How many injections have you had?

Keep Track of Your Cosmetic Injections

You could think of it like a food log, only for your face. If you don’t do it already, you really should start to keep track of your cosmetic injections. Specifically, women should keep a record of their type, quantity and placement of injections. This goes especially for those that receive injections from different doctors.

According to a review in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, if complications arise, this information would help to determine the best treatment. Although infrequent, the review says that lumps can occur months, or even years, after Sculptra Aesthetic, Radiesse, Artefill or other types of injections. The cause is often biofilms, bacterial colonies that cling to foreign substances, says lead author Rod J. Rohrich, chairman of plastic surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

He says that potential triggers for a problem like this may be due to too many injections at once, most often in the lips, filler stacked on the residue of a previous injection or skin that is not thoroughly cleansed with alcohol before injections. He also advises women to abstain from makeup for eight hours before and after the injections, and to avoid them where acne is active.

You can minimize your risk of any of these problems if you have a complete record of your injections. And, if you do see more than one doctor for them, it is really important to know exactly what each treatment does, and share your record with each doctor so that you're not in danger of injections gone wrong.

So ladies, it’s time to start those injection diaries!