Cheek Filler Treatment Planning Advice
Cheek filler is the cornerstone of mid-face filler treatments. It can provide extensive benefits for both facial rejuvenation and beautification, making it one of the most popular injectables.
As cheeks are a fairly straightforward area for aesthetics practitioners who are just starting out, the appropriate injecting techniques can be learned early on.
However, there are a number of steps involved in the treatment planning stage – before you start injecting – that are vital to securing safe and effective results.
New injectors need to fully grasp these initial skills and adopt them into a routine. This, combined with proper injection techniques, will allow you to create a fantastic patient experience as well as beautiful, reproducible results.
Here we have gathered some expert advice to help you deliver the most safe and effective cheek filler treatments to your patients.
CHEEK FILLER TREATMENT PLANNING AND PRODUCT SELECTION
We asked Natalie Haswell for her top tips on planning and perfecting the initial stages of your cheek filler appointments.
Nat is an experienced registered cosmetic nurse prescriber who runs her own clinic. She is also a senior clinical trainer with Harley Academy and an Allergan Institute board member. This is her advice
1. Facial assessment
Assess your patient physically from the top of the face to the bottom. Particularly when you are looking to potentially combine filler treatments, you should also treat in that systematic order. As well as the front view, consider the oblique view, like the ogee curve, and the side profile as well.
In cases where you are considering combining cheek filler with tear trough fillers, you may find the under eye receives sufficient volume and lift from treating the lateral and medial cheek. Therefore, by treating the cheek first, tear trough correction may not be required.
2. Conducting a thorough consultation
Ensure you fully discuss what you will be doing and why with your patient so everything is crystal clear and there are no surprises.
The easy part is explaining the benefits and outcomes you are aiming for. You must also make them aware of the risks and any potential complications associated with this treatment.
This makes gaining their consent a simpler process and is particularly helpful in avoiding potential complaints. This is especially true in relation to issues arising from a discrepancy between the post-treatment results and the patient’s expectations.
You can find more information on this in our previous article about speaking to patients about cheek filler.
3. Never rush your patient consultation
Take your time with the consultation stage of your appointment. There is a lot of ground to cover and it is all crucial to understanding the outcome your patient is looking for.
Don’t be in too much of a hurry to get to the treatment stage and don’t let your patient rush you either. Part of being a responsible, safe aesthetics practitioner is ensuring each step is completed satisfactorily and in as much detail as is required.
4. Choosing the best cheek filler product
When it comes to choosing your product, you need a highly cross linked filler. It should also have:
- A high G prime
- High hyaluronic acid content
- Good longevity, as it will be placed deep supraperiosteally.
When you learn cheek filler techniques at Harley Academy, you will be taught using Allergan Aesthetics’ Juvéderm Voluma. This filler product has had FDA approval for cheek augmentation to correct age-related mid-face volume deficit, since 2013.
According to its manufacturer, “JUVÉDERM® VOLUMA™ XC is designed to add volume beneath the skin’s surface, which provides lift and contour to the cheek area. It provides natural-looking and long-lasting results that last up to 2 years with optimal treatment. JUVÉDERM® VOLUMA™ XC is designed to temporarily add volume to the facial wrinkles for a smoother appearance to the face. The lidocaine in the gel improves the comfort of the injection by reducing sensitivity to pain.”
IMPROVING YOUR CHEEK FILLER SKILLS
Depending on your experience, licensed doctors, dentists, nurses and midwives have a number of options for learning how to administer cheek filler. You can find out more about these aesthetics courses in the Botox and Dermal Filler Courses section of our website.
However, if you are a medical aesthetics practitioner looking to improve your existing cheek filler skills, our one-to-one mentoring is the perfect solution. This covers every aspect of real world practise, from patient consultation and facial assessments through to treatment and aftercare advice.
During your 1:1 Mid-Face and Cannula Training you will treat your own patient under the guidance of one of our specialist mentors. Each session can be tailored to your goals, whether you want to focus on improving your consultation skills, injecting technique or simply building your confidence and learning from our aesthetics experts.
To find out which type of aesthetic medicine training would best suit your needs, book a call with Deneal Basi, our head of student recruitment. He knows our training pathways inside out and will be happy to recommend the best solution for your aesthetic education needs and can also discuss our various payment options.
