There are many methods of injecting radiesse so that it is not as painful.  Nerve blocks are the best way to make parts of the face numb. You can numb almost the whole face by injecting a few small areas that affect large nerves that control the sensation to large areas.  Local anesthesia can then augment the numbness.  You can also add lidocaine into the Radiesse.  2% lidocaine is the best to use with the radiesse.  Topicals can also help out to insure that the area will not have any pain during the injection.  This can help when the regional blocks do not make the complete area numb.  Ice is another way to help make the injections less painful.  They are also helpful when you do the initial regional blocks to lessen the needle pain when these regional blocks are done.  Radiesse injections can be painful without anesthesia so all of these techniques can augment this experience. A dental block may not be the only thing you need.  There are other blocks you can do to the face to make almost the whole face numb.

This is a question that I answered for a patient who had Facial Fillersto the under eye area by another doctor who developed a large hematoma under the eye and what options she had to help the situation:

Bruising is a natural consequence that can happen after any procedure that enters the skin. This can be a procedure that involves injections or any surgical type procedure. Any doctor that tells you that he doesn’t get bruising is not telling the total truth. I think only God can assure no bruising.

The swelling and the difference will eventually get better. Your body does a lot to heal and make things better. Your doctor will help you through this and be there for you.

Some of the ways to avoid bruising and bleeding are to avoid blood thinners 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after your procedure, which include, but are not limited to:

• High dose vit E
• Aspirin
• Anti inflammatories
• Herbal medications or supplements

Local anesthesia with epinephrine can shrink the vessels in the area of injection and make less likely to manipulate blood vessels that can lead to bleeding. Genetics play a factor in how someone is likely to bleed, and this can be something that cannot be changed in a person many times.

There are some medications that can help certain bleeding disorders. But there are a lot of factors that can affect bleeding in ones genes that still need to be discovered and not likely can be changed through medicine.

In terms of the swelling that is asymmetric, this will eventually go down things that could help it include oral steroids for general swelling, pressure in that particular area (which could be done by a full facial compression garment with more gauze in the area of swelling the other side, or localized injections of steroids. You can also improve the swelling from the bruising through limited exercise that will bring blood flow to the area and help remove some of the residual inflammation and swelling.

Dr Young is located in Bellevue near Seattle, Washington

This was a patient that had a procedure done by another physician and wondered what could be done about some bulky results  after Facial Fillersinjections only 7 days after the procedure:

Seven days is too early to make a decision about steroids or other intervention. You should wait at least 2 weeks to a month before considering some type of treatment for the radiesse. During the first 2 weeks to a month, you are going to have a considerable amount of swelling from the inflammation that is undergoing around the radiesse. Your body is fighting and adjusting to the new tissue that has been injected. Doing something this early would be a mistake.

There are several risks with steroids that should be considered before using them. You have the risks of high blood pressure, high blood sugars, muscle and bone loss, poor wound healing, immunosuppression (you could be more susceptible to infections), hip damage, adrenal suppression, hormonal changes, acne, weight gain, mood changes, psychosis, changes in your appearance and more.

These are systemic effects that can happen if you are on a lot of injections over a long period of time, which is unlikely to happen with 1 or 2 injections but these risks need to be considered by anyone getting steroids. Locally at the site of injection, the effects could be thinning of the skin, you can develop vessels and increase vascularity that can change the appearance at the area, fat can be metabolized and cause depressions, your chances of infection and rejection of your radiesse could also be increased.

Dr Young is located in Bellevue near Seattle, Washington

It slowly goes down with time but can last for longer than a year. In fact biopsies of areas that have hadFacial Fillersinjections have shown that it can last up to 3 years or more.  But the volume that remains later on is no more than 30% of the original volume that was injected. The area that is injected also determines how long it lasts.  In more mobile areas, the effect is less and goes away faster.

Dr Young is located in Bellevue near Seattle, Washington