How does filler dissolving work?
Filler dissolving uses hyaluronidase to break down hyaluronic acid filler, usually within twenty-four to forty-eight hours; the area looks flatter than your true baseline for about two weeks while your own hyaluronic acid replenishes.
- When you see it
- 24 to 48 hours
- How it feels
- stings more than filler placement does
- Sessions
- usually one; long-standing migration sometimes needs two
What hyaluronidase actually is
An enzyme, and one your body already makes. Hyaluronidase breaks the bonds holding hyaluronic acid together, which is precisely how your own body clears filler slowly over months. Injecting it concentrates that process into a day or two.
It is the reason hyaluronic acid is the material of choice for facial filler in the first place. Almost nothing else used cosmetically has a reversal agent. A permanent filler that goes wrong is a surgical problem; a hyaluronic acid filler that goes wrong is an appointment.
It is a prescription medicine and it is not without risk — allergic reaction is possible, which is why patch testing is standard practice and why it is not something to have done casually.
How dissolving works in practice
The enzyme is injected into or immediately around the filler being removed, and begins working within minutes. Most of the change is visible within 24 to 48 hours, and the area is usually assessed again at two weeks, because swelling in the first days disguises the result.
It is not perfectly selective. Hyaluronidase acts on hyaluronic acid, and your own tissue contains hyaluronic acid too — so an area can look flatter than its true baseline for a couple of weeks before recovering. That is expected, it resolves, and being warned about it beforehand is the difference between a normal recovery and a frightening one.
Judging how much to use is genuinely difficult, and the reason experience matters here more than in most treatments. Too little leaves a partially dissolved and often lumpier result; too much takes tissue you wanted to keep.
A closer look
A plan starts with a conversation
Discuss and assess
Talk through your concerns, medical history and previous treatment.
Understand the plan
Discuss options, limits, risks and costs, including doing nothing.
Take time
Ask questions and decide whether you want to proceed.
The sequence describes the consultation approach. It does not mean treatment is appropriate or will happen on the same day.
How to tell whether you need it
Migration — product sitting above the lip border, a shelf you can feel, a lip that keeps the same shape whether you are talking or at rest — is the commonest reason, and it usually builds gradually rather than appearing.
Overfilling is the other: a result that has stopped looking like more of you and started looking like more product. It is much easier to see in photographs from a year earlier than in the mirror.
There is also the simple case of a result that no longer suits you, which needs no justification at all. You are allowed to change your mind.
What it cannot do
It does nothing to any filler that is not hyaluronic acid. Permanent and semi-permanent fillers — and there are still plenty in circulation — are unaffected, and if you do not know what you had, that is the first thing to establish.
It cannot restore skin that has been stretched by years of overfilling. Dissolving removes the product; it does not rewind what carrying the product did to the tissue.
And it is not a reset button to be used lightly. Every dissolve is an intervention with its own risks, which is an argument for putting less in to begin with rather than for relying on the ability to take it out.
Sources and further reading
- NHS — Dermal fillers
- British Association of Dermatologists — patient information
- Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners
- Aesthetic Complications Expert Group
This page is general information, not personal medical advice. Every treatment needs an individual assessment, and what is right for someone else may not be right for you.
Common questions
- What is filler dissolving?
- Filler dissolving uses hyaluronidase to break down hyaluronic acid filler, usually within twenty-four to forty-eight hours; the area looks flatter than your true baseline for about two weeks while your own hyaluronic acid replenishes.
- How does filler dissolving work?
- The enzyme is injected into or immediately around the filler being removed, and begins working within minutes. Most of the change is visible within 24 to 48 hours, and the area is usually assessed again at two weeks, because swelling in the first days disguises the result.
- How long does filler dissolving take to work?
- 24 to 48 hours. Judging it before then is judging an incomplete result.
- Does filler dissolving hurt?
- stings more than filler placement does You are told what to expect before anything starts, and you can stop at any point.
- What can filler dissolving not do?
- It does nothing to any filler that is not hyaluronic acid. Permanent and semi-permanent fillers — and there are still plenty in circulation — are unaffected, and if you do not know what you had, that is the first thing to establish.
Get in touch
Book a consultation
Consultations are £30, and that comes off the cost of your treatment if you go ahead. No pressure to book anything on the day — if you are not sure whether you want treatment at all, that is still a good reason to come and talk.