Priorities
Volume loss and flat cheeks
Flattened cheeks, hollow temples, and a midface that has lost volume with age.
Volume loss changes the face gradually. The cheeks flatten and sit lower, the temples become hollow, and the face can look tired even when you’re well rested, often without any obvious sagging.
It’s caused by facial fat pads shrinking and bone remodeling with age, and it’s something a skin-tightening device can’t correct.
What we'd want you to know
Filler restores volume, but it can't lift skin
If the loss is in one or two places, usually the cheeks, a hyaluronic acid filler can put the volume back the same day. Our nurse practitioner will show you the change in a mirror before placing a second syringe, so you can decide together.
If your whole midface has thinned, temples included, Sculptra helps build your own collagen over a few months. Results take longer and aren’t visible on day one, but it’s better suited to overall volume loss than treating one area at a time with filler.
How we decide
We’ll ask you to hold a hand mirror and tilt your chin down. If your cheeks look fine from that angle but flat from the front, the cheek fat pad is the likely cause, and one or two syringes of dermal filler in the right spot usually restores it. Restylane Lyft and Restylane Contour are approved by the FDA for cheek and midface volume, per Restylane, and RHA 4 is approved for the cheeks as well. Hyaluronic acid filler typically lasts 6 to 18 months depending on product and area, and it can be dissolved if needed.
If your temples are hollow, your cheeks are flat, and the skin over them looks thin, we’ll talk with you about Sculptra. It’s poly-L-lactic acid, approved for cheek wrinkles and facial folds, given over two or three sessions. In its cheek trial, 70.7 percent of people were still responders at 12 months, per the FDA summary. Individual results vary.
Last, we’ll check whether the tissue has dropped, not just deflated. A jowl below the jaw is descent, and past a certain point we’d suggest PDO threads or a surgeon rather than adding product.
Your questions, answered
How many syringes of cheek filler do I need?
Most first visits use one syringe per side or less. We prefer to under-fill slightly and check in at two weeks. A face that has lost a lot of volume can need more over a few visits, and that’s usually when we’ll talk about Sculptra.
Sculptra or filler, which is better?
They each do a different job. Filler gives an immediate, precise, reversible result in one area. Sculptra gives a gradual, diffuse result that builds over three to six months and can last up to two years for some people. If you want an immediate change, filler is the better choice. For volume loss across the whole face, Sculptra is likely the better fit.
Can I drive home after cheek filler?
Yes. You may have mild swelling or a bruise, but nothing that affects driving, and parking is free right outside Suite C. Skip the gym, alcohol, and saunas for a day or two.
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