Ultimate Cheek Filler Before And After Guide

Are Cheek Fillers Worth It?

That’s the ultimate question, don’t you think? I’m going to tell you that cheek fillers are worth it before we go any further. They are worth it for *the right candidate*. But, as always, this is up to you as an individual. I’m going to answer some questions to help you make up your mind if cheek fillers are worth it for you.

Just remember, your medical practitioner will discuss your concerns and assess your anatomy and should be able to tell you from experience if they believe cheek fillers will be worth it for you and what you’re likely to achieve. This consultation will be key in deciding if this treatment is for you or not.

What Cheek Fillers Do

Cheek fillers restore volume and definition on areas that have lost fat. If done ‘naturally’ they should restore our naturally plump cheeks and cheekbones. At our skin clinic in St. Albans, we offer our clients a natural outcome, rather than enhancing them beyond what naturally suits their anatomy.

Why Choose A Cheek Filler? How Cheek Fillers Change Your Face

Cheek fillers, also known as dermal fillers, are one of the most popular areas to have filler treatments. The fat pads on and around the cheeks naturally shrink with age and/or weight loss; not only does this leave our cheeks looking flat, but it can also contribute to nasolabial lines, marionette lines, and making your lower face look heavy, changing the shape of your face. Our practitioners use cheek fillers to help you maintain your appearance and restore what was rather than using them to try to change your appearance and make you look like someone else.

Cheek filler may be useful to:

• Replace volume with sunken, flat-looking cheeks
• Define your cheekbones
• Improve facial symmetry
• Clinical study suggests that you can give the illusion of nose-to-mouth line and marionette line reduction with cheek filler

Can A Cheek Filler Lift Jowls?

Yes, you can use cheek filler to help lift and soften jowls and sharpen the jawline. Volume loss in your mid-face due to natural fat loss, muscle loss, and a reduction in bone mass not only makes your cheeks and cheekbones look flatter and undefined, but can also contribute to the start of sagging skin, jowls, and a loss of definition in your lower face.

By restoring volume back to your mid-face, it can lift and soften the signs of ageing as described above. However, if you’re experiencing more advanced signs of jowl formation and skin sagging, additional treatments are likely to be recommended, such as jawline filler, and/or skin treatments such as HIFU, Thermage, and Thread Lift.

Do I Need A Cheek Filler or A Tear Trough Filler?

This is a great question, and one that shows the importance of a thorough consultation and choosing an advanced practitioner who is qualified and experienced enough to not only offer you cheek filler, but also the advanced tear trough treatment.

The flattening of the cheeks can contribute to the appearance of hollowed tear troughs; however, this tear trough concern may be helped with cheek augmentation first. If the tear trough is still a concern for the client after cheek filler, then tear trough treatment may be the next step. For certain people, we will always suggest cheek filler before the tear trough because simply having the tear trough filled may offer a poor result and correction and may look odd.

If the under-eye area troubles you, be prepared that cheek filler is a likely option because the reduction and dropping of your natural fat pads have likely contributed to this appearance.

If your assessment shows that you’re suitable for tear trough alone, this should be a gradual, steady treatment. At our skin clinic, we will phase your treatment, usually by a minimum of 2 sessions.

Do I Need A Cheek Filler or Threads?

Much like the above question, your consultation is going to be key here. However, if you refer to the above question, can you have cheek filler to lift jowls, it may give you some insight.

If you are suitable for the Thread Lift, you may also be a candidate for cheek filler in addition to the Thread Lift, as you’re likely to have lost volume in your mid-face.

The Thread Lift is more suitable for those who have more advanced skin ageing, sagging, jowls, and loss of definition around the jawline. For these clients, a cheek augmentation (or cheek filler), simply will not give the lift required to offer visible results. Once the Thread Lift has been performed, however, you and your practitioner may plan to improve your overall result with cheek filler if still required.

Are Results Instant?

One of the great things about cheek fillers is that you can see your results right away. Usually, you will experience some degree of swelling in the area after the treatment. In our experience, most clients are happy to resume their normal routines of work and socialising right away, but we do suggest that it can take up to two weeks for the swelling to totally subside; this is when you can appreciate your final results.

Where Should Cheek Filler Be Placed?

The obvious place that we think of when it comes to the placement of cheek filler is the apples of the cheek, which is true, you can place them here. This area is ideal if you’ve lost volume and your cheeks are becoming flat and/or if you’re noticing the formation of nose-to-mouth lines.

Don’t be surprised if your practitioner suggests cheek filler if your concern is nose-to-mouth lines, as this is treating the cause of those lines (cheek flattening), rather than just the symptom (the nose-to-mouth lines).

Additionally, another area that can lift and redefine is the ‘ear dip’ area to the very side of the face; fat loss here can contribute to jowl formation and skin sagging.

You can place cheek fuller along the cheekbones to improve projection and definition which, as you can imagine, is a really popular choice because it allows the light to hit it beautifully giving you a sort of naturally highlighted appearance.

When Does Cheek Filler Settle?

Generally, we advise that it can take about two weeks for your dermal fillers to settle and the swelling to subside. Know that there is a risk of bruising with this treatment, and indeed any injectable treatment.

It’s advisable to avoid anything that will thin your blood before and for a few days after your cheek fillers because this can increase bruising; discuss with your practitioner during your consultation if you take blood thinning medication such as warfarin or aspirin. If not required for medical reasons, avoid aspirin, herbal remedies and supplements, such as St. John’s Wort, as far in advance as possible up to 2 weeks before your appointment.

It's advised that you avoid alcohol for a minimum of 24 hours after your cheek fillers, as well as avoiding extremes of temperature, and strenuous exercise for a number of days after.

The advice your practitioner offers you will help you avoid complications and allow your cheek fillers to settle as quickly as possible.

When Can I Get More Cheek Filler?

You can phase your treatment or, after assessment, add more cheek filler if required as soon as two weeks after the original treatment. However, the average time to repeat your treatment is anywhere from 6 to 18 months. Have a read of the below question which will give you further insight.

What Cheek Filler Lasts the Longest?

Hyaluronic acid fillers generally last between six and 18 months. The individual's metabolism; lifestyle factors, for example, smokers and those who frequently work out sometimes metabolise fillers faster than others; stress; and weight changes can impact the longevity of dermal fillers.

At our skin clinic, the hyaluronic acid cheek fillers we use for the cheek area have a thicker constancy than those appropriate for more superficial concerns, such as lip lines (sometimes called smokers lines, although they do not just occur in smokers). Generally, a thicker dermal filler takes longer to metabolise than those with a thinner consistency, and therefore last longer.

Now is a good time to point out that you can maintain your fillers with additional treatment further down the line, as advised by your practitioner. Maintaining your original treatment usually requires less dermal filler, however, if you wait to have treatment too far down the line it may be that the original filler has metabolised, and you’ll likely require a similar quantity as your original treatment.

If you want a longer-lasting solution than dermal fillers for your cheeks, it may be advisable to research surgical options.

Does It Hurt?

I’ll caveat this by saying everyone’s threshold is different, even on different days; we’ve noticed that a lack of sleep, a menstrual cycle, and emotional stress all impact how you feel on the day. HOWEVER, they are very well tolerated, and experienced practitioners have usually learnt a trick or two along the way to make you feel as comfortable as possible.

At our Hertfordshire filler clinic, we use fillers that contain lidocaine, which is super effective at numbing the area during and for a short time after the treatment, so our clients report that their treatments are comfortable.

In some instances, we apply topical numbing cream to the skin before the treatment.

Treatment techniques, ways to distract the mind during treatment, and a gentle practitioner, combined with local anaesthetic is a magic combination! See below a handful of dermal filler reviews from clients at our St. Alban's skin clinic:

Which Cheek Filler Is Best?

For us, ‘best’ means a good safety profile and offers natural but noticeable results. Therefore, we source well-known and respected filler brands such as Juvederm, Belotero, and Teosyal from reputable pharmacies.

Additionally, we prefer to use fillers that are made from hyaluronic acid gel as, over time, our body can gradually break them down and safely remove them.

We also know that filler results are not only dependent on the brand, but also on the knowledge, experience, and artistic eye of the practitioner.

How Much Cheek Filler Do I Need?

Without seeing you, there’s no way to say because everyone has different requirements; a female in her mid-thirties who is just starting to notice her cheeks flattening is going to require a different approach to treatment for a male in his sixties with advanced signs of ageing. The anatomy is different because of age, gender, and unique characteristics, even you and your parents or siblings may not require the same amount of filler at the same age.

Before you have treatment, your practitioner will guide you as to how much filler you’ll require to make a difference. If this is more than you had budgeted for, do ask them about payment plans or interest-free finance options to help you spread the cost of your treatment; it would be disappointing should you decide to have less filler than recommended and don’t achieve your ultimate results, having spent your money on it.

Are Cheek Fillers Safe?

All treatments carry potential side effects and risks. Your job is to choose a practitioner who uses reputable cheek fillers, is qualified, well trained, is who they say they are, practices safely with protocols for aspects such as infection control and is equipped to respond quickly and effectively should a complication arise; if you’re not sure where to start, an independent body such as the Save Face register will offer invaluable guidance.

My tips above should help reduce the risk of your filler treatment, and your practitioner should consult with you thoroughly before you decide to go ahead with filler treatment; this should include a detailed medical history from you.
Are cheek fillers worth it?

Knowing that you can ‘walk away’ from this treatment should you no longer wish to repeat it is a great benefit for many who do not wish to permanently augment their cheeks, and especially for those who have never had the treatment before, the ‘unknown’ can be a bit daunting can’t it?

Dermal fillers are not permanent, they do need repeating should you wish to maintain the results. Those who want a more permanent solution may benefit from exploring surgical alternatives.

For the right candidate, who has had a thorough consultation and understands both the benefits and possible risks/side effects, cheek fillers are worth it. We just have to listen to our clients and look at their written feedback to know that.

Before I leave you with some final words from our clients, I’ll mention that should you like to discuss dermal filler or cheek filler with our medical practitioners at our CQC registered, Save Face accredited skin clinic in Hertfordshire, message us here.

Cheek Filler Before And After FAQs