Seven questions to ask before having filler
The questions you should know the answers to before you sit in the chair. If a clinic avoids them, that is your answer.
In medical aesthetics, the most common regret does not come from a badly performed procedure. It comes from starting one without knowing enough about what was going to happen. The seven questions below should be asked in any clinic, anywhere. If they are avoided, that avoidance is itself the answer.
1. Who will be performing this?
Injectable procedures must be performed by a physician. You are entitled to ask the name and qualification of the person treating you. "A colleague from our team" is not a sufficient answer.
2. What is the product and may I see the box?
The brand, lot number and expiry date are printed on the packaging. You can ask to see the unopened box. Licensed products carry the relevant health authority notification on their packaging.
3. How much product will be used in this area?
The amount should be agreed in advance. "We will see how it goes" leaves both the result and the cost undefined. Using less and adding at two weeks is always better than using too much and having to dissolve it.
4. Is this reversible?
Hyaluronic acid fillers can be dissolved with the enzyme hyaluronidase. Permanent synthetic fillers have no such route back, which is why they are not preferred. You should know which category your product falls into.
5. Do you keep hyaluronidase on site?
The most serious complication of filler is the product occluding a blood vessel. It is very rare, but when it happens minutes matter. Having hyaluronidase in the building means emergency management is possible. If you cannot get a clear yes, postpone the procedure.
6. What happens afterwards, and when am I back to normal?
How long swelling, bruising and tenderness last, when you can exercise, when you can fly — all of this should be known beforehand. If you have an important event coming up, plan the calendar around it.
7. When is the review appointment?
If no review is scheduled to assess the result, the process ends the moment the procedure does. A check at two weeks exists both to see the outcome and to make a small correction if one is needed.
And one question for you
If you are describing what you want by showing a photograph, remember that the person in it does not share your bone structure, skin thickness or age. What a treatment can do for you is not the same as what it did for someone else. A good assessment raises that difference at the start, not at the end.