What should you expect with dermal fillers?

Have your filler expectations put on paper ahead of the first injection.

Set expectations from the filler paperwork

Results, downtime and side effects for your treatment should come from three documents: the product's labeling, the consent form and the aftercare sheet. Read all three ahead of the visit.

Request three filler documents in advance

Ask for these documents in advance, not in the chair:

1. The consent form.
2. The product's labeling.
3. The written aftercare instructions.

Then tell the injector everything that could matter, including any treatment you are on and any lab results you hold.

Read up on what can go wrong ahead of the visit. Open the Cleveland Clinic health library page on dermal fillers: types, benefits and side effects, which lays out the side effects. Read the review of complications after cosmetic periocular filler for prevention and management around the eyes. Bring the questions both raise to the consultation.

Check the Cleveland Clinic page on lip fillers: what to expect, types, benefits and side effects for what the treatment involves. Read the vascular occlusion explainer from the same library too.

Mark the documents and raise each line

1. Request the three documents listed above.
2. Read them at home and mark every line you do not understand.
3. Raise each marked line at the consultation.
4. Keep the aftercare sheet where you will see it.

Count only written expectations

An expectation is a document, not a feeling. If nobody wrote it down, you have not been told. Have a licensed clinician set the expectations for your own case.