Dissolving is the treatment nobody plans for. People book lip filler expecting to love it, and most do. But some end up with filler that has crept above the lip line, or a shape that never settled the way they wanted, or product from two years ago that is still sitting there making their lips look heavy. I dissolve filler at House of Glam HQ most weeks, and a good share of it is filler I did not place.
So here is what it costs, what the appointment actually involves, and the things dissolving will not fix. I have put the prices up front because I would want to know before I rang anyone.
What dissolving filler actually means
Every filler I use is hyaluronic acid, and hyaluronic acid can be broken down. The enzyme used for it is hyaluronidase. It is injected into the area holding the filler, it starts working almost immediately, and over the next week or two the old product breaks down and clears.
That reversibility is the reason I only use CE-marked hyaluronic acid fillers: Juvederm, Restylane and Belotero. If you are ever unhappy, or you change your mind in three years, there is a way back. That is not true of every injectable on the market, which matters if you are weighing up a clinic.
It also means I can treat filler placed somewhere else, by someone else. You do not need to go back to whoever did it.
What dissolving costs at House of Glam HQ
| Treatment | Price |
|---|---|
| Dissolve patch test and consultation, booked at least a week before | £15 |
| Lip filler dissolve | £180 |
| Lip filler dissolve and refill, both steps as one price | £280 |
The £15 patch test is deducted from your treatment, so it is not an extra fee on top. Every price here is published, where most Portsmouth clinics quote only after a consultation.
The patch test comes first, at least a week before
This is the part people are surprised by, so I will be clear about it: you cannot walk in and have filler dissolved the same day. The patch test is booked as its own appointment, at least a week before the dissolve itself.
A small amount is placed, usually on the forearm, and you go home. The week is there so that any reaction has time to show itself before I inject anything near your mouth. If you are fine, we go ahead on the booked date. If you are not, we do not, and you have lost £15 rather than something harder to undo.
I know a week’s wait is not what you want to hear if you are ringing round in a panic about migrated filler. I am not willing to do it any faster, and the wait is worth it.
Does dissolving lip filler actually work?
Yes, on hyaluronic acid filler. That is the whole mechanism: the enzyme breaks down hyaluronic acid, so if your filler is hyaluronic acid it will go.
The honest caveat is that it does not always clear in one appointment. Filler that has been in for years, or that has been layered several times, can be firmer and more stubborn than fresh product. A second dissolve is sometimes needed. I would rather tell you that now than on the day.
And if what you had injected elsewhere was not hyaluronic acid, say a permanent filler or one of the collagen-stimulating products, then dissolving will not touch it. I do not use those and I cannot reverse them. If you are not sure what you had, bring whatever paperwork or messages you have from the clinic that treated you.
How do I know if my filler has migrated?
Migration is filler that has moved away from where it was placed. In lips it usually shows as a soft shelf or ridge sitting just above the upper lip border, so the edge of the lip looks blurred rather than defined. People often describe it as a shadow above their lip in photographs, or a moustache-like fullness they cannot account for.
Other signs worth looking for: the lip border no longer has a crisp edge, the area above the lip feels spongy when you press it, or your lips look fuller in photos than they feel. Lumps that sit inside the lip itself are a different thing. I have written separately about small firm lumps after lip filler, which often settle without dissolving at all.
If you are not certain, send me a photograph on WhatsApp before you book anything. Some of what gets called migration is swelling that has not finished settling, and in that case the answer is to wait, not to pay me £180.
How long after lip filler can I dissolve it?
Wait two weeks before you judge it. Lip filler swells, and in the first few days it can look larger, firmer and less even than it will end up. Your lips settle over about two weeks, and that settled shape is the one you keep. A great many people who want to dissolve on day three are perfectly happy on day fourteen.
After that, there is no deadline. Filler that is genuinely in the wrong place can be dissolved at two weeks or at two years. Lip filler typically lasts six to twelve months before it breaks down on its own, so if you merely want less volume and you can live with it, waiting it out costs nothing.
Is it painful to dissolve lip filler?
It is a similar experience to having the filler put in, and most people describe pressure rather than pain. Numbing cream goes on first.
The difference is what happens afterwards. Dissolving tends to swell more than filling does, and it is not unusual for lips to look puffy and odd for a day or two before they go down. If you are asking which hurts more, the injections feel much the same; the days after a dissolve are the less comfortable part. Plan it for a week when you have nothing you need to look polished for.
Dissolving and refilling in the same plan
Plenty of people do not want their old filler gone so much as they want it replaced with something better placed. That is what the dissolve and refill price is for: the old product dissolved and new filler put in, as one price of £280.
It is worth doing the arithmetic. Dissolving on its own is £180, and the cheapest refill on my lip list is 0.5ml Classic at £130. Booked separately that is £310, so the combined price is at least £30 less than doing it in two bookings, and more than that if you choose anything else on the list. What the refill covers is agreed at the patch test, before either step happens.
These are the refill prices, so you can see where £280 sits:
| Technique | 0.5ml | 1ml |
|---|---|---|
| Classic lips | £130 | £150 |
| Signature lips | £140 | £160 |
| Russian lips | £150 | £180 |
One thing I will not do is dissolve and refill on the same day. The old filler needs time to clear before I can see what I am working with, and placing new product into tissue that is still swollen is how you end up back where you started. The two steps are separate appointments, planned together.
If you are weighing up which technique to go back in with, the difference between Russian and Classic lips is worth reading first, because a lot of migration I see came from a technique that did not suit the lip it was put in.
Do lips ever go back to normal after filler?
Mostly, yes, and this is where I want to be straight with you rather than reassuring.
Once the filler is dissolved, your lips go back to being your lips. What they will not necessarily do is go back to looking exactly as they did the week before your very first appointment. Skin that has held a lot of product for several years can be a little softer than it was. For most people the difference is small and most of it recovers over a few months; for someone who has had large volumes repeatedly over a long time, it may not fully.
There is also a short stage that alarms people: the enzyme can take some of your own natural hyaluronic acid with it, so for a week or two your lips can look flatter than their normal resting size. That comes back. Do not judge the result in the first fortnight, in either direction.
What dissolving will not do
The list that saves disappointment:
- It will not work on filler that is not hyaluronic acid.
- It will not fix a problem that is about your natural lip shape rather than the product in it. If your top lip is genuinely much thinner than your bottom, removing filler will not balance it.
- It will not be precise to the millimetre. The enzyme breaks down the hyaluronic acid it reaches; it does not pick out only the badly placed portion.
- It will not happen on the day you ring. Patch test first, at least a week.
- It will not always be one appointment.
- It is not a way of undoing a result you have had for three days. Give it two weeks.
Dissolving facial filler, not just lips
The same applies to filler in the chin, cheeks, jawline and nose. Facial dissolving starts at £180 and the exact price depends on the area, confirmed at the patch test. The patch test, the week’s wait and the two-week settling period are all the same.
Chin and jawline filler tends to migrate less visibly than lips because the area is larger, so it more often shows up as heaviness or a shape that does not sit right rather than an obvious ridge. If you are not sure whether what is bothering you is the filler or the ageing underneath it, that is a conversation worth having before you spend anything. All of the areas and prices are on the dermal filler page.
Booking a filler dissolve in Southsea
I am Natasha. I am the sole practitioner at House of Glam HQ, so the person who looks at your lips at the patch test is the person who dissolves them, and the person who refills them if that is the plan. I have been doing advanced aesthetics in Portsmouth for more than seven years, and I treat filler placed in other clinics without any awkwardness about it. Most of us have had something we wished we had not.
Book the £15 patch test and consultation first, and it is deducted from the treatment. Then the £180 lip filler dissolve, or the £280 dissolve and refill if you want new filler placed afterwards.
If you would rather send a photograph and ask what I think before you book anything, message me on WhatsApp or ring 07831 846273. I will tell you if I think you should wait, and I will tell you if I think dissolving is not the answer. House of Glam HQ is at 1A Auckland Road East, Southsea, Portsmouth PO5 2HA, and all the lip filler prices in Portsmouth are published in full.
