This is a really common question because as soon as people hear the words “cheek filler” they imagine hamster cheeks or high sculpted cheek bones a la The Kardashians. However, what if I told you that I’ve had cheek filler? Multiple times actually.
Here is the key - to keep natural results, volume is only added to places where it has naturally been taken away by aging. We know during the aging process the first place we lose volume is in our cheeks. This is due to a multitude of reasons - our fat pads in that area actually shrink down but also fascinatingly our bone, the maxilla, actually resorbs too. This is why you often get a sunken appearance across the middle of the face. I challenge you to dig out a photo of you in your twenties and compare your cheeks to now. Without doubt if you’re in your thirties and above, you will have lost volume. So we’re not actually adding any extra volume, we’re just putting back what aging has taken away.
By replacing that lost volume you get a plethora of benefits. Firstly, the human eye detects cheek volume as a sign of youth, so you instantly appear a bit younger. Secondly, where many people develop a tear trough as they get older, adding cheek filler can support the tear trough and indirectly treat it. This is a big win as tear troughs can be difficult to treat and you need to have the right skin quality to be able to put filler directly into the trough. However, nearly anyone can benefit from cheek filler with far fewer complications. Lastly, by using clever techniques, adding filler to the cheeks and cheekbones can actually help support the face and counteract gravity pulling everything down. I call this the “scaffolding” effect and it can mean you need less filler in the lower face.
So how do I do it? Firstly, I bring you in to one of my beautiful clinics in either Otterbourne, Alresford or Bishops Waltham and do a consultation to ensure that this is the correct treatment. I go through any risks and explain the procedure and answer any questions or concerns. I then bring you back about two weeks later, so you’ve had a “cooling off” period and go through the consent form again. Photos are taken and the skin is then cleaned thoroughly. I tell my patients at this point that I spend more time marking up than I do injecting! So you can expect lots of drawing on your face with a white pen and me looking at you from different angles. I don’t tend to use numbing cream for cheek filler as it’s not usually necessary but of course, I will use it if preferred. I then do a series of injections and the feedback is usually “it feels weird” or “it’s crunchy” but no one ever says it’s very painful.
Depending on your concern and your volume loss, I will adjust my technique accordingly. I would say I usually use between 2-3ml for cheeks but very occasionally a younger person just needs 1ml in total. Once the injections are done I then massage the filler until it is soft and smooth. At this point most people could walk into a shop and no one would look twice at them - you can be a bit red from the injections and obviously you have no make up on, but generally cheek filler has little to no downtime as any swelling is happily absorbed by your cheeks (unlike lips which LOVE to swell). Rarely, a bruise can happen if a blood vessel is nicked so I don’t ever give any guarantees. Always plan your treatment on a day where it doesn’t matter if you bruise - no weddings or big events for a couple of weeks!
I only use premium products - Teoxane is my trusted tool for filler and has a proven safety track record. This is a hyaluronic based filler which means it can be dissolved with an enzyme called hyaluronidase (which I carry around with me!) in case of a medical emergency - such as filler blocking a blood vessel - or in the unlikely event that you hated the look of it.
I know fillers can seem scary (and in some cases can look scary) but if you come and see me I can reassure you that the results will be subtle yet effective and it is definitely not an area of the face where people would be able to spot you've had anything done. Discretion is key!
If you have any questions about cheek filler, then please send me a message or book in for a consultation and I would be happy to help.
Dr Laura Milligan
Harley Street Aesthetic Doctor with clinics in Hampshire (Otterbourne, Alresford and Bishops Waltham)
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