Dermal Fillers
Injectable gels replace lost volume in cheeks, jawline, and temples, and smooth deep folds.
Dermal Fillers near you
Charles
Lee, MD
Geoffrey
Trenkle, DO
David
Kahng
Harry
Schwartz, MD
Debra
Stafford, MD
Amir
Tahernia, MD
William
Harris, MD
Gordon
Sasaki, MD
Jeffrey
Jumaily, MD
Lily
Lee, MD
David
Rosenberg, MD
Anna
Hsu, MD
Nicholas
Schenck, MD
Robert
Schlenker, MD
John
Diaz, MD
Babak
Azizzadeh, MD
Brent
Moelleken, MD
David
Isaacs, MD,
Daniel
Barrett, MD
Kelly
Killeen, MD
Armen
Vartany, MD
Farhad
Ardeshirpour-Zartoshti, MD
Graham
Ives, MD
Gregory
Mueller, MD,
John
Layke, DO
Gary
Motykie, MD
Nicholas
Nikolov, MD
Richard
Zoumalan, MD
Bruce
Kadz, MD
Gal
Aharonov, MD
Stewart
Wang, MD
Dr.
Mossi Salibian, MD
Davis
Nguyen, MD
Obaid
Chaudhry, MD
Anita
Patel, MD
Christopher
Zoumalan, MD
Aric
Park, MD
Nathaniel
Villanueva, MD
Michael
Hakimi, MD
Joseph
Minniti, MD,
Saul
Berger, MD
Dermal Fillers: making the decision
What the price actually covers
Honest risks
- Bruising and swelling for a few days
- Overfilling is the most common complaint — conservative and gradual wins
- Vascular occlusion is rare but serious; choose injectors trained to handle it
Are you a good candidate?
- Volume loss or deep static folds
- Not pregnant or nursing
- No active skin infection at the site
Six questions for every consult
- Are you board-certified, and in what specialty? (Verify it — don't just ask.)
- How many of this exact procedure did you do in the last 12 months?
- Can I see before/afters of patients with my anatomy or skin type?
- Who handles complications, and what's your revision policy and fee?
- Where is the procedure done, and is the facility accredited?
- What results would you consider realistic for me — and what won't this fix?
Verify before you book
The four filler materials, compared
Every FDA-approved dermal filler is built on one of four materials, and the material — not the brand — decides the things that matter to a patient: how fast results appear, how long they last, and whether the filler can be dissolved if you don't like it. Durations below are what each product's FDA labeling or pivotal trial actually states, not clinic marketing.
| Hyaluronic acid | Calcium hydroxylapatite | Poly-L-lactic acid | PMMA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Products | Juvéderm, Restylane, RHA, Belotero, Revanesse | Radiesse | Sculptra | Bellafill |
| How it works | A gel that binds water — volume is the gel itself | Immediate volume from gel, then stimulates collagen over time | Biostimulator — prompts your own collagen; the injected material itself is broken down | Permanent microspheres suspended in a collagen gel |
| FDA-approved areas | Facial folds, lips, cheeks, chin, jawline, under-eye hollows, back of hands — varies by product | Facial folds; back of hands | Facial folds, cheek wrinkles, facial fat loss | Nasolabial folds and cheek acne scars only — contraindicated in lips |
| Results appear | Immediately | Immediately, with a later collagen effect | Gradually over weeks, across 2–4 sessions | Immediately |
| Duration per FDA labeling | 6 months to 2 years, depending on product | About 1 year | Up to 2 years | Permanent — the microspheres are not absorbed |
| Reversible with hyaluronidase | Yes | No | No | No — surgical removal only |
“Six to twelve months” is the generic answer; the product-level answer is more useful. Among hyaluronic acids, FDA-reviewed durations range from 6 months (Belotero Balance) to 24 months (Juvéderm Voluma in the cheeks); Volbella under the eyes, Volux at the jawline, and Restylane Eyelight each carry up-to-12-month labeling, and Restylane Contour in the cheeks showed results to 48 weeks. Sculptra's cheek-wrinkle approval reports results lasting up to 24 months — reached gradually, over up to four injection sessions. Radiesse labeling puts results at about a year. Two cautions when comparing: these figures come from different trials on different faces and areas, not head-to-head studies, and a treatment is often more than one syringe, so duration per syringe and duration per treated area aren't the same thing.
Source: FDA — recently approved devices: Volbella XC, Volux XC, Eyelight, Contour, Sculptra P030050/S039 ↗This area causes the most confusion, and the distinction is worth being precise about. Two products are FDA-approved specifically for the infraorbital hollow — Juvéderm Volbella XC (2021) and Restylane Eyelight (2023). At the same time, the FDA explicitly recommends against injecting filler into the glabella (between the brows), the nose, the forehead, or the periorbital region generally, because vessels there connect toward the eye and accidental injection into one can end in vision loss. Injectors treat those areas anyway — off-label use is legal and common — but the asymmetry is the point: for the under-eye hollow there are products with trial data behind them, while for the nose there is a specific FDA recommendation against. A good injector will know exactly which side of that line your treatment plan sits on, and will say so unprompted.
Source: FDA — Dermal Fillers (Soft Tissue Fillers) ↗The FDA has not approved any filler for over-the-counter sale or for injection with needle-free devices — the pressurised “hyaluron pens” sold online. Its warning is unambiguous: the pens don't give enough control over where the filler ends up, and serious injuries and permanent harm to skin, lips and eyes have occurred. Filler sold directly to the public has its own problem: it may be counterfeit or contaminated, and the FDA has specifically warned that versions of Juvéderm sold online (Ultra 2, 3 and 4) are not approved in the US. Every legitimate filler in this country is a prescription device injected by a licensed professional using a needle or cannula. If a price seems impossible, the product or the injector is usually the reason.
Source: FDA — Dermal Filler Do's and Don'ts ↗Med spas by metro
OU Beauty Medical Spa
Shaped Secretz Body Sculpting
Sculpt Med Spa Downtown Los Angeles
Skin Story Med Spa
MedBeautyLA
VIP AESTHETICS AND MEN'S HEALTH BY VIP MEDICAL
The Sunset Aesthetics
Deluxe Cosmetic Center
The Spa by Adam Lee Kenney
R&J Medspa
Patient reviews
Dermal Fillers: common questions
How much do dermal fillers cost?
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons puts the average physician fee at $715 for hyaluronic acid fillers and $901 for non-hyaluronic acid fillers such as Radiesse and Sculptra. Read those numbers carefully: they are an average fee per procedure reported by surveyed ASPS surgeons, not a per-syringe price — no regulator or professional body publishes one. The practical complication is that a treatment is often more than one syringe: lips might take one, cheeks commonly take two or more, and Sculptra is delivered across two to four sessions. So the number to ask a clinic for is the total for your plan — how many syringes of which product, and what a touch-up costs — rather than the per-syringe headline. Insurance does not cover cosmetic filler.
How long do fillers last?
It depends on the product and the area far more than on the person injecting it. From FDA labeling and pivotal trials: Belotero Balance is labelled at 6 months; most hyaluronic acid products fall in the 9–12 month range; Juvéderm Voluma in the cheeks carries 24-month data, the longest of any HA. Radiesse labeling reports about a year, and Sculptra up to two years — though Sculptra builds gradually over several sessions rather than appearing at once. Softer, more mobile areas run shorter: the same family's lip products are labelled around 12 months, and lines around the mouth wear faster because they move constantly. Bellafill is the outlier — its PMMA microspheres are permanent, which is precisely why it's approved for the fewest areas.
Can filler be dissolved if I don't like it?
Hyaluronic acid filler can. Hyaluronidase, an enzyme injected into the treated area, breaks HA down over a few days and is the standard fix for overfilling, lumps, and asymmetry — worth knowing this use is off-label, meaning it's a legitimate, widely practised medical use that isn't the enzyme's approved indication. Nothing dissolves the others: calcium hydroxylapatite and poly-L-lactic acid must wear off on their own timescale, and the FDA states plainly that Bellafill's microspheres can only be removed surgically. This is the strongest practical argument for starting with an HA product: if the result isn't what you wanted, there is an exit.
What are the real risks of fillers?
Bruising, swelling, and tenderness for a few days are routine. Lumps and delayed nodules can appear — sometimes weeks, months, or years later, occasionally triggered by an illness, vaccination, or dental work — and usually respond to treatment. The risk that matters most is rare but serious: filler accidentally injected into a blood vessel can block it, causing tissue death, and in the worst cases blindness or stroke; a 2024 review in Aesthetic Surgery Journal counted 365 published cases of eye complications in under five years worldwide. It is a medical emergency measured in hours. Seek immediate care for unusual pain, vision changes, or skin turning white, gray, or blue near the injection site during or shortly after treatment. This risk is the single best reason to choose an experienced medical injector who stocks hyaluronidase and knows the vascular anatomy of your face.
Is there a filler approved for under-eye hollows?
Yes — two. Juvéderm Volbella XC was FDA-approved for the infraorbital hollow in 2021 and Restylane Eyelight in 2023, both with results labelled up to 12 months. Everything else used under the eyes is off-label. The area demands precision: it sits inside the periorbital region the FDA otherwise cautions about, the skin is the thinnest on the face, and too-superficial HA can show as a bluish tint (the Tyndall effect). Under-eye work is the classic case for choosing the injector by their results in this specific area, not by price.
Does filler migrate?
It can, though it's uncommon. The FDA lists migration — movement of filler away from the injection site — among reported risks, and the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery lists it as an uncommon side effect; approved patient labeling describes it as displacement of the gel. The lip border is where patients most often notice it, as a soft ridge above the lip line. Contributing factors are debated, but volume and placement technique are generally thought to matter, and repeated top-ups before old filler has cleared may play a role. The reassuring part: when migrated filler is hyaluronic acid, it can be dissolved and the area restarted.
What's the difference between filler and Botox?
They solve different problems and are frequently used together. Botulinum toxin relaxes the muscles whose repeated contraction creases the skin — frown lines, forehead lines, crow's feet — and does nothing for volume. Filler physically occupies space: it restores volume that age has removed from cheeks and temples, fills static folds like the nasolabial lines, and shapes lips, chin, and jawline. A useful rule of thumb: if the line deepens when you make an expression, that points toward toxin; if the hollow or fold is there at rest, that points toward filler. One honest caveat from the FDA — the safety of using the two together has not been evaluated in a controlled clinical study, routine as the combination is.