Swelling after Restylane to lip

Corey S. Maas, MD answers: How do I treat bruising after lip augmentation with Restalyn?

I had Restalyn injected in my lips yesterday. I made it clear to my practitioner that i wanted the results to be very subtle, that I was starting a new senior job next week and did not want to deal with any bruising or freakish swelling. They assured me that it would be fine and that I could even go out that same night. They also promised to be very restrained in how much they used - saying that i could always inject more later. Well, going anywhere is not a possibility and I'm really worried about my first week at work.

The biggest problem is the duck like appearance, an imbalance between my top and bottom lip and, most importantly, severe bruising which has turned the left side of my bottom lip black. Oddly enough my top lip is totally fine ( although they did do more injections on the bottom) I'm icing all the time, taking Benadryl and Arnica, and sleeping upright. I think the swelling will probably be gone by Tuesday ( start day) but I'm worried about the black bruising. It's even on my skin next to my lip. is there anything at all I can do to make the blackness dissipate? I can't even cover it with concealer. Does anyone know of any make-up that can cover black and blue lips? It almost looks like they're bleeding black and blue


Corey S. Maas, MD
24 days ago

We inform patients that there is a small risk of swelling and bruising after Restylane injections to the lips (a risk with any injection). Immediate ice application afterwards, Sineech, avoiding aspirin, Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications, and vitamin E are all measures that can reduce the risk. If a patient has an important function soon, it may be more prudent to wait until after the event.  

Rarely, some female patients will get more swelling than usual after Restylane injection to the lips. A high dose burst and taper of Prednisone 60 mg will rapidly decrease the swelling. Also, it helps to be active and move about.  Staying in bed will not speed up the resolution of edema. Fortunately, most patients we inject recover quickly.

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