Can Fillers Lift and Tighten Your Face?

I'd like to talk about facial analysis and misconceptions and trends. For over 20 years of seeing patients in my office, I see this over and over again, where people come in here, grab their fingers and say, I want this. I want to lift. I want to tighten. And they think fillers do that.

Fillers can do that if you overfill somebody. I mean, if you put 15, 16, 20 syringes in somebody's face, yes, you will lift it, but you will also look ridiculous. Don't do that.

With a much more conservative amount of fillers, for most people, you can create the illusion of a more triangular, heart-shaped face, which then makes the rectangular aging face look more triangular and heart-shaped and less aged, more youthful. A lot of times they do this because they want these lines improved. That doesn't happen. You have to really overfill somebody for that to happen.

However, by adding the proper volume, not just in the cheeks out here, but in the mid-face, in this entire zone, initially first, and then doing a little bit of gentle augmentation around the mouth, around the lips, around the smile lines, you can really make somebody look like they had a facelift. Not everybody, but the right candidate can have that look done.

But if you overdo it, if you overfill around the mouth, you will get stiff and unmovable. If you overfill the cheeks, it looks ridiculous. If you fill it out here and not here, it looks ridiculous. And if you neglect the lips, it doesn't look good.