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Are there risks with dermal fillers?

Hold the consent form in your hand when you ask about filler risks.

Look up your filler risks in two documents

A clinician examines a woman's cheek outside a Lower Manhattan med spa on a sunny city sidewalk.

Two documents name your filler risks: the consent form and the labeling for the product you will receive. Read both, and agree to nothing until you have.

Mark up the risk section of the consent form

Turn to the risk section of the consent form and do three things:

  1. Mark every risk you do not understand.
  2. Mark every sentence that tells you to do something, before treatment or after it.
  3. Ask the provider to show you the labeling for the exact product going into your face.

Then put these to the provider:

  • Which product is it, and may you see its label?
  • Which of the listed risks apply to the area being treated?
  • Who handles a problem if one appears, and what is the first step?

Annotate the form away from the clinic

  • Carry the consent form home instead of signing it on the spot.
  • Write each question in the margin beside the line it concerns.
  • Sign only once every question has an answer you can repeat back.

Compare two filler risk pages with your form

Open the FDA consumer update on dermal filler do's and don'ts, from the federal regulator. Then read the Cleveland Clinic page on cheek filler benefits, risks and what to expect, from a hospital health library. Lay both beside your consent form and mark anything you want the provider to explain.