What Are the Symptoms or Artery Blockage/Damage from Restylane?

asked 10 months ago by freakingout819 in Columbia, SC
Latest answer by Alan Engler, MD
Question viewed 422 times
Tags: 2 weeks post-op, artery, side effects, symptoms

I had Restylane injected into my tear troughs 12 days ago. I did not have a dental block. I immediately felt numbness down to my lip. It was better 8 hrs later. Then,I started having spells where my lip and parts of face would go numb & pain. Now an area remains a little numb. I have feeling but it's not completely normal. No pain.I was told that this was probably an irritated nerve & would heal. Now the issue of possible artery blockage was brought up on this board. What would signs of that be?

6 answers to What Are the Symptoms or Artery Blockage/Damage from Restylane?

Numbness = nerve; Circulation problem (ischemia) = artery.

Your symptoms are typical of infraorbital nerve irritation, inflammation, or needle injury. This should heal and resolve, and the rapidity of return to normal will be dependent on the exact type and severity of whichever of the above was the cause of your numbness. The fact that it is better and intermittent is good and reassuring. Blockage of an artery requires an artery big enough to suffer (an unfortunate) direct hit with the HA needle, and injection which causes the blood flow in... more

Richard H. Tholen, MD, FACS
Minneapolis Plastic Surgeon

Restylane - What Are the Symptoms or Artery Blockage/Damage from Restylane?

The most common symptoms of a vascular blockage are when patches of the skin turn pale/white (arterial blockage) or purple/deep red (venous blockage). Of the two, the arterial blockage generally has much higher risks. Fortunately, most of what appear to be blockages of the vessels are actually external compression of the vessel in question and dissipate fairly quickly and, hopefully, without any significant permanent effects. That is not always the case, however, and some of... more

Alan Engler, MD
New York Plastic Surgeon

Symptoms of artery blockage from Restylane or Juvederm

If an artery was blocked, you would see marhed blanching at first and an area of sloughing later. Also, you would feel pain at first and numbness later. An arterial spasm would cause a temporary blanching and pain. It is quite unlikely that an artery was blocked. Most likely, you had a nerve squeezed. Apparently the peoblem is subsiding . If numbness persists, a hyaluronidase injected in the area of the infraorbital nerve exit from the bone may prove beneficial. more

Eugene Mandrea, MD
Chicago Dermatologist

www.lakeviewderm.com

Numbness might be from damage to the infraorbital nerve

When your tear troughs were treated, the infraorbital nerve [which exits from bone in that area] might have either been hit with the needle, or compressed if Restylane® was accidentally injected into the infraorbital foramen. Either scenario could account for the numbness you are describing. At this point it sounds as though you are getting better on your own. If necessary, hyaluronidase could be injected in the general area of the infraorbital foramen [hyaluronidase diffuses quite... more

Kevin C. Smith, MD
Niagara Falls Dermatologic Surgeon

Numbness After Restylane Injection

Dear Freakingout, Blood vessel occlusion due to Restylane injection can present in several ways, including: 1) Immediate blindness in one eye 2) Pain in the injected area followed by reddish / purplish blotchy skin discoloration 3) The color changes described above with minimal pain It does not sound like you have occlusion of a blood vessel. You need to see your injector for follow up.

Michael McCracken, MD
Boulder Oculoplastic Surgeon

Signs of Artery Blockage from Restylane (or Juvederm)

In my last post, I suggested that you be aware that blood vessel blockage is also a possibility with ongoing facial pain or numbness after filler treatment. The most significant signs of this would be a color change over the area affected by the artery, such as "duskiness" (purplish or blueish bruise-looking area) or paleness. This would mean there is lack of normal blood flow to the area affected. Sometimes intermittent pain/numbness could be a factor if an artery is spasming... more

Jessica J. Krant, MD, MPH
Manhattan Dermatologic Surgeon

www.ArtofDermatology.com

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