Dermal fillers at The London Aesthetic Clinic: what it treats, who it suits, how the assessment works, what the appointment involves, recovery and aftercare, and when it is not the right choice.
A dermal filler is a gel, usually cross-linked hyaluronic acid, injected to restore volume, rebuild structural support or refine a contour. It works by occupying space and attracting water. Most are reversible with an enzyme. In the UK they are regulated as medical devices rather than as medicines.
Conditions this treats
| Classification | Medical device. No prescription required in the UK |
|---|---|
| Material | Cross-linked hyaluronic acid in almost all cosmetic use |
| Areas | Temples, cheeks, tear troughs, nose, chin, jaw, folds, lips, hands |
| Result | Immediate, with swelling settling over one to two weeks |
| Duration | Roughly six to eighteen months depending on product, site and movement |
| Reversal | Hyaluronidase, which is itself a prescription-only medicine |
| Serious risk | Vascular occlusion, including rare visual loss in high-risk areas |
The cost of dermal fillers in London is driven by how much product your face needs and by who is holding the needle. Price reflects the gel selected for the area, the quantity used, the injector's training and register, whether hyaluronidase is stocked for emergencies, and whether review is part of the fee.
A quotation should name the area, the product, the quantity and the risks, in writing, before you consent. A figure quoted over the telephone before anyone has looked at your face is a price for a syringe, not a plan for a face.
Cost follows the assessment rather than preceding it. What treatment costs explains how a written quotation should be built, and the guide to choosing a clinic in London covers what an unusually low figure has normally had removed from it.
Dermal fillers last roughly six to eighteen months. Hyaluronic acid gels are broken down gradually by the body, and how long that takes depends on the degree of cross-linking, the firmness of the gel, the depth it was placed at and how much the area moves. Deep, static placements outlast superficial ones.
Manufacturers vary three things when they design a gel: how heavily the hyaluronic acid is cross-linked, the size and uniformity of the particles, and the concentration. The result is a family of products with genuinely different physical behaviour.
Placing the wrong gel in the wrong plane is the mechanism behind most poor results. A firm product placed superficially reads as a ridge or casts a grey shadow through thin skin. A soft product placed deep where support was needed simply disappears.
The question worth asking is not which brand, but which plane, and why that product for that plane.
Dermal fillers are classified as medical devices in the United Kingdom rather than as medicines, which means no prescription and no legal restriction on who injects them. That is the real risk. Vascular occlusion, where gel blocks an artery, is the complication that causes tissue loss and, rarely, visual loss.
In the UK, dermal fillers are regulated as medical devices. There is no prescription requirement and, at the time of writing, no general licence needed to inject them. A person with no clinical training can lawfully buy filler and inject your face. Legislation enabling a licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England exists but has not been brought into force.
In London there is one additional layer worth knowing about. Most London boroughs licence premises offering certain treatments under local special treatment provisions, which sets standards for the premises rather than for the clinical judgement of the person working in it. It is worth asking whether the premises holds a licence, and it is not a substitute for checking the individual.
Hyaluronidase dissolves hyaluronic acid filler and is the emergency treatment when a blood vessel is compromised. It is a prescription-only medicine, so a practitioner without prescribing rights cannot lawfully hold it. Ask whether it is on the premises today, who prescribed it and who would administer it. There is no acceptable answer involving tomorrow morning.
This is the complication that justifies every check in this guide. If filler enters an artery, or compresses one, the blood supply to the tissue that artery feeds is interrupted.
Managed promptly with hyaluronidase, it usually resolves without lasting damage. Left alone, it can cause skin death and permanent scarring.
Filler forced backwards through vessels connected to the eye can cause sudden visual loss. The highest-risk sites are the glabella between the brows, the nose and the tear trough. Any vision change after facial filler is an emergency and needs immediate medical attention as well as contact with the practitioner.
This is why nose reshaping with filler deserves particular thought. It is frequently marketed as a lunchtime procedure. It is the highest-risk site on the face.
Expect an assessment of the whole face rather than the feature you came in about, a written plan naming areas, product and quantity, and consent taken before anything is opened. Treatment takes twenty to forty minutes. The change is immediate, then swelling and bruising settle over one to two weeks.
The face does not age by the skin loosening alone. Fat compartments deflate and slide downward, the bone of the eye socket and jaw resorbs, and the ligaments tethering soft tissue give way. The visible result appears lower down than the cause.
So the fold beside your mouth is frequently a cheek problem, the shadow under your eye is frequently a mid-face problem, and the softness along your jaw is frequently a chin problem. A practitioner who treats only the spot you pointed at will produce a heavier face rather than a refreshed one.
Choosing an injector for dermal fillers in London is the whole decision. Ask which healthcare register they hold, how often they treat your specific area, whether hyaluronidase is on the premises, what their written complications protocol says, who covers them out of hours, and what indemnity they carry for this procedure.
The clinic guide covers verification, and what treatment costs explains why comparing quotes by millilitre is the wrong measure.
Dermal fillers are declined in pregnancy and breastfeeding, over active infection or inflamed skin, in anyone under eighteen for cosmetic purposes, and where there has been a reaction to hyaluronic acid or hyaluronidase. Loose skin, heavy jowls and unrealistic expectations are also reasons to decline rather than to add product.
The same order every time, with the decision made at assessment rather than at the point of sale.
A full assessment of the area, your medical history and a discussion of what dermal fillers can and cannot change for you. Where a prescription-only medicine is involved, this happens face to face with the prescriber before anything is dispensed.
Areas, sequence, product, quantity and cost set out in writing, with the risks that need a protocol named rather than glossed over. You take it away before you consent to it.
A first treatment is deliberately conservative, and you are told what to expect before you leave.
Written aftercare, the symptoms that mean you telephone rather than wait, and a route to reach a clinician out of hours.
The result is judged at review rather than on the day, once any swelling has settled, and adjustment happens there rather than being sold as a second course. The effect lasts roughly six to eighteen months depending on product, site and movement.
Where the finding will not respond to this treatment, that is said plainly and an alternative is discussed rather than a compromise.
Roughly six to eighteen months for hyaluronic acid, depending on the product, the site and how much the area moves. Static areas such as the cheek last longest.
Hyaluronic acid filler can be dissolved with hyaluronidase. This is a strong reason to choose a hyaluronic acid product and a practitioner who can prescribe.
It carries the highest vascular risk of any common filler site, including the rare risk of visual loss. It should be treated as a serious intervention rather than a quick appointment.
There is no answer before an assessment. Any figure quoted before someone has examined your face is a sales estimate.
Sensible volumes replacing lost structure do not. Repeated overfilling beyond what the tissue originally held is a different matter.
Severe or increasing pain, blanching then mottling of the skin, coolness, or any change in vision. Contact the practitioner immediately and seek urgent care for vision changes.
No. Filler supports and replaces volume. Significant laxity is a different problem and needs a different conversation, sometimes a surgical one.
Treatment
The highest-leverage area on the face, and the easiest one to ruin by degrees.
Read
Treatment
Small volumes, thin skin, high stakes. The area where patient selection matters most.
Read
Treatment
Definition comes from proportion. Frequently the chin is the answer, not the jaw.
ReadTell us what you would like changed and what you have had done before. You will get a considered reply setting out whether this treatment applies to you, what an assessment would need to establish, and what the alternatives are.
hello@aestheticlaunchlab.comPlease do not send clinical photographs or medical records by email. If something has gone wrong after a procedure, contact the practitioner who treated you, or NHS 111, rather than waiting for a reply here.