Here, Dr Naomi is interviewed about tear trough injectables, the good, the bad and the ugly:
1. Can you explain what a tear trough filler injection is and how it works?
Tear troughs are those depressions from the inner corner of your eyes down the orbital bone, exactly where dark circles sit. It basically the junction between your lower eyelid and your cheek. Filler is an injectable substance that can lift that depression and take the hollowing and shadow away from your lower eyelids.
2. Who are the best candidates for this kind of injection and what will the after-effects look like?
People with good tight under eye skin, who don’t get puffiness or swelling. After treatment ppl just look fresher, less tired and younger.
3. We’ve heard it can be pretty dangerous, what can go wrong and are there any contraindications?
Tear trough filler is something that we do multiple times per day at The Manse clinic, so it’s a very common treatment. There are the common and short term issues of bruising and swelling and then the rare and catastrophic things like blindness. We try to give statistics in these cases, and we can say that the risk of blindess might be 1/100,000.
We get a lot of patients for correction of tear trough filler. It’s an area that is done quite poorly, and what tends to go wrong is that the product is placed too superficially and you can see the lumpiness and something called the Tyndall effect, which is a blue appearance of the filler through the skin.
4. How important is it for patients to ensure they’re going to a reputable injector?
Obviously you want to go to someone who you can trust. You need someone who is clever and experienced and knows the anatomy, also who is really up to date in the treatment of complications. On top of all of that, you really need to go to someone who has your interests at heart.
5. What can someone do if they get botched tear troughs?
It depends on what was botched. If there is a lump, it may need to be massaged or dissolved. If there is wrong placement, then again, dissolving is an option.
Another issue is water attracting, which happens in susceptible patients. This can look very puffy and patients may look worse than they did before treatment. This may need to be dissolved.
One other thing to consider is that it will be helpful to work on the skin overlying the lower eyelid and cheek complex. Tighter, firmer and younger skin will always get better results with filler..
6. Why does so much go wrong with tear trough injecting?
It is probably for multiple reasons.
- Overconfidence of an injector
- Wrong choice of placement
- The patient’s anatomy and physiology not being favourable
- The patient wanting too much after the trough has been adequately filled
- Wrong choice of patient
- Wrong choice of product
- Unforgiving fine skin in the area
Etc Etc
7. How long will tear trough filler last, realistically?
We have seen a case of Tyndall effect and lumpiness in a patient who was injected 7 years previously. So to answer this question, A LONG TIME.
If you would like to make an appointment with one of our injectors for tear trough filler, please book online or call 93315005.
8. What other treatments do you recommend for those patients having tear trough filler?
We recommend the following:
- RF microneedling
- Skinbooster
- Good skincare
- PRP
- Fractional Laser
- Radiofrequency Skin tightening