Can You Inject Just a Half Syringe of Filler?
Perhaps you’re unsure if you want or even need a whole syringe of filler for your lips—maybe it’s even better for you if you can save the rest of the syringe for your next appointment. Unfortunately, as great as this sounds, that’s not how it works.
In our opinion (and also the opinion of many other doctors who do their best to maintain the highest standard of care and safety), we strongly discourage patients from this lip augmentation practice and any clinic that promotes it. As aesthetic specialists with over a decades time of expertise at our cosmetic center—let us explain.
The Hyaluronic Acid (used in Restylane, Juvederm, Volbella, Juvederm Ultra or Ultra Plus, Voluma or Juvederm Volbella) inside the syringe is sterile, which means it has been processed to ensure there are no possible contaminants like bacteria. Once that syringe of filler is open and exposed to air, it is no longer sterile and it could lead to infections and devastating side effects. For this same reason, we only use FDA-approved fillers and would never use illegally imported or unapproved fillers for our patients.
We want to please our patients and always provide them with the best results possible at attainable prices, but as doctors it is our duty and our primary responsibility to always place the safety of our patients first and not to compromise their health for a filler injection or plastic surgery procedure.
How Much Does a Half Syringe of Filler Cost?
I want people to understand that when you are offered to be injected with half of a syringe of Restylane (at half the cost), they may be using a product that was already used on someone else or has been open for who knows how long. This practice exposes you to infections in your face and other possible side effects, which may lead to irreparable scars and damage to your skin.
But What If I Only Need Half of a Syringe of Filler?
It is common for patients to be apprehensive about the amount of filler that is being injected, especially when receiving lip enhancement for the first time. Most patients are looking for a natural-looking enhancement when they choose a filler treatment, the most common concern for many patients is that they don’t want to look ”overdone.” Having an experienced, honest injector is the most important step in obtaining a beautiful, natural looking result. Whether you are considering lip augmentation, treatment for your nasolabial folds or marionette lines, or reduction in your under eye hollows, we would definitely only inject the amount of dermal filler necessary to give you the natural looking result that you desire. If you only need a small amount of filler to accentuate your cupid’s bow or improve lip lines, we will happily inject just what you need. If there is any filler left over (for example if you just use a half syringe), we can dispose of the remaining filler or you can elect to have it injected in other areas of the face during that same session. For that reason, you will be charged for the full syringe of filler rather than just half of a syringe.
At Imagen Body Sculpting, our experienced injectors pride themselves on our natural looking lip injections, jawline augmentations, tear trough correction and cheek plumping. If you are looking for a more subtle result or you are apprehensive about using a full syringe of fillers, you may want to consider starting with a lip flip with Botox or Dysport or a collagen stimulating treatment with lasers or Sculptra. You may also be surprised to realize how big of a difference a prescription skin care regimen can make. We love to combine treatments to get amazing yet natural looking results. We find that patients aren’t trying to look different, they just want to look more like they feel…youthful and refreshed.
How Much is a Half Syringe of Lip Filler?
A full syringe of filler is typically 1mL, so a half syringe would be 0.5mL. This really isn’t very much volume (for comparison, a teaspoon is about 5mL). For most patients, 1mL is not an excessive amount of filler. That being said, you should be aware that if for any reason you feel that you have too much filler, it can be dissolved with hyaluronidase (as long as you are using one of the hyaluronic acid fillers such as the Restylane and Juvederm families). Radiesse is made with Calcium Hydroxylapatite and is not a filler that can be dissolved. Radiesse should never be used in a filler naive patient or in areas that are less forgiving (for example, tiny asymmetries in lip filler can be very noticeable for a patient and cannot be corrected with hyaluronidase if you are using Radiesse.)
Can I Use a Half Syringe of Lip Filler in the Upper Lip Only?
Balance and symmetry are extremely important in lip fillers. It’s almost always best to embrace your natural shape and balance and filling only the upper lip or only the lower lip will typically lead to unnatural looking results. You may want to enhance one more than the other (for example if you naturally have a fuller lower lip but a thin upper lip), but you will almost never be pleased with the result of filling just the upper or just the lower.
How Long Does a Half Syringe of Filler Last?
You should plan for a follow up appointment at least 2 weeks after the filler injection to review the results with your injector. You may have some mild swelling for a couple of weeks that may lead to slight asymmetry, so we typically recommend that you wait until the swelling has completely resolved before deciding to dissolve with Hyaluronidase or add more filler. In spite of the mild swelling, there is minimal downtime. Most patients will notice the swelling, but their family and friends may not. We also recommend that you schedule a follow up injection at the time of your initial filler injection. Because different types of filler will last for different lengths of time, it’s easiest to plan for your next injection right away. You can always cancel or reschedule the follow up injection if you decide you don’t need it or aren’t ready yet.
So Can I Get Just a Half Syringe of Lip Filler at Imagen in Omaha?
The answer is both yes and no. You can get only half of the syringe, but you will have to pay for the full syringe. Think of it like making a cake…just as you can‘t buy only 1 cup of milk or just 2 eggs, you can‘t buy just a half syringe. We want to assure our patients that at Imagen Body Sculpting we place your safety above all else. We will never use non FDA approved fillers or use the same syringe for multiple patients. This is something we will never compromise, even if that means some of our patients end up going to another clinic for less expensive or ”cheaper” options for dermal filler. Having a perfect pout is never worth risking your health.
Frank Soto León, MD is a cosmetic surgeon who is board certified through the American Board of Aesthetic Medicine. For more advice from Dr. Soto on facial injections or other cosmetic procedures please visit www.omahaliposuction.com where you can read his blog and see Before & After Photos of actual patients. If you have a question you would like to see answered as one of our blogs, let us know!
