Is it Safe to get Aesthetic Treatments after a Covid-19 Injection?
In February saw PM Boris Johnson remove all Covid-19 restrictions throughout England, as businesses and high streets finally returned to the old normal nationwide!
However, some serious questions and uncertainty remain in the wake of the government’s decision, including several that relate to the coronavirus vaccine.
For example, you may be wondering whether it’s safe to have dermal fillers or anti wrinkle injections after a Covid vaccine. We’ll try to answer this question below so you can hopefully make an informed decision!
What’s the Official Guidance?
Officially, there’s no single guideline that advises people to avoid having dermal fillers or anti wrinkle injections after a Covid-19 vaccine.
This doesn’t mean that further data and insight won’t come to light in the future, however, and there may well be more detailed guidelines rolled out by dermatologists and plastic surgeons in the near-term.
For now, the best recommendation is to play it safe and wait for the appropriate amount of time before heading out and getting your next round of anti wrinkle or dermal fillers.
According to Pfizer and Moderna (who are the brains behind two of the three primary Covid vaccines in the UK), it takes up to two weeks after the second dose for your vaccine to take full effect.
So, you should at least let this period of time elapse before having further aesthetic treatments. Even less is known with respect to the AstraZeneca vaccine, so you may want to leave it a little longer if you’ve had one or more doses of this particular treatment.
Why is there Concern?
OK, we hear you ask; if this is the case, why is there any concern about having any aesthetic treatments after the jab?
The reason is simple, as there have been numerous historical instances where a potential link was reported between dermal fillers, exposure to a coronavirus and the subsequent symptoms of temporary facial swelling.
One such instance actually occurred during the Moderna vaccine trial, where one participant with facial fillers experienced lip swelling after being jabbed.
Interestingly, the woman had also reported a similar reaction after getting a flu shot in the past, while people receiving alternative vaccines previously were perceived to have an increased risk of facial swelling and discomfort.
This may have something to do with how different vaccines and their ingredients activate our immune systems, although such a link has yet to be clinically proven or demonstrated.
The Last Word
A comprehensive paper published in 2019 suggested that there was increased evidence linking flu and flu jabs with a higher risk of delayed side effects from dermal fillers and anti wrinkle injections containing hyaluronic acid.
The summary thought that vaccines and recent virus exposure may cause the immune system to interpret fillers as a pathogen, triggering an attack response in the form of facial swelling and other symptoms.
Once again, however, this hasn’t been proved, while temporary swelling isn’t an uncommon reaction for people that have had various aesthetic injections.
Ultimately, you’ll need to consider the information available and wait at least two weeks before deciding to have dermal fillers or anti wrinkle treatments after your Covid-19 jab. If you’re in any doubt at all, please get in touch with Katie and we can chat it through.