Hi, Note that none of the doctors seem to want to touch this question. I will try my best to help. This does happen with lower eyelid filler injections and more frequently than we would like to admit. I have seen this problem on my fellow colleagues in their instagram photos when they are smiling really big. The dilemma is that when you aren’t smiling, you actually like the result, but when you smile, clearly the technique that the filling was performed doesn’t look like the other side. So what do we do? It’s like a new Rubik’s cube puzzle that no one has been able to solve. Since it looks good when you aren’t smiling I think that we can conclude that the amount of filler is close to being correct. One thing to consider for the injectors is that there appears to be more than one layer of muscle in that area. If too much filler is in one of the two layers, then that layer is too thick and when you smile it appears to be too much filler. When injecting lower eyelid fillers, I will show examples of what you are showing in your question to my patients as one of the outcomes that sometimes happens. However, if we consider that the current injection techniques may not be perfect, then there may be a second layer under the prior layer which may benefit from some of filler from the superficial layer. If both layers have 50% it will look different from the deeper layer having 0% and the superficial layer (outer layer) having all 100%. When we inject using one layer, if the deeper layer didn’t lose much volume and kept 50% in the deeper layer, then simply filling out the superficial layer with the remaining 50% doesn’t create the problem that you are having. Based on my experience, 50-70% of patients don’t have this problem. However, the remaining may get a hint of this problem, and I may need to under fill them to prevent this from happening. and other solution option is to try to fill the dent below the bulge after it has been partially reduced. Lastly, I need to comment on dissolving Voluma. This can be a difficult proposition. It can take multiple dissolving sessions to successfully dissolve Voluma. For this reason, I don’t like to use Voluma for lower eyelid filling. Voluma can last a very long time, because it has a property called isovolumic degradation. As it actually is dissolving, the remaining broken down particles seem to take up more volume which makes it appear that it isn’t actually dissolving. Eventually when the Voluma is broken down enough it finally goes away, but not without a lot of frustration for the patient as well as for the doctor/injector. Restylane for the lower eyelid filling can already last many years and is easy to dissolve. So for that reason, I avoid Voluma. Ask your injector to dissolve the Voluma, so you can start over. If you return to your original injector, they may either dissolve the Voluma at no charge or at least at a discount relative to performing dissolving on another injector’s patient which will likely be full price. Hope this provides some value to you. Good luck. Best, Dr. Yang
