The most common cause of lumps after a filler treatment is swelling and bruising from the injections themselves. These should naturally subside within the first week.
Not to worry though, lumps following a filler treatment are completely normal. The lumps you may experience are often caused by swelling and bruising of the treated area. We would not recommend massaging or using force to reduce the lumps yourself, as this may impact your final results.
Lumpiness is very common to feel in your skin in the days after injection of dermal filler into the face, including the upper lip body and the cheeks and the chin area and along wrinkles and folds when injected to lift these. It will usually resolve within a couple of weeks.
Dissolve the filler with hyaluronidase enzyme such as Vitrase or Hylenix. These enzymes, when injected, will cause hyaluronic acid based fillers to completely dissolve within about 5 minutes, with repeated massage. This returns the lips to their baseline prior to injection.
Your lips may feel stiff or rigid immediately after injection with dermal fillers. Don't worry — this is entirely normal, and the lip fillers will soften with time. Your lips may also be swollen and tender, which can contribute to the lip filler feeling hard under the skin.
Whilst it is somewhat normal to feel small lumps, depending on how thick the filler used was), if they feel one lump in particular, they can gently massage it in between their finger and their thumb, over a period of time, and it will help to “break down” the lump.
Do I massage my lips after lip fillers? Do not massage your lips for 24 to 48 hours after the treatment. Once your swelling subsides down, you can gently massage your lips with light pressure.
While massage can sometimes improve mild symptoms such as moderate lumpiness or slight asymmetry, don't perform massage on your fillers unless instructed to do so by your plastic surgeon or injector.
Lumps and bumps are common after lip filler injections. The good news is that they can be effectively treated with gentle massage after initial swelling subsides.
The most common cause of lumps after a filler treatment is swelling and bruising from the injections themselves. These should naturally subside within the first week.
Generally, any lumps or bumps that appear after fillers will disappear on their own within one to two weeks. Give the treatment a couple of weeks to improve, applying ice regularly.
The best way to prevent lumps from filler is to use the appropriate product at the appropriate layer (depth), using the appropriate technique. Ensure you know when to massage and when to mould and what is acceptable post-procedure.
DON'T: massage your lips.
Massaging freshly injected lips risks moving the filler around causing the possibility of desportation and undesirable results.
In some cases, we recommend our patients massage their fillers following treatment to smooth them out below the skin; however, too much massage too soon may cause the filler to migrate slightly.
Fillers remain moldable for 1-2 weeks, and pressure can deform your filler.
It is not likely that the filler products would move if you wait at least a few days before pressing really hard on the areas and having extractions. The hyaluronic acid fillers settle nicely into the skin, and once any swelling goes down, it would be pretty unusual for anyone to be able to displace them.
If your lip fillers have migrated, it will almost always be noticeable visually. This can be presented in many ways; from a puffy upper lip, a lack of a defined border between the lip edge and above and/or below the lip border.
It takes up to 4 weeks for the filler to fully integrate into the tissue and some fillers are more cohesive than others. We often advise my patients that they should drink plenty of water to stay hydrated after treatment, as hyaluronic based fillers are water-binding.
"Lip filler migration is generally a result of the fact that hyaluronic acid fillers absorb water, and they can begin to create some extra volume and extra absorption of volume in areas that were outside of the primary injection site," says Dr. Karam.
Check with your provider to ensure that the lump is not an uncommon complication, like an infection or a vascular block; if you're in the clear, there is no need to worry, and the lump will usually resolve itself within one to two weeks. You can minimize the swelling by icing or applying a cold compress.
Massage can encourage the filler to be broken up by the body more quickly. But in practice this still takes a long time (like weeks of daily vigorous massage) to improve the outcome. This may also spread the product over a larger area causing more problems.
It should be noted that the lips may feel hard for around two weeks after injections. This is due to swelling, the filler settling, and the healing process. After all of this resolves, your lips should feel natural.
Massaging freshly injected lips risks moving the filler around causing the possibility of desportation and undesirable results.
Fillers remain moldable for 1-2 weeks, and pressure can deform your filler.