After the Procedure

• Following the procedure we will take some ‘after’ photos for your records, and to show you the side-by-side before and after images for you to compare your result against. Your photos are not shared unless you have consented for us to do so.

• We will talk through our aftercare advice, and provide you with both a digital and a physical copy to take home with you. You will also have Dr. Caroline’s private number to contact her if you have any concerns or questions.

• Will will be in direct contact with you post-procedure to see how you are getting on. Post-treatment you very much remain under our care. We typically will book you in for a complimentary face-to-face consultation post-treatment, to asses your results in person, however this is not necessary and if you are happy with your results, and feel that you do not need to attend.

Bad filler is more noticeable, and good filler goes mostly undetected

Dermal fillers have gotten a really bad reputation over the years, and this is mainly because we tend to only notice bad aesthetic work rather than good. Poor dermal filler work is easy to identify on those around us, and is often dissected in the press and online because negative stories tend to garner more public attention than positive ones.

Good dermal fillers are harder to spot in comparison. Whilst they noticeable rejuvenate an individual’s appearance, the seamless, strategic placement of this aesthetic work should remain almost undetectable, in the sense that it is difficult to specifically identify dermal filler as having been one of the key reasons why this person looks so good for their age. The perceived stigma around having had dermal fillers, even when they look amazing, often means that a lot of patients choose not to disclose when they have had this treatment done.

It is viewed as riskier treatment

As dermal fillers can cause complications if administered incorrectly by an inexperienced practitioner, this spreads fear around the use of fillers, further contributing to their poor reputation. This is particularly prevalent whilst parts of the UK aesthetic industry remain woefully unregulated.

Beauty is subjective and some patients may purposefully seek out a more enhanced, exaggerated and augmented look.

This goes against our ethos as we only specialise in a natural-looking, restorative aesthetic.

If you are wondering what some of the differences are between poor, detectable aesthetic work and great, undetectable aesthetic work, here are some key reasons why dermal fillers can look unnatural:

1. Overuse of Fillers

The most common reason is simply too much product has been used. When too much filler is injected, especially in areas like the lips, cheeks, or under the eyes, it can distort our natural facial proportions. This results in a ‘puffy’ or ‘pillow-faced’ look. It is absolutely vital that you choose a practitioner who is willing to say no to you. Dermal filler can potentially last for years. It is not something that needs to be regularly topped up. Less will always be more when it comes to dermal filler.

2. Poor Injection Technique

Injector skill really matters. An inexperienced injector may place filler in the wrong layer of the skin or in anatomically inappropriate areas, which can lead to lumps, asymmetry, or unnatural contours. 

3. Ignoring Facial Harmony

A good injector considers the overall balance and proportions of the face. Focusing too much on enhancing one area (like the lips or cheeks) without maintaining harmony with the rest of the face, can make someone look unnatural.

4. Perception drift

Perception drift is a term used in aesthetic medicine to describe what happens when a person gradually loses sight of what looks natural due to repeated cosmetic treatments. This is especially true when it comes to dermal fillers and it’s not exclusive to patients. Unfortunately it happens to a lot of aesthetic practitioners too, so it’s important to choose an injector who reflects what you consider to be natural-looking. If you don’t like the work that they have had done on themselves, then it is highly likely that you will have differing opinions on what ‘natural-looking’ means. How your aesthetic practitioner looks, is a good indication of the work that you can most likely expect to receive.

5. Use of low-quality Fillers

Unlike high quality hyaluronic acid fillers, such as those produced by the brand Teoxane which we exclusively use, some low-grade fillers can cause more inflammation/swelling, integrate less well with the surrounding tissues and don’t move naturally with the skin. They can also be harder to dissolve in an emergency, and are more likely to lead to migration. Your practitioner should be able to explain the product they use and the reasons why.

6. Fillers used on patients who are too young

If you are in your mid-twenties, you are highly unlikely to have had any natural volume loss, so adding filler to the mid-face is more about augmentation of the cheeks, then about rejuvenation of your appearance. This typically gives an unnatural, distorted appearance that can age a younger patient significantly, because you are adding volume and projection to an area that already has volume. At Dr. Caroline Warden Aesthetic Clinic we almost exclusively use dermal filler to restore natural volume loss, although we also use it for specific cases where there is a noticeable asymmetry in a patient’s natural features. We would not administer dermal filler to anyone who did not fit these two criteria.