This post may contain affiliate links that support the site at no cost to you.

Lip fillers or cheek fillers can be a great investment in your appearance. If you’re looking for a specific look and dermal filler treatment can help you get there, it’s important to then follow all the after-care directions carefully. 

And with the exception of one type of filler, that means touching your face as little as possible to get optimal results. 

More so than all the other types of cosmetic treatments, you need to wait after dermal filler injections! Or you might really mess up your filler placements. So, how long after fillers can you get a facial?

Read on to learn more about filler aftercare and whether or not you need to cancel your monthly facial. Down at the bottom of this post, I have the pep talk you need to resist the urge to use your gua sha after fillers. (Okay, the talk I give myself in the mirror on a semi-regular basis.)

First: less is more for your face

I am a skincare girl and I love being a skincare girl! Nothing is more calming, peaceful or enjoyable to me than taking care of myself. And it is soooooo tempting sometimes to just pile it on with all the different skincare tools, cosmetic injectables, and products. Especially at the beginning when you feel like you have so many things you want to change!

This is especially tough because I do my microneedling myself! So I don’t even have the cost of the procedures to slow me down. I love saving the money and getting the results from doing it frequently, but honestly it takes self-control sometimes!

No products found.

And I think with facial fillers, sometimes people see that as the start of their glow up. So they want to get fillers or plastic surgery and then step up their self-care. Which is totally good with me! But if you’re jumping from cosmetic procedure directly into the next cosmetic procedure without the appropriate wait time, you’re not setting yourself up for success. 

So: I love facial treatments. But the best way to ensure you’re getting what you want from your chemical peels, laser treatments, microneedling or facial fillers is to do the wait time exactly as directed. Don’t pay 100% of the price to get 75% of the results because you got impatient. 

Filler aftercare – why can’t I get a facial?

Your priority after your fillers is letting them settle and the injection site skin recover. You’re looking to ensure that you don’t put pressure on your skin that might push the filler formula down and make it migrate. (Imagine smushing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich — the way the filling would squeeze out. That’s what you are looking to avoid!)

If you are a regular facial girlie, you can schedule your dermal filler appointment right after your facial, but you can’t schedule your facial right after your dermal filler appointment. You’re going to need to wait two weeks after your fillers are in before you are putting any pressure on the areas where you got your fillers in. 

So, that means no pressure on the treated area: no gua sha, no facial massage, no lymphatic drainage. 

It doesn’t mean you can’t touch your face or do your skincare–you can. But no pushing down or pressure, even lightly. You can still, for example, apply SPF if you’re going to get sun exposure (and you should!!). 

I know it’s really, really tempting to try to do something about the swelling you might be experiencing. But just like after a Botox injection: take Tylenol and leave it alone. You cannot drain lymph out of your filler swelling, because that initial swelling is there to help your body. A facial will not bring minor swelling down or shorten your recovery time, like, at all. 

How long after filler can you get a facial?

Two weeks! 

For all cosmetic injections, the rule is two weeks. This rule is conservative on purpose — this is your FACE and you should be conservative with it. You should definitely stick to this rule. You should not even consider going to get a facial of any type for two weeks. 

And even what skincare you choose to do or not do does depend on what fillers you got. 

For example, if you got lip injections or fillers for wrinkles around the mouth, I would do super minimal skincare the first day after my injections, but I would feel okay using a gua sha on my forehead and undereyes within a few days. I would NOT use the gua sha on my cheekbones or jawline until the two weeks were up, because to me it simply is not worth the risk. 

If the filler was in my nasolabial folds, I wouldn’t touch that gua sha until two weeks were up. Same with the tear troughs, which are super prone to filler migration!! If the treatment is in an area of the face that moves a lot, or where there are a lot of facial muscles moving, I would be extremely conservative and cautious about putting too much pressure on any area of my face. 

Best aftercare for hyaluronic acid fillers

You should follow the directions your injector gave you! But if you didn’t get directions, or it’s your first treatment and you’re freaking out about something, here is the best aftercare for the best results with dermal fillers. 

Day of injections and day after injections:

In order to decrease your risk of bruising in the treatment areas, don’t do anything that will increase blood flow:

• Do not use any blood thinners, including ibuprofen and aspirin. Don’t take fish oil either. 
• Do not drink alcohol.
• Do not do any strenuous exercise that will get your blood pressure up. 
• Do not use saunas, steam rooms, hot tubs, or other intense heat. Do not use a facial steamer at home. 
• Do not use any facial tools like a gua sha or ice roller. 

If you’re in pain, use Tylenol or an ice pack. Mild to moderate pain and swelling is a normal result of the injection; intense pain can be a sign of a vascular occlusion.

Days 2-7:

Discontinue all skincare “actives” — no tretinoin, no exfoliants, no clay masks, nothing of that type. Your skin needs to heal at the injection site or sites, and these actives will interfere with that. They could also potentially worsen swelling and bruising. After a week, you can resume your normal skincare product use. 

During this first week, you should also resist the urge to decide that you don’t like your fillers. You aren’t seeing the final results of a filler treatment in the first week! If you feel that something looks bad, overdone, unnatural, or otherwise wrong…wait it out. You may find that when the swelling goes down you are actually happy with the results of your treatment. You may be glad you didn’t rush back to your injector to have your filler dissolved. 

 Days 2-14:

Do not do anything that’s going to put pressure on your treated area. You are trying to avoid squeezing the filler into a place you don’t want it to be or changing the look you requested. To have your fillers migrate as a result of your impatience would be so frustrating. 

That means you aren’t yet

• getting a facial at a medspa
• doing a facial yourself at home
• using a gua sha, even if you’re using oil
• doing any type of facial massage
• doing any type of facial lymphatic drainage (you can still do lymphatic drainage or dry brushing on your body!)
• doing facial exercises, face yoga, or any other intentional use of the facial muscles

If these routines are important to you, just keep reminding yourself that you will be back to them SO SOON. Bump your regular facial back a week, stay in bed and watch Bridgerton. 

Reread this every time you think about messing with your face after fillers

YOU DID NOT PAY FOR FILLERS TO COME HOME AND MESS THEM UP. 

You went in to get fillers because you wanted a certain look and if you go for a facial or take out your gua sha, you might mess up the results of your treatment and have no one to blame but yourself. 

That is minor swelling and it will go away on its own. You are not helping yourself at all by potentially messing up your fillers trying to get rid of swelling 12 hours earlier than it would have gone on its own. 

(If you’re saying, ‘no Morgan, this isn’t minor swelling’….then go get medical attention. If you don’t need medical attention, then it’s minor, normal swelling.)

You are going to get the best possible results by just waiting. Messing with your face will increase your risk of infection, your risk of potential bruising, and your risk of making your lips lopsided. 

Okay, I love you, go put an ice pack on it and distract yourself with something else!