I have been feeling really depressed over my loss of midface volume and dark circles over the past year or so due to stress and lack of sleep. My husband didn't want me to get injectables. He said it would screw up my face and be too expensive. I was sneaky and did it today without telling him. I figure it's my body and I have a job so what he doesn't know won't hurt him.
So far, I am over the moon with the results. I'll post pictures today or tomorrow once I shower and put on makeup. I had one syringe of Voluma ($750) split between the two sides with a little more going on the right side because that's where I needed it. He also injected one syringe of Restylane ($650) in my tear troughs.
I'm only 28, but my undereye area has never looked this good, as I've always had some genetic hollowness and dark circles. So far I have only very minor swelling around the injection sites and very little redness. No bruising so far except for maybe a teeny tiny one at one of the injection sites. I don't think my husband will notice. :)
The only downside I can see so far is that I am addicted to these injectables and plan to get more for even more improvement. I think I look about 60% better now but I didn't want to go overboard with the injectables since it's my first time. Plus, I'm trying to save for a rhinoplasty. I think I'll wait a few days and go ahead and book another injectable appointment for 3 or 4 months from now.
Updated on 8 May 2017:
Updated on 9 May 2017:
I may have spoken too soon on giving Voluma a Worth It review. I had a good deal of pain last night after the lidocaine wore off, especially on my right side where more product was used. I know this is normal and I have to give it time. I was stabbed in the cheek bone over and over again. Still, the pain was enough to make me anxious and I only slept 2 hours last night. Can anyone else who has had Voluma tell me how long the soreness lasted?
Updated on 10 May 2017:
I think my pain levels have gone down overall. It's not the Voluma that is bothering me now but the Restylane in my right tear trough. My left side is pretty much fine, just slightly tender to the touch. I am still having some discomfort in my left tear trough, especially when I smile. The cheekbone where the Voluma is slightly tender to the touch but not bothering me otherwise like it was yesterday. I am going to try not to touch the tear trough and ice it later. If it's the same or worse tomorrow, I think I'll give my PS a call.
Updated on 11 May 2017:
I am so relieved that the pain I had the night after the procedure has subsided a lot. I'm still slightly tender but I was able to sleep normally last night, lying down on my side as opposed to on my back with my head elevated. My face doesn't feel as tight today. No new bruising has developed so I think I should be in the clear as far as that goes that this point.
Now that the filler is starting to settle, I'm a little less impressed with the results. I can still see there is improvement but it's not as dramatic as I initially thought. I guess I had more swelling than I realized.
I only had 1/2 a syringe of Restylane in each tear trough and 1/2 a syringe of Voluma in each side, so I guess I should expect very subtle results. Still, I paid $1400 so I'm a little underwhelmed.
As of right now, I would definitely still do it again, though, because I do see improvement, and, so far, I haven't had any terrible side effects. It was just a lot more painful initially than I had expected. Thank God for ice and Tylenol.
Will update at 1 week with pics or sooner if anything major changes.
Updated on 15 May 2017:
Things have mostly settled down with my fillers. I still have a little bit of tenderness in my right tear trough but it seems to get a little better every day. Around days 2-3, It seemed my eyes were strained, like the fillers had caused the muscles around my eyes to tighten up. However, that has thankfully gone away. I think my PS did a great job even though I didn't get much filler. I'm glad I did it.
Updated on 27 May 2017:
Coming up on three weeks since my filler injections and I'm still really satisfied with my results. Still looking to get more filler but I booked a rhinoplasty for September so definitely no injections until after that's paid for.
I am smiling in both of the attached photos. You can tell when I smile that I need a bit more Restylane in my left tear trough but there is noticeably more cheek volume from the 1/2 syringe of Voluma that's in there.
Updated on 7 Jul 2017:
My fillers are still holding up pretty well. I haven't noticed any major changes. Some days I look in the mirror in bad lighting and think my dark circles are still really terrible. However, looking at old photos from before the injections reminds me that I got a good improvement and I still look better than I did before.
I have worn glasses for a long time, mostly to cover up my dark circles and to make my large, overprojected nose a little less noticeable. Now that I have the undereye improvement, I'm impatiently waiting for my rhinoplasty (67 more days!) so that I can hopefully go without glasses on the regular!
Updated on 4 Nov 2017:
I’m six months out and I’m really starting to notice my orbital rim so I’m planning on getting a touch-up next month. I think the Voluma is actually holding up okay but I think the Restylane in my tear trough has dissipated. I got a rhinoplasty on 9/12 so perhaps the swelling affected my fillers a bit. Anyway, I was slated to get fillers next Tuesday but since my surgeon got called into surgery, I had to reschedule for December. I will probably end up getting another syringe of Voluma and Restylane but we’ll see! Hopefully less!
Updated on 13 Dec 2017:
I went and got another one syringe of Voluma yesterday. The doctor pretty much split it between my cheeks so 1/2 in each side so now I’m at two syringes for 2017. Hopefully I’ll be able to wait a whole near now (or more!) before needing another Voluma touch-up since I’ve got a good amount of product now.
I also got half a syringe of Restylane. He put most of it in my left tear trough and a tiny bit under my right tear trough to even me out. Then there was a very small amount left that he put in a slight groove in my nasolabial fold. I wasn’t even planning on treating that area but it looks so nice and smooth now. I hate that I love it because it’s so expensive and I don’t want to feel like every little line has to be filled in as I start to age.
Do you all feel any pain when you get your injections? I feel a lot of needle sticks when my doctor does them even though the numbing cream was left on for like 50 minutes. I’ll be icing all day today.
Updated on 16 Dec 2017:
This is the difference between June 20, 2016, before I had anything done to my face, and December 15, 2017 so it’s a year and a half. I first started in May of this year with one syringe of Voluma in my cheeks and one syringe of Restylane in my tear troughs.
I got a rhinoplasty in September.
Then I just had another syringe of Voluma put in my cheeks and a half syringe of Restylane in my tear troughs earlier this week. I’m really happy with the difference it’s made.
Updated on 24 Feb 2018:
I’ve gotten some improvement from the two syringes of Voluma I got last year and the 1.5 syringes of Restylane but I really feel like I still need a lot more volume in my mid-face.
After my touch-up in December, I only loved my results for about a month. I felt great for the holidays but by mid-January I was feeling kind of meh again. I’m in better shape than I was before the touch-up, but I definitely don’t think the Restylane lasts long for me. I’ll probably need another half stringe of Restylane by April so that will only be five months since the last injection. I feel like the Voluma swelling lasted a while and I love it when it’s swollen, but it’s not nearly as much of an improvement once the swelling goes down, probably only 50% of what it was the first few weeks after the injections.
I’m seriously considering fat transfer or Sculptra as a more economical, long-term alternative but I know the results can be somewhat unpredictable. I swore I wouldn’t do something as invasive as fat transfer but I just don’t think I’m getting enough of an improvement with the Voluma to continue with it long-term because of the high price. I don’t think I want to consider cheek implants. Sculptra would be less invasive than fat transfer but I am a bit afraid of developing nodules. Any thoughts on these different options?
Updated on 9 May 2018:
I got another syringe of Voluma yesterday. I might post pics later but I’m not sure if the change is really all that noticeable in pictures because of where the filler was placed. It basically evened out some assymmetries between the two sides. I went to a different injector this time and have no bruising and less swelling than with my old injector. I am going to go back to this new person to do my tear troughs in the next few weeks.
This is my third syringe of Voluma overall in the last year. It looks good, but I didn’t get any improvement on volumizing the sides of my face. I just need way more product. I keep flip-flopping on alternative volumizing products, whether I want to try Sculptra despite the possible side effects. I’m going to discuss it with the injector next time I go in.
Updated on 22 Dec 2018:
I’ve been using some topical products that I think might be helping to enhance my filler results and I feel like my cheeks are looking so full today even though I haven’t had a Voluma injection in seven months!
I’m amazed by what Voluma has done to correct assymetry in my face and give me cheekbones when mine were previously quite flat. Voluma is definitely not cheap but, to me, it’s been worth every penny!
I’m attaching a photo of my cheek now versus before I started using fillers.
Updated on 10 May 2020:
It’s now been two years since I’ve had any Voluma injected and I still have significantly more volume than before I had any filler. I can tell that a very slight amount of my facial volume has depleted, giving me ever-so-slight jowls when I have a resting face. I am happy with the way things look now, though, and don’t anticipate getting more Voluma for a while. I’ll include a smiling pic to compare to my previous pictures.