Restylane in tear troughs NOT dissolving years later. Any suggestions? (photos)

Hi Productjunkie27,It looks like you still have some residual filler which was not fully dissolved from the dissolver (hyaluronidase) injection.  More often than not, the filler may need more than one, if not several injections to completely wash out the remaining filler. The reason is that not all of the filler is injected in the same pocket. Imagine multiple "bubbles" of filler and when injecting the dissolver some of the dissolver was injected into some of those bubbles, while other bubbles of filler did not receive any dissolver. Sometimes trying to get the dissolver exactly into a bubble of filler under the skin is tricker than it would seem. If the dissolver is injected above or below the bubble, there can be rim (think orange rind) of collagen protecting the filler from dissolving.  So the injection needs to be precise or a little extra pin cushion maneuvers can be used to make sure the bubble get pierced. Since it looks blue, there is a likely a Tyndall effect and is probably superficial (close to the surface) and above the muscle (orbicularis oculi). If the filler is injected under the muscle, there should not be any Tyndall effect, because directly under the skin is the muscle which doesn't show as blue. When filler is injected between the skin and muscle it has a much higher chance of creating the Tyndall effect. I hope that makes sense. I also appreciate your question, because it highlights that even temporary filler such as Restylane can last much longer and may even appear not to be going away at all even though it is a "temporary" filler.   I use this observation an advantage, when filling to try to make the filler last longer. Best,Dr. Yang

Thank you for your question and I am sorry to hear about your experience. From your photo it appears that you have residual filler in your tear trough area. Sometime it requires more than 1 treatment of hyaluronidase to fully dissolve filler. I recommend having another treatment of hyaluronidase to dissolve your filler. Please remember to always see an expert injector. Best of Luck!

Thank you for your question and I am sorry to hear about your experience. From your photo it appears that you have residual filler in your tear trough area. Sometime it requires more than 1 treatment of hyaluronidase to fully dissolve filler. I recommend having another treatment of hyaluronidase to dissolve your filler. Please remember to always see an expert injector. Best of Luck!