How to Inject Dermal Fillers Yourself
Dermal fillers are used to help reduce the look of wrinkles or sagging skin. They can be used to plump up lips and give you lips that are fuller. They can also be used to improve facial symmetry and reduce smile lines and marionette lines.
Who Can Safely Inject Dermal Fillers
To safely inject one of these fillers the person must have a detailed understanding of the blood vessels, nerves, and muscles in the face. Doing this injection procedure at home is not recommended. You should seek professional help with this procedure because serious and even fatal side effects can be the result of DIY filler treatment.
Pros of Dermal Fillers
There are some positive benefits that can be derived from using these fillers.
The pros of dermal fillers include:
- The injection can stimulate your natural collagen. Collagen is the body’s natural repair serum and it helps to keep areas plump and firm;
- This procedure does not require surgery;
- The treatment can make you look much younger;
- It can boost your confidence in your appearance.
Cons of Dermal Fillers
- The results you achieve are not permanent. Most of the time the results will last less than 2 years;
- It can be expensive to get the injections.
Injecting Your Lips
There is no perfect place to insert your lip injection that will work for every person with every type of lip. The best thing you can do is look where your lips naturally protrude and administer small amounts of filler in those areas to increase or rejuvenate your lip appearance.
You will need to make several injections with small amounts of filler to create the perfect shape and fullness. DO NOT overfill the lips. An overfill does not give you a beautiful and pouty look, it makes your lips look unnatural and unattractive.
Injection Depth and Force
The depth of the injection of the filler makes a huge difference in the results you will achieve from the process. When injecting your lips, you never need to use more than 1.5 ml in a session.
Sessions should be at least 15 to 30 days apart. The syringe should be a 30 gauge and should never be inserted farther than 2.5 mm.
Possible complications associated with self-injecting of dermal filler
The National Library of Medicine warns that doing this procedure at home without advanced knowledge of the face muscles, nerves, and blood vessels of the face can lead to irreversible facial paralysis or partial facial paralysis. If you do this at home you can also become blind as a result or develop tissue necrosis which would be detrimental to your appearance.
Most people do this filler injection to improve their appearance. The side effects and possible dangers are severe and if anything goes wrong you will have not improved your looks, but may destroy your looks and physical health.
Some of the common problems reported after DIY dermal filler injections include:
- Blocking blood vessels in the lip. This is known as vascular occlusion;
- Cysts and unsightly lumps because the filler is not injected deep enough into the lips;
- Scars and disfigurement;
- Infection;
- Severe bruising;
- Blindness is caused by accidentally applying the filler to the central retinal artery;
- Allergic reactions to the ingredients in the filler are common;
- Stroke;
- Death.
Why do your own injections?
The number one reason why people are trying to do their own dermal filler injections is to save money. When you do to a dermatologist or a plastic surgeon to get these injections you have to pay for the doctor’s visit and the medication. When you do the injection yourself you do not have to pay for a doctor’s visit, if you are lucky.
If you do have complications you will have to pay for several doctor visits to try and repair the damages. The worse thing about the bad results from these at-home injections is they can be permanent. You may have to live with the bad results for the rest of your life.
Sometimes the bad mistakes can be surgically repaired. With surgical repairs, you are facing increased pain, time off of work, a hospital bill, and more.
Tips from the Pros
- under the eyes is one of the most dangerous places to inject these products. This is a crucial area when professionals are doing injecting;
- Some fillers have ingredients that make them more difficult to apply;
- Using ice before an injection to numb the area may cause the injectable to not be placed in the proper position;
- Using ice after injection will not stop the area from bruising;
- When ordering a filler from the internet you cannot be certain of the ingredients and to put it simply you will have no idea what you are injecting into your body. It is advisable for you to keep the container and all of the paperwork that you get with these injections in case you have to seek medical treatment. If you go to a hospital or doctor they can evaluate what is in the syringe and possibly treat reactions and complications with better results;
- Never let a child under the age of 21 receive injections of products like these. They do not have wrinkles or any sign of aging that could possibly warrant risking their beauty and health for the rest of their life. Children who want fuller lips should see a board-certified plastic surgeon and then follow their advice on when to get the treatment. They will need parental permission to do so.
Final Thoughts
If there is one piece of advice that I could give you it would be to NOT do your own cosmetic dermal filler injections. There are simply too many things that can go wrong and you are not saving enough money to take that kind of risk with your health and appearance. Seek the advice and treatment of a licensed professional so your dermal filler will create beautiful results that you are proud to show off.
