Can I have dermal fillers when I have MS?

I am recently diagnosed with MS and yet to start medication. Are there any issues that would stop me from having facial dermal fillers? My health professionals weren’t helpful when I asked, just saying there is no evidence they can use to advise me.

We are not clinicians and cannot give medical advice, however given the obvious lack of research and clear-cut evidence in this area we’ll do our best to help.

To get a well-rounded clinical view, we would strongly suggest speaking with your GP, your MS team, and any cosmetic surgery clinic you are considering using for the procedure.

Given there are risks with all procedures (no matter how small), it would be good to ask about what the potential risks may be and whether these would be increased by having a neurological condition, auto immune disease or being on any other medication.

We’d suggest ensuring that all the clinicians involved in your care, particularly the clinic you would be using for this cosmetic procedure, know your full and up to date clinical history and have a good overview of your general health and fitness levels.

This should include any recent MS activity (any relapse or flare up), any infections in the last few months, any medications you are taking (or have taken recently) and of course any other health conditions.

Our understanding of these dermal filler procedures is that there are different types of fillers used (hyaluronic acid, calcium hydroxyapatite, fats/plasma extracts and some synthetics) and there may be differing clinical advice given depending on the type of filler used by the clinic in question.

Clinics may decide to take a cautionary approach and wish to try a small test area (perhaps on your forearm). They may then book you a follow-up appointment, waiting for a period of time to ensure that there would not be an adverse reaction or a negative impact on your health.

From our research, clinics will not treat you with dermal fillers if you have recently had treatment with steroids or any other anti-inflammatory medications as this interferes with the inflammation that the fillers are trying to achieve.

A further consideration is disease-modifying therapies – some are immunosuppressant and may leave a person at a higher risk of opportunistic infection. There is obviously a rare chance of infection with any medical procedure. Additional hygiene and anti-septic precautions should be put in place during the injection of dermal fillers for higher-risk people. So, it is worth ensuring the clinic you choose is of the highest standard and staffed by reputable and qualified health professionals.