Cheek Fillers in Singapore
Cheek filler restores volume to the middle of the face, using a gel placed deep against the cheekbone to rebuild the support the rest of the face rests on. Cheek fillers in Singapore are performed here by Dr Gerard Ee, MBBS (UK), MRCS (Edinburgh), PGDip Practical Dermatology (Cardiff), using a hyaluronic acid (HA) filler by default, with a polycaprolactone (PCL, 少女针) filler where you want something longer lasting.
At a glance
| Filler used | HA filler by default. PCL filler where a longer-lasting, collagen-stimulating option is preferred. |
| Price | HA filler $800 per syringe. PCL filler $1,400 per syringe. Both before GST, review appointment included. |
| Session | About 20 minutes |
| Volume needed | 1 to 2ml for both cheeks. One syringe is 1ml. |
| Sessions needed | Usually one visit |
| Results | Visible immediately, settling over 1 to 2 weeks |
| Downtime | 3 to 5 days of swelling, sometimes bruising |
| Reversible | HA filler, yes, dissolved with hyaluronidase. PCL filler, no. |
What cheek filler does
The cheek is the structural centre of the face. Volume placed there supports everything below and around it, which is why treating the cheek often improves things people came in complaining about somewhere else.
Restoring it rebuilds the smooth curve running from the outer eye socket, over the cheekbone and down towards the corner of the mouth. What people notice is that the face looks lifted rather than fuller, that the shadow at the top of the cheek lightens, that the nasolabial fold softens without having been touched, and that the hollow under the eye becomes less obvious because the tissue below it has been put back.
It works by adding support rather than filling a line, and that is why cheek treatment looks natural where filling the lines directly often does not.
Why you may have been sent here from another page
Two of the most common requests in aesthetic medicine are usually answered at the cheek rather than where the patient points.
Someone asking about their nasolabial folds normally has a fold that deepened because the cheek above it descended. Filling the fold adds weight to a structure that has already fallen. Restoring the cheek lifts the tissue off the fold instead, which is why the fold is often better treated from above.
Someone asking about the hollow under their eyes often has a deficiency that starts at the top of the cheek rather than at the lid. Supporting the cheek raises the floor of that hollow, and it does so in a far more forgiving area of the face than the lower lid.
Neither is a rule. Some folds are folds, and some hollows under the eye need treating directly. If you came in for one of those and left having had your cheeks treated, this is the reasoning.
Which filler is used
The default is a hyaluronic acid filler from the firmer end of the range, because the cheek needs a gel that holds height against gravity rather than spreading. It behaves predictably, it sits deep on the bone where the body tolerates it well, and it can be dissolved with hyaluronidase if the result is not what you wanted. The same product family is used for lip fillers and nose fillers here.
Polycaprolactone, the PCL filler, also known as 少女针, is the alternative where you want something longer lasting, at $1,400 per syringe. It restores lost volume while stimulating your body’s own collagen production, giving both an immediate lift and longer-term skin rejuvenation, and PCL has been used in medicine for decades in sutures and implants. The cheek is one of the areas where it makes most sense, because it is deep, relatively immobile and generously covered. It cannot be dissolved, because no enzyme removes it, and that is the trade-off for the longer duration.
If the midface is not deflated but the skin has lost firmness, filler is not the tool. That is a lifting and collagen problem, addressed by EMFACE, thread lifting or collagen-regenerating skinboosters instead.
What cheek fillers cost in Singapore
HA filler is $800 per syringe. PCL filler, the collagen stimulator, is $1,400 per syringe. Both figures are before GST and both include your review appointment.
These are fixed prices, not starting prices. One to two syringes treats both cheeks. Significant volume loss sits at the upper end, and if that is the case you are told before anything is injected rather than after. The consultation is charged separately and waived if you go ahead on the day.
How much filler will I need
A typical treatment is 1 to 2ml for both cheeks. That is less than the size of the area suggests, because the gel is placed deep on the cheekbone as support rather than spread across the mid-cheek.
Significant volume loss sits at the upper end of that range. One syringe is 1ml, and you are told which before anything is injected rather than after the first syringe has gone in.
What happens on the day
I look at the middle of your face from the side and at an angle rather than from the front alone, because lost volume shows most clearly that way. If filler is not the right answer, that is where it ends, and I will explain why rather than leave it as a no. If it is, numbing cream goes on and the filler is placed deep on the cheekbone, away from the risky areas described below. The injection takes about twenty minutes.
Afterwards
Keep the area clean and leave it alone. No pressing or massaging for two weeks, and avoid sleeping face-down for the first few nights. No strenuous exercise, alcohol or very hot environments for 24 to 48 hours. Sunscreen goes on daily. Swelling and any bruising settle over three to five days. The final shape reads at one to two weeks, which is when I review you.
Contact the clinic straight away, not at your review, if you develop increasing pain rather than settling discomfort, blanching or dusky discolouration of the skin anywhere across the cheek, nose or lower lid, or any change in vision. These are uncommon, and they are treatable when treated early, which is why the call should not wait.
When it is not suitable
Filler is postponed or declined with an active skin infection or inflamed acne over the cheek, in pregnancy or breastfeeding, with a known allergy to a component of the product, and where an autoimmune or connective tissue condition is active. Blood-thinning medication is not an absolute barrier but raises the bruising risk and needs discussing beforehand.
A face already full at the cheek but heavy at the jaw is not improved by adding more volume in the middle, and neither is a face where the main problem is loose skin rather than lost volume. Adding gel under skin that has lost its stretch produces weight, not lift, because the skin no longer tightens around what is placed beneath it and simply carries it downwards.
Why more is not better
Over-filled cheeks are the most recognisable filler result there is. Too much volume, or volume placed too high and too far out, produces a shelf across the upper cheek and a face that reads as wide and flat rather than lifted. Because the cheek is a large area the temptation to keep adding is strong, and because the change is gradual it is easy to miss on yourself.
Filler here also lasts well, since the deep midface moves relatively little. If you have had cheek filler before and the face now looks broader without looking younger, the answer is not another syringe. The first step is establishing how much of the previous material is still in place.
Safety
The middle of the face carries a real risk of filler getting into a blood vessel. There are two risky places, one being injection too close to the surface across the middle of the cheek and the other being injection right down on the bone when correcting the hollow below the eye. An artery under the eye joins the vessels running towards the nose and the eye itself, which is the route by which filler placed in the cheek can reach the eye.
Before injecting I draw back on the syringe to check the needle is not sitting in a blood vessel, then place the gel deep on the bone at the points known to be safest, in small amounts and delivered slowly. Hyaluronidase is kept in the room, and while it reverses an HA filler it does nothing for PCL, which is a further reason HA is the default here.
Common questions
How much do cheek fillers cost in Singapore?
HA filler is $800 per syringe and PCL filler, the collagen stimulator, is $1,400 per syringe, both before GST and both including the review appointment. One to two syringes treats both cheeks. These are fixed prices, not starting prices, and the consultation is charged separately and waived if you proceed on the day.
Are cheek fillers worth it?
For a face that has lost volume in the middle, yes, it is. It is the treatment with the widest knock-on benefit on the face, since the fold softens, the hollow under the eye lightens and the face reads as lifted rather than filled. For a face already full at the cheek, or where the problem is loose skin rather than lost volume, no.
Will cheek filler help my nasolabial folds?
It usually does, and often more than filling the fold does. The fold deepens because the cheek above it has descended, so restoring the cheek lifts the tissue off the fold and treats the cause rather than padding the result. See nasolabial fillers.
Will cheek filler help my under eye hollows?
It often does. A hollow under the eye frequently starts as a loss of volume at the top of the cheek, and supporting the cheek raises the floor of it. That is a far more forgiving area to treat than the lower lid itself, which is why it is usually tried first. See under eye fillers.
How long do cheek fillers last?
Cheek filler lasts longer than filler in the parts of the face that move a lot, because the deep middle of the face moves relatively little. An HA filler commonly gives twelve to eighteen months. PCL lasts longer, with the trade-off that it cannot be reversed.
Does the filler completely dissolve away?
An HA filler does, gradually, and what is left can be dissolved on purpose with hyaluronidase. A PCL filler breaks down eventually but far more slowly, and there is no injection that removes it on demand. That is the trade-off for the longer duration.
How many syringes do I need?
One treats both cheeks in most people. Significant volume loss can need two. You are told which before anything is injected, not after the first syringe has gone in.
Will cheek filler make my face look fat?
Not if it is placed deep and in the right position, because deep volume sits against bone and lifts the tissue above it rather than padding it outwards. A face that looks wider after cheek filler has usually had too much, or had it placed too high and too far out towards the side, where volume adds width across the face instead of height over the cheekbone.
What are the side effects?
Swelling, bruising and tenderness for a few days are usual, and small lumps can occur and settle. The serious one is filler getting into a blood vessel, which is rare but can damage the skin or affect sight, because the blood vessels in the middle of the face connect to those supplying the eye.
Do cheek fillers hurt?
Numbing cream is applied first and left on until the skin is numb. Most patients describe deep pressure rather than sharp pain, because the gel is being placed against bone.
Who performs the treatment
Dr Gerard Ee, MBBS (UK), MRCS (Edinburgh), PGDip Practical Dermatology (Cardiff). He trained and practised in orthopaedic surgery at Singapore General Hospital and the National University Hospital before moving into aesthetic medicine, and is the author of sixteen peer-reviewed papers, thirteen of them indexed in PubMed.
More about the training is on the about page, and the published work is listed on the publications page.
Where to find us
50 Raffles Place, #01-01 Singapore Land Tower, Singapore 048623. Telephone 6532 2048. Raffles Place MRT is a two-minute walk.
Monday to Friday, 10am to 8pm. Saturday, 10am to 5pm.
