DENVER (KDVR) – Dr. Jeffrey Raval, at Raval Facial Aesthetics, treats 10 to 30 patients a day with facial fillers.
But these days, before a patient can make an appointment, there is an added discussion about the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We always recommend that people wait at least two weeks after their second vaccine before they get a treatment with facial fillers,” Raval said.
There are recent reports of people with dermal fillers experiencing facial swelling and lumpiness, usually within two to four weeks of receiving the vaccine.
“It is noticeable, and you can get some swelling, you can get some redness, and it can even lead to something called granuloma formation which is the formation of hard nodules,” Raval said.
That’s what happened to one of his patients. The man did not want to be identified but offered this statement saying, “I received my first Pfizer vaccination on Feb. 27. About a week after that I noticed a few bumps (bead like) in my cheek area and they did get bigger and harder with time. “
This condition is extremely rare, but some vaccine registration forms are now asking about filler.
Raval said the good news is that this is treatable. “This is a treatable condition, usually treatable with steroids or antihistamines, or worst-case scenario, we can dissolve the filler that is there,” he said.
That was the treatment he used for his patient, who is getting better.