sun exposure, excessive heat, and strenuous exercise for at least 48 hours after the treatment.
How to Avoid the Migration After the Lip Filler Treatment?
Probably the most straightforward recommendation to avoid the migration of a lip filler is to rely exclusively on a highly trained healthcare practitioner with profound medical education (basically, this is a rule that is applicable to any aesthetic treatment).
Please note: A lip filler has exceptionally low chances of migrating when being administered in a proper way. In other words, there should be a good reason for a gel-like substance to move around the perioral, periorbital, and other areas of a patient’s dermis or migrate from the intended injection site.
However, if the migration of a lip filler has already occurred, a patient should immediately seek a piece of professional medical advice and help. Remember, it is the task of a certified healthcare practitioner to decide on how to treat the movement of a dermal filler.
The treatment of lip filler migration is strongly individual and differs from one patient to another:
- In some cases, patients might have their dermal fillers dissolved by letting medical professionals manually massage the injection site and, therefore, improve the situation in a non-invasive way;
- In other cases, however, the usage of special dissolving fillers might be required. These are the products that should be administered under a patient’s dermis with the help of a needle.
Please note: The nature of a filler dissolving product depends on the type of dermal filler that has been injected. For instance, hyaluronic acid cosmetic injectables should be dissolved with the help of hyaluronidase.
Only by getting rid of the migrated filler will a patient be able to achieve the desired look. So, make sure to get in touch with a medical professional in case of noticing the unwanted movement of a dermal filler after its injection.
You can also read about the use of dermal filler with other treatments in our article. All the important points you need to know are in our article.
A Bottom Line
Hopefully, now you know all the necessary information on the migration of a lip filler. So, feel free to make an appointment with an experienced medical professional and enhance the appearance of your lips with the help of a cosmetic injection.
Finally, please remember that the migration of lip fillers beyond your lip edge is unlikely to happen if relying on a certified healthcare practitioner.