Summary: Soft-tissue fillers, while popular for restoring volume, may complicate future facelifts due to issues like lumps and damaged tissue, with 52% of surgeons finding them challenging.

Key Takeaways:

  • Potential Complications with Fillers: Soft tissue filler injections, while popular for restoring facial volume, may complicate future facelifts, leading to issues such as lumps, damaged tissue, and reduced facelift longevity.
  • Biostimulatory Fillers and Collagen: Fillers like Radiesse and Sculptra not only plump the skin but also stimulate collagen production, essential for skin elasticity and youthfulness, which naturally decreases with age.
  • Survey Insights: A 2023 survey found that 52% of plastic surgeons believe biostimulatory fillers make facelifts more challenging, highlighting the need for careful consideration before combining these treatments.
  • Increasing Popularity of Facelifts: Facelifts are the most requested surgical procedure among AAFPRS surgeons, with a notable rise in patients aged 35-55, indicating a trend towards younger individuals seeking facelifts.

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Soft-tissue filler injections are a popular cosmetic treatment for restoring lost volume in the lips, cheeks, chin, and cheeks, but a growing body of evidence and reports in the popular press suggest that the use of certain fillers may complicate future facelifts.

In addition to an immediate plumping effect, biostimulatory fillers such as Radiesse (calcium hydroxyapatite) and Sculptra (poly-L-lactic acid) spur collagen synthesis under the skin’s surface. Collagen is the main structural protein that gives skin its elastic and youthful properties, but our natural supply dwindles with age.

A survey in a 2023 issue of the Aesthetic Surgery Journal Open Forum found that about 52% of plastic surgeons feel that biostimulatory fillers make facelifts more challenging to perform. The most common potential complications include lumps, bumps, or nodules from injecting too much filler, underlying tissue that is damaged or not getting enough oxygen-rich blood, and decreased longevity of the face-lifting effect.

The AAFPRS Perspective:

Facelifts and soft-tissue fillers are more popular than ever, and according to the most recent statistics from the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS), facelifts are the most requested surgical procedure by a wide margin. Since 2019, 90% or more of AAFPRS facial plastic surgeons performed facelifts each year. The survey also noted a directional increase among patients ages 35-55, suggesting that the average age of facelift patients has gone down. The annual AAFPRS statistics also show that neurotoxins and fillers rank as the most requested minimally invasive procedures.

 “Patients should tell their facial plastic surgeon about any and all treatments they have undergone in the past, even if they seem minor or are considered non- or minimally invasive,” says Patrick Byrne, MD, a board-certified facial plastic surgeon in Cleveland and president-elect of the AAFPRS. “Surgeons should take a careful history to determine if there were any complications after filler injections.”