Pillow face: How To Avoid An Overfilled Look.
12/09/2024 | Dr. Hanna Donovan Founder, toxifillers.com Los Angeles, CA
And, as we all know, fillers such as Botox or hyaluronic acids are prone to dissolve.
So, to get the desired look back you need to refill your face with injections every several months.
It all sounds completely obvious: you fix your imperfections with a little bit of filler and then do it again when it dissolves - and bam! You have the face of an insta model.
But it's not that simple.
Changing your face with injections is fairly new. So, overtime, the more and more influencers are getting their faces done, the more they all look like a complete mess.
These trendy lifted faces and plump lips are turned into one particular look: “pillow face”.
But what is a pillow face?
Pillow faces can not be mistaken for! They have such distinctive features that you can recognize everywhere.
You may have noticed that most of celebrities changed drastically.
For example: they all have puffy faces and overall swollen appearance. Their lips are overfilled and their eyes are too lifted.
Here’s how you can detect a pillow face:
- Swollen and asymmetric face
- Loose of natural mimics
- Overly smoothed and shiny face
Turned out that fillers do not actually dissolve completely by themselves. So, getting filler again is not a “renewal”procedure, it’s just more filler!
You can clearly see it in this pictures. This is an MRI of a 30-year old patient and, as you can notice, her filler is not dissolved, and in fact, is migrated!
So, you now know how to recognize it, but why does it happen?
From the physiological and chemical point of view:
1. Excessive accumulation of fillers: With excessive introduction of fillers (most often hyaluronic acid), the substance accumulates in the subcutaneous layers. This leads to overgrowth of soft tissues, which in turn changes their texture and contours. Also, fillers are tend to absorb water which leads to swollen tissues.
2. Water retention: Hyaluronic acid has a high hydrophilicity, that is, the ability to attract and retain water. With an excessive amount of the injected drug, the amount of fluid increases, which causes swelling and further swelling of the tissues.
3. Excessive injection of fillers causes mechanical pressure on tissues, which leads to displacement and changes in anatomical structures. For example, subcutaneous adipose tissue can move, which creates a bloated effect.
4. Slowing down the metabolism of fillers: Fillers, especially with repeated administration, can be slowly excreted by the body. This leads to their long-term presence in tissues.
5. Tissue fibrosis: Over time, with repeated injections of fillers, fibrosis may develop in tissues — excessive overgrowth of connective tissue in response to irritation or injury. It can also lead to thickening and loss of elasticity of the skin, enhancing the pillow face effect.