I had shingles almost a year ago and have a few scars on my chin. Could a filler help? (Photo)

I routinely treat facial scars with fillers such as Restylane.  If you are worried about the virus recurring you can consult your treating physician about treating you with Valtrex before your injections.  Lasers can also help with the scars such as V-Beam or Fraxel laser.  Please be certain to consult a board certified dermatologist for the best results.  Please let me know how your treatment progresses.

A filler is not likely to reactivate your shingles. But the filler can be used to camouflage the scars. The eye is drawn to a putted scar, so filling in the scar may even out the surface appearance.

Dear Lauren-You can absolutely have some filler put into your scars to improve the appearance.  Typically I use Belotero (a thinner less lumpy filler) for superficial scars.  The other treatment that can drastically help with scars is the Fraxel laser.  For bad acne scarring and chickenpox or shingles scars, I typically recommend Fraxel laser treatment and then filler afterwards if still needed.  The improvement that you would see with Fraxel would be permanent whereas you would need to have filler injected probably every 6 months.It would be best to consult with a board certified dermatologist or plastic surgeon in your area.Best of luck!Dr. Linnell

Filler is commonly put into scars such as those from chicken pox, acne scarring, etc., so yes, it can be used in your chin area where you have scars from shingles. Seek an experienced physician to discuss your situation and the amount of filler you will need. Sometimes a half-size syringe of filler can be used in scarring because there's not as much volume needed, but your scars will need to be assessed to determine this. "This answer has been solicited without seeing this patient and
cannot be held as true medical advice, but only opinion. Seek in-person
treatment with a trained medical professional for appropriate care."