01/07/2026
❓So what’s a positive aspiration and why is it important your injector is checking for one??
💉This is a safety check we do as injectors to make sure we are not in an artery when injecting dermal filler.
⚠️‼️One of the biggest complications in aesthetic medicine is called a vascular occlusion (VO). This is when dermal filler is inadvertantly injected into an artery, blocking blood flow to the skin. Lack of blood flow to the skin means a lack of oxygen, which can lead to tissue necrosis, scarring, BLINDNESS or even a STROKE 🤯 ➡️ and this is why we are always talking about going to MEDICALLY LICENSED practitioners for these treatments!!
☝️Here’s the good news…. A VO can be reversed with a medication called hylanex, or hylaronidase. Every aesthetic practice should have several vials on hand for VO emergencies, as well as for non emergent dissolving of filler. With proper training and continued education on facial anatomy, injectors should know where the major arteries of the face live…. but anatomical variations are always possible. So when you feel your injecting pulling back on the syringe, they’re checking for a blood return 🩸 If blood shows up in the hub of the needle, we don’t inject, change locations, and protect you from a major potential aesthetic complication 😮💨😇
Safety first, ALWAYS. 🫶
