911- I recently had Strep throat with high fever and woke up with my artefille under eyes swollen. I look like a monster. This is 2 years later and they feel like rubber. My eyes are so swollen. Will this pass? Is this a common problem. Please help.
Answer: Bellafill (Artefill) Facial Swelling: Do I need to Call the Police? First, I understand your frightened and concerned about this not resolving. Second, there is an easy fix. I have injected a large amount of Bellafill, for instance over 800 syringes in 2015. This is an unusual occurrence this delayed. In the acute 2 to 4 weeks it may resolve with no treatment or taking an oral steroid 5-7 day course (medro dose pack). This is most likely due to lymphatic swelling in the tear trough area. If this does not resolve spontaneously, then I would consider injections with either Kenalog alone (start with Kenalog 10, inject the least amount as possible, classically 0.3 cc per tear trough, wait 3-4 weeks and consider another injection or increasing the dose) or a combination of Kenalog and 5-FU. Caution is that too much steroid injection can atrophy the scar tissue, thin the skin or atrophy adjacent fat cells and produce a volume loss, which was corrected with the filler to begin with. Studies and my personal experience show that 95-99% of areas of fullness used by the collagen stimulating effect of Bellafill (Artefill) that surgical excision is rare. Worst case scenario, if the 5-FU and/or Kenalog injection is not chosen or does not work, a surgical excision of the human collagen and PMMA microsomes can be carried out by hiding the incision inside the eyelid skin (transconjunctival approach). Most cosmetic physicians do NOT understand Bellafill, and perform invasive procedures that may not b indicated. In summary, this delayed facial fullness suspected to be caused by the previous injection of Bellafill should resolve spontaneously. If the fullness does not resolve in one month, consider serial Kenalog injections and surgery is a last resort and rarely needed.
Helpful
Answer: Bellafill (Artefill) Facial Swelling: Do I need to Call the Police? First, I understand your frightened and concerned about this not resolving. Second, there is an easy fix. I have injected a large amount of Bellafill, for instance over 800 syringes in 2015. This is an unusual occurrence this delayed. In the acute 2 to 4 weeks it may resolve with no treatment or taking an oral steroid 5-7 day course (medro dose pack). This is most likely due to lymphatic swelling in the tear trough area. If this does not resolve spontaneously, then I would consider injections with either Kenalog alone (start with Kenalog 10, inject the least amount as possible, classically 0.3 cc per tear trough, wait 3-4 weeks and consider another injection or increasing the dose) or a combination of Kenalog and 5-FU. Caution is that too much steroid injection can atrophy the scar tissue, thin the skin or atrophy adjacent fat cells and produce a volume loss, which was corrected with the filler to begin with. Studies and my personal experience show that 95-99% of areas of fullness used by the collagen stimulating effect of Bellafill (Artefill) that surgical excision is rare. Worst case scenario, if the 5-FU and/or Kenalog injection is not chosen or does not work, a surgical excision of the human collagen and PMMA microsomes can be carried out by hiding the incision inside the eyelid skin (transconjunctival approach). Most cosmetic physicians do NOT understand Bellafill, and perform invasive procedures that may not b indicated. In summary, this delayed facial fullness suspected to be caused by the previous injection of Bellafill should resolve spontaneously. If the fullness does not resolve in one month, consider serial Kenalog injections and surgery is a last resort and rarely needed.
Helpful