Does Restylane Cause Acne or is This a Coincidence?

Hi Tylie,

  It is possible (though rare) to have had some telangiectasias ("broken blood vessels") appear over the injection sites of a hyaluronic acid filler like Restylane. However, a long-standing, focal, acne-like eruption would be highly unlikely. I'd recommend that you return to the physician who performed the injections to discuss this problem with redness and breakouts with him/her. You may have something called seborrheic dermatitis, which is a pretty common dermatologic condition (unrelated to injection of fillers), and can to involve the nasolabial fold area. If so, this is an easy to treat/control dermatologic condition, with which your dermatologist should be familiar.

  I hope this helps! Good luck to you!

MK

Although Restylane does not cause acne, any mechanical trauma that disrupts an acne pustule or cyst, has the risk of creating greater inflammation.  Restylane injections should not be done through an area that has open sores or pus. The Restylane should not be allowed to get infected via the approach through an inflammed or open wound area.

Restylane is unlikely to cause facial acne. Acne is an inflammatory disease of the skin, and any irritation such as multiple needs injections might contribute to flare-up. One option to consider, if the acne is really troubling you, is to remove or reverse the Restylane. This reversal may be achieved with hyaluronidase, given via small injection. Only after a comprehensive evaluation can a specialist help determine appropriate options for you. Best of luck.

Dr. Chaboki


 

Thank you for your question. I have never know Restylane to cause acne to flare. However, anytime something irritates the skin it can cause flaring of acne. For it to persist for 6 months is very rare. I recommend following up with your dermatologist to have this treated. In the future, you can try Radiesse for the nasolabial folds since it typically gives better results and is longer lasting. Also, Radiesse is injected more deeply and is likely to cause flaring of acne. Best of Luck!

Thank you for your
question. I have never know Restylane to cause acne to flare. However, anytime
something irritates the skin it can cause flaring of acne. For it to persist
for 6 months is very rare. I recommend following up with your dermatologist to
have this treated. In the future, you can try Radiesse for the nasolabial folds
since it typically gives better results and is longer lasting. Also, Radiesse
is injected more deeply and is likely to cause flaring of acne. Best of Luck

Development of acne might be just a co incidental happening.I have never seen it happen in my practice.Maybe,the repeated needling may flare up infective acne in few cases.You better go back to your physician for a review.

I agree with the other responses. Acne flaring for that long of a duration does not seem to be directly related, any residual redness or disomfort from your procedure- especially this far out- is quite unusal. You should follow up with a dermatologist to ensure you are not having a reaction to the product. Hopefully this is simply a bit of chronic rosaea or perioral dermatits.

Tylie,

You describe acne-like breakouts directly overlying the areas you recently had Restylane injections in your nasolabial (melolabial) folds. I agree with you, this is not a traditional site for acne breakouts, and yours started only after your injections. It's possible your skin was not cleaned well before the injections, or that you also started to use some topical creams around the same time that are causing breakouts. See your board-certified dermatologist if your injector was not a dermatologist, to find out what exactly the bumps are and how to stop them. I do not recommend self-treating or using any cortisone creams on the area until you show a doctor, since that can confuse or worsen the picture.

Good luck.

"Localized acne" is quite unusual. Please check with ur dermatologist to make sure this is not Herpes Simplex flare-ups. I have been using the ferning technique for more than 3 years, & my experience with it is that is as safe as all the other filler injection techniques & does not cause any adverse events.

The multiple punctures would not make acne cysts.  In my experience I have never seen acne in areas of Restylane injections.  And a search in the medical literature to answer your question had no reports of hyaluronic acid fillers associated with acne.

My question is what if anything is being applied in that area?  Sometimes moisturizers or creams with growth factors can produce acne.  Also, the nasolabial folds are prone to rosacea and seborrheic dermatitis.

I recommend that you return to your dermatologist for an evaluation of the rash.  At the moment stop using anything in the area.  If you do have hormonal acne, there are also a couple of things to look at.

 


Stop all the milk and dairy products, as they contain hormones and contribute to acne

Discuss an anti-androgen, like spironolactone for acne control with your dermatologist.  Spironolactone is not to be used in a woman who is pregnant or trying to become pregnant.

Stop any irritants to the face, because if this is rosacea, anything that warms or irritates the face will make it worse.