Silicone Injections: What You Need to Know
Risks to consider
How much it costs
Fast facts
Permanent liquid silicone injections are sometimes used as fillers in augmentation or enhancement procedures. Unlike other fillers, injected silicone does not absorb or get broken down by the body, but its permanence can be as much a liability as an asset.Â
Results, good or bad, typically can’t be undone and won’t necessarily adapt with natural body changes over time. There are also serious side effects—particularly with nonmedical-grade silicone—that can happen at any point after treatment, even years later.
Silikon 1000, the primary medical-grade injectable silicone oil, is FDA-approved for treatment of retinal detachment in ophthalmology, though some doctors use it off-label, to plump lips, change the shape of the nose, and address acne scars and under-eye hollows.Â
When used as a facial filler, silicone is injected in very small amounts (never more than 1cc total) across one to three treatments, spaced over a month. Known as the microdroplet technique, this approach allows the liquid silicone to diffuse throughout the injected tissue and prompt collagen to grow around it.
Even the board-certified plastic surgeons and dermatologists who perform these off-label injections emphasize that liquid silicone should never be injected in large amounts, for body contouring, including buttock augmentation (known as “butt shots”) and breast enhancement—especially by unqualified injectors outside a reputable medical facility. The health risks far outweigh the accessibility and affordability of these injections, which may even use the same type of silicone found in a hardware store.
Permanence is largely the appeal of silicone injections over temporary hyaluronic-acid fillers, such as Juvéderm and Restylane, and poly-L-lactic acid–based Sculptra. But that quality can cause a host of problems.
Aesthetically speaking, silcone’s permanence does not equal longevity of results. “Its long-term behavior is unpredictable,” says Dr. Stephen Prendiville, a facial plastic surgeon in Fort Myers, Florida, in a RealSelf Q&A. Liquid silicone can spread and migrate throughout the body, beyond where it was injected, possibly leading to contour irregularity, dimpling, and nodules.
One RealSelf member, rkcndy, shared her story 14 years after getting microdroplet Silikon 1000 injections in her lips: “I knew about the possibility of the silicone doing a little migrating, but I did all kinds of mental gymnastics to tell myself that it wouldn't happen to me. As I've aged, it's not my lips themselves that have volume—it's the area slightly around my lip line. The material has migrated beneath the lower lip edge, and it just keeps getting worse. I look like I have a permanent fat lip.”
You’re lucky if the migration only leads to an undesirable aesthetic outcome. An FDA safety communication warns, “When injected into areas with many blood vessels, such as the buttocks, [silicone] can travel to other parts of the body and block blood vessels in the lungs, heart, or brain. This can result in permanent damage to those tissues and lead to stroke or death.”Â
Blocking a blood vessel is also a risk during nonsurgical nose jobs, and it’s the reason many plastic surgeons who perform them won’t use silicone.
Other complications include chronic pain, infection, inflammation, scarring, and permanent disfigurement. Some people develop granulomas, or lumps of inflamed tissue, that can interfere with nerve sensation, organ function, and muscle movement.
“Silicone material injected into the subcutaneous space may look fine in terms of soft-tissue enhancement, for weeks, months, or even years, and then begin to manifest some of these unpleasant and difficult-to-treat problems at a later date,” explains Dr. Michael Law, a plastic surgeon in Raleigh, North Carolina, in a RealSelf Q&A. “It never goes away, so the recipient is potentially at risk for these complications for the rest of their life.”Â
Because of the way it spreads, liquid silicone, including Silikon 1000, is extremely difficult to remove. “The removal can frequently be very complex and involve lengthy surgery. Multiple operations are not uncommon,” says Dr. Raj Ambay, a plastic surgeon in Wesley Chapel, Florida, in a RealSelf Q&A. Often, surrounding tissue must be removed to get all the silicone out, leading to disfigurement and scarring.
If your goal is facial volumizing or body contouring, there are many other, more reliable options available. Talk to a board-certified plastic surgeon or dermatologist about the treatments that can best address your concerns.
Face
- Temporary injectable fillers that volumize, plump, and contour the face can last up to two years and absorb naturally in the body over time.
- Facial fat transfer uses fat from another part of your body, to volumize cheeks, under-eye hollows, and other sunken areas of the face.
Body
- Butt implants are solid-silicone devices, surgically inserted into the butt, to enlarge it permanently.Â
- A Brazilian butt lift enhances the shape and size of your butt, with a transfer of your own fat. A surgeon will remove fat from another area of your body, via liposuction, and then inject it into your butt. It’s important to note that this cosmetic procedure has the highest mortality rate, with one death for every 3,000 operations, so it’s key to select a board-certified plastic surgeon who specializes in butt augmentation and research the risks.Â
- Some doctors use the filler Sculptra off-label, to augment the butt. It lasts two to three years; but a large amount of product is needed for significant results, so the procedure can be pricey.
Related: 5 Dangerous Procedures to Avoid—and What to Get Instead
- Average Cost:
- $1,925
Updated June 13, 2023