Overfilled Face Syndrome "Over Filled Faces"

The Excessive Dermal Filler Injections, Leading to an Unnatural and Inflated Appearance

Who has seen or tried the huge face filters on Snapchat?  For some reason, this filter reminded us of the expression “face overfilled with fillers” .

While it's fine for a laugh on social media, of course, it's a striking fact and a cause for concern in cosmetic treatments.

Could we be reaching a point where people routinely get fillers for the last 10 years or more and have layer upon layer of gel buildup on their face?

We asked our doctors about over-filled faces and what we should pay attention to in order not to fall into this situation:

When Exactly Do Fillers Melt?

“Unfortunately, I am observing this situation as a result of being obsessed with the face, wanting more, and worse, allowing the doctor to do so. We can talk about a scenario like filling plus water retention plus lymphatic circulation disorder.

With multiple syringes and annual touch-ups becoming the norm, and these faces constantly being filled, this problem is occurring. Worse, in my opinion, we will begin to observe more.

See, perception shift is a real problem. The more we see a repeated image of something, the more natural and normal it becomes.

People Tend to Forget Where They Started

Over time, after a series of treatments, people tend to forget where they started. Their next appearance becomes their reality, and they constantly try to maintain and develop it.

Often without even realizing it, they drift further and further away from their innate baseline.

We used to only see cartoon-like features and extremely contoured faces of infamous people, now we see them everywhere.

This is partly due to the fact that celebrities, influencers, the actors of the series determine the beauty norms of the rest of the country, they are accepted as the "beauty norm", the perception that "if they get it done, they know something", but at the same time, let's not forget that social media also encourages and normalizes this trend.

It is Wrong to Say That Fillers Should Be Repeated Every Six Months

Duck lips and squirrel cheeks are like racing. In my opinion, this is not respecting face proportions. We observe that not every aesthetic doctor uses fillers correctly.

It is wrong to say that fillers should be repeated every six months. Because the hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers, which are quite thin and whose molecules are loosely linked, disappear after four to six months, while some are more tightly cross-linked and may last for 12-18 months.

In most cases, even when patients come back months later, we observe that there is a certain amount of remnants of fillers that are not completely gone.

Exactly how much residue remains depends on the patient, their metabolism, how much filler is injected, where it is injected, the nature of the gel, how highly cross-linked it is.

Many factors play a role in the longevity of a sealant, and the truth is we cannot have a clear idea of how long they last.

Choose a Doctor Who Respects Anatomy

Please think before you have any filler treatment on your face, choose a doctor who respects anatomy from an artistic point of view. If you're experiencing extreme deformation, remember that there are surgical options as well.

What Are the Signs and Symptoms of an Overfilled Face?

“First, there is obvious physical deterioration in natural anatomy. When the architecture of the human face is slightly altered or pushed beyond its natural limits, it is sharply noticeable to the human eye.

However, our perception of what is natural is slowly changing. As certain features, like big lips, become more common, their social norms are resetting and distracting them from anatomy textbook facts.

The face that we sometimes see as overfilled isn't pure swelling, it's the weird movement of the face when inflated with this stuffing.

I can explain it this way: The human face is actually a finely tuned machine, in which fat pads, muscles, and skin slide in harmony from side to side. But if you put a hefty amount of HA filler in here, it won't slip or act unnaturally.

Sausage-like Lips Impede Speech

Facial movements are restricted; features and expressions become distorted. Big cheeks hurt the eyes by distorting the shape of the eyes, especially when smiling. Sausage-like lips impede speech.

Some patients who have too much filler in their lips are unable to pronounce words properly. The muscles surrounding the mouth, which are responsible for creating refined sounds, are clogged by the filling, which impairs their movement.

I should also say that when the lip filler is injected very superficially, the muscles are particularly impaired and this causes a domino effect that disrupts our lymphatic channels.

If the filler is placed incorrectly, it can interfere with the normal facial muscle contractions necessary to aid the flow of lymphatic fluids.

Overlying Filler Can Also Block Lymphatic Flow

Lymphatic vessels normally have very low contraction force, so they are easy to get clogged. In some areas, the solid pressure of the overlying filler can also block lymphatic flow and contribute to prolonged swelling.

In addition, when the hyaluronic acid filler, which absorbs many times its weight and keeps the water in, does not sink deep enough, the skin may appear swollen and thick.

In particular, as HA fillers dissolve over time, they attract water globally, changing the hydration level of the face.

There are new generation medical aesthetic solutions for melting the fillers. Like putting mesh instead of filling and keeping the amount of filler at a more optimum level…

For this reason, please choose your doctor by researching very well before having filler treatment.

Do not look at what is described as extremely simple procedures, all of them are medical procedures that should be done with respect to the human body.” says.

I Don't Want Fillers on My Face Anymore

“After diagnosing an overfilled face with fillers, we use an injectable enzyme called hyaluronidase to dissolve the excess old filler. But hyaluronidase only affects hyaluronic acid.

There is no reliable antidote for fillers made from materials such as calcium hydroxylapatite in Radiesse or poly-L-lactic acid in Sculptra.

While one dose of enzyme seems like a simple enough solution, the aftermath can be uncomfortable, especially if a patient has had hourly injections for years.

I can use the term "traumatic" to describe the process of dissolving the filler. All this time, the face has been filled not only with filler, but also with water, so once you melt the face and remove the filler, the hydration state will change dramatically.

If the Patient is Not a Good Candidate for This 

If the patient is not a good candidate for this resolution process, RF micro-needling can be used instead to accelerate the metabolism of the filler, but this does not melt the filler, it may denature it a bit, essentially starting the degradation process.

In his experience, hyaluronidase under-eye and lip fillers are the easiest places to dissolve. The cheekbones, cheeks and around the nasolabial fold are difficult places to dissolve the filling.

Although hyaluronidase protocols vary according to the patient, I can say that most HAs can be reduced in one or two sessions.

After solving, I would like to wait 2 weeks for a refill treatment. This two-week period also allows the tissues to partially rehydrate and recover from the "dehydration" damage caused by hyaluronidase.

Is Hyaluronidase Harmful? 

“Before I worry about solvent damage, I'd like to give you some background on hyaluronidase. In recent years, many of our foreign colleagues have claimed that hyaluronidase experienced permanent volume loss."

"But there are no published studies proving that the enzyme can irreparably destroy human tissue, hyaluronidase can break down the body's own natural hyaluronic acid near the injection site, HA is replenished so fast that permanent waste or deformations can occur yes that's true but at this point it's all conjecture, no scientific basis whatsoever. There is no proof.

Is it Possible to Fill Again After Melting?

Yes, it is possible to do it gradually, by being more conservative without going overboard.

I recommend waiting two or three weeks after dissolving to help the tissue rehydrate and reinject the least amount of filler possible.

At this point, I recommend choosing a doctor you trust to avoid falling into this stuffing and thawing cycle.

It is imperative that we understand whether the patient is indeed a good candidate for filler. A large subset of overfilled faces are people who want to rejuvenate their face, and probably what they need in the first place is facial tightening, lifting, and repositioning.

In Other Words, They Want a "Face Lift"

But remember, fillers are not strong enough to hold an aged face.

When someone tells me that his jowl or lower third of his face is really bothering him and he wants fillers, I take a quick look.

If appropriate, filler can of course be done, but a surgical face lift should also be reminded to the patient.

If he is not very fond of surgery, today there are different threads and thread suspension methods produced with extremely good technologies.

We can lift the face with a thread and recover the existing sagging without surgery.”