Weight Loss and Gain and Your Face

Hi Julie – Seems like almost all of us at one time or another have had a weight loss or gain; whether it was Covid related, pregnancy, a battle with alcoholism, or just not enough exercise and healthy food. First of all, it’s really hard not to beat ourselves up isn’t it? But let’s remember to try to look at ourselves as the most loving friend, parent or universe would, and forgive ourselves first. Only then, can we start our journey toward weight normalization from a compassionate place. Kudos to you for getting there and now wanting to improve a few other things.

We have multiple fat pads in our faces. Some are deeper, some more superficial, and they get larger when we gain weight and smaller when we lose weight. But, the overall configuration of those fat pads is largely determined by our genes. Those with round, full cheeks when young stay fuller as they age, and those with flatter ones get flatter. As we age, we’d like the fat to stay in our faces and not our midsections. Thus, the popularity of fat implants in the face and over the glutes. Unfortunately, these rarely look like natural fat pads.

As for the aspirin, please ask your primary doctor if it’s safe for you stop it for a week prior to your appointment. If you can’t stop it for medical reasons, don’t stop! You can still use the fillers, but you will bruise more. Just be prepared with a good coverup ahead of time.

In addition, make sure your moisturizers are optimized. Here are some good ones. Also, if your skin is very thin or sun damaged, it also helps to correct those problems with deep radiofrequency like Profound (builds the dermis) or lasers which help correct sun damage.

Can you fill your face out after losing weight?

Yes! This is perhaps one of the best uses of fillers – including hyaluronic acid based fillers, Sculptra and Radiesse. Here are some things to think about.

• We see so much over filling and bad filling now. Whether it’s chipmunk cheeks, or sausage lips or odd looking chins, try to find a dermatologist or other provider who truly does a lot of this work; find a dermatologist that has been doing it for 5-10 years and has an artist’s eye.
• The experience is important because many providers try to do this work now, and stop after a period of 1-3 years because they weren’t successful with it, and either don’t have the aptitude or the skills. And almost everyone gets better at something with experience.
• Bring a picture of you a few decades earlier, preferably not smiling, so that your doctor can see where your fat pads were and how they were positioned for a more natural look.
• Make sure you discuss a choice of filler (please leave this choice to your wonderful dermatologist) with them if they are using anything other an hyaluronic acid fillers; which are much easier to adjust later. We use both Sculptra and Radiesse (usually diluted) in addition, but they are more permanent and less easily adjusted.
• Start small with 1-2 syringes – even if you need more than that – and see how it goes. You can always go gradually. There’s no emergency here and safety and beautiful results are foremost.

Hope this helps,

Brandith Irwin, MD