Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Jane Yoo explains why cheek filler can cause under-eye puffiness. Filler placed too high, too shallow, or in too much volume migrates into the lower eyelid because the cheek and eyelid share tissue planes. Ultrasound can locate misplaced filler before dissolving it with hyaluronidase.
Hi everyone, I'm Dr. Jane Yoo, board-certified dermatologist and Mohs surgeon. If your under eyes became puffy after cheek filler, the two may actually be related. Cheek filler placed too high, too superficially, or in too much volume can sometimes extend or redistribute beyond the area where it was originally intended to sit. The cheek and lower eyelid have complex tissue planes and ligament boundaries, including the orbital retaining ligament, which separates portions of the cheek from the lower eyelid. So someone may develop fullness around the lower eyelid after having cheek filler, then go look for an under-eye filler treatment, when the actual problem may be related to product placed higher in the face. But under-eye puffiness can also come from your own fat pads, edema, or your natural anatomy. That's exactly why in complicated cases I like to use ultrasound before I dissolve. I want to know whether there is actually filler there, where it is, and what I'm treating before I inject hyaluronidase.
