First time getting filler? Why we started with two syringes in the cheeks and Dysport in the upper face.
A first dermal filler appointment at MODE Aesthetics and Wellness in North Scottsdale starts small on purpose: Torey Varner, RN, or Marisa Dulin, MSN, FNP-C, placed two syringes of hyaluronic acid cheek filler in the mid face with Dysport in the upper face for this first time patient, after a complimentary 45 to 60 minute consultation with a written plan and quote, Dysport at $4.50 per unit.
A first filler appointment at MODE Aesthetics and Wellness, a medical spa in Scottsdale, AZ, starts small on purpose. For a first time patient we would rather place two syringes in the cheeks, pair them with a neuromodulator in the upper face, and let the result settle than fill everything at once. Filler can always be added at the follow up. A result that is too heavy has to be dissolved or waited out.
In May, Torey Varner, RN, our nurse injector and injector trainer, shared the before and after above: one patient, her first filler, two syringes of hyaluronic acid filler in the mid face and Dysport in the upper third of the face. Her caption and the notes she wrote onto the frames are quoted where they are hers. The rest traces to our dermal filler and Dysport pages and to the companion authority reference.
“First time filler for this patient, so we started out slow with 2 syringes in the midface. Dysport in the upper third of the face.”
Torey Varner, RN, on Instagram, May 2026
What happens at a first filler appointment in Scottsdale?
It starts with a conversation, not a syringe. The injectables consultation at MODE is complimentary and takes 45 to 60 minutes: a full face assessment, your goals, your health history, and a recommendation of which filler product and how many syringes across which areas. It ends with a written plan and quote that we honor, and there is no pressure to treat the same visit. Many first time patients book the consultation alone and come back for the treatment once they have slept on the plan.
The treatment itself takes 30 to 60 minutes. We use topical numbing, most hyaluronic acid fillers contain lidocaine, and the product is placed with a fine needle or a cannula. A neuromodulator like Dysport, when it is part of the plan, is placed at the same visit in a few minutes.
Why start with only two syringes in the cheeks?
Because restraint is the safer error. Our approach to dermal filler is to stop before fullness, not at it, and to build gradually across visits when more support is needed. For the cheeks we typically plan one to two syringes per side, and for a first time patient two syringes across the mid face is a deliberate starting point: enough to restore the structural volume that thins with age, and no more. If more is right for you, it goes in at a later visit, once we have both seen how the first amount settled.
The cheeks come first for a reason. As the deeper fat of the mid face thins, the tissue above it has less to rest on, so the under eye and the nasolabial folds read heavier than they are. Supporting the cheeks first is how we approach filler for a face that reads tired. Marisa Dulin, MSN, FNP-C, explains why the mid face comes before the folds in her own case in the Journal, and the under eye and the folds are looked at again at the follow up before anything goes into them.
Why Dysport in the upper face at the same visit?
Filler and a neuromodulator do different jobs. Filler adds volume and does not relax movement. Dysport is a botulinum toxin type A, like Botox, and it temporarily relaxes the muscles that fold the skin into dynamic lines: the horizontal forehead lines, the frown lines between the brows, and the crow’s feet. It adds no volume. In the frames from this case where the patient frowns and raises her brows, that is the Dysport half of the plan, and the cheek contour in the three quarter view is the filler half.
We often reach for Dysport in the upper face because its diffusion per injection point is a little wider than Botox, which suits a broad area like the forehead and often means fewer injection points. Its effect begins in about 2 to 3 days, with the full result at 10 to 14 days. Dysport at MODE is $4.50 per unit. About 2.5 Dysport units equal 1 Botox unit, so an equivalent treatment costs about the same as Botox, and the FDA label for each product cautions that the units of one botulinum toxin are not interchangeable with another. The unit count for your areas is set at the consultation, in writing.
What does the before and after show?
The hero image is the three quarter view: the same patient before, and after two syringes of cheek filler with Dysport in the upper face. On one of the frames Torey wrote her own notes onto the after image, and they are the clearest description of what she was planning for: “Brow Lift,” “Undereye Improvement,” “Seamless Highlight,” “Cheek curve,” and “Softened jowls.” Her caption closes with three words, “Lifted, refreshed, natural.”
Those are her words about this one patient. What we would add in our own voice is that nothing on the after side looks placed. The cheek reads as her cheek, the brow still moves, and the change is the kind people describe as rested rather than done. Individual results vary, and whether a plan like this fits your face is decided at your consultation.
What should a first time filler patient expect while it settles?
Swelling is a normal part of healing, and it is usually most noticeable in the first 48 hours. Swelling and any bruising typically peak at 24 to 48 hours and then begin to resolve, and a little asymmetry in the first week, as swelling settles unevenly, is normal. The volume is immediate, but your appearance right after treatment is not your final result: allow two to three weeks for the filler to fully settle. Dysport, meanwhile, is doing nothing visible on the day and working by the end of the first week.
For the first 24 hours, avoid heat, pressure on the area, intense exercise, and alcohol, and sleep with your head slightly elevated. Avoid dental work in the two weeks before and after filler. The practice approved dermal filler pre and post care guide covers all of this, including the signs that mean you should call us right away: severe or worsening pain, white, grey, or purple patches near the injection area, or any sudden change in vision. Those are signs of a vascular occlusion. Call (480) 203-2072 first, and if we cannot be reached within minutes, call 911.
Every filler treatment at MODE includes a complimentary follow up about six weeks later, once swelling has fully resolved, with the same injector, to assess whether any refinement is needed. Hyaluronic acid filler is also reversible: if a result ever needs to be adjusted or undone, it can be dissolved with hyaluronidase, and filler correction at MODE is $200.
How long does a first cheek filler last?
It depends on the specific hyaluronic acid formulation and the technique used, so we discuss the expected duration for your plan at the consultation rather than promising a fixed number of months. The typical ranges we quote by area are on our dermal filler page. Dysport, like any neuromodulator, wears off and is re-treated on a regular cadence, and that interval is part of the same written plan.
Who does first filler appointments at MODE in North Scottsdale?
Dermal filler and Dysport at MODE Aesthetics and Wellness are placed by two people: Marisa Dulin, MSN, FNP-C, our co-owner, nurse practitioner, and lead injector, and Torey Varner, RN, our nurse injector, who also trains other licensed professionals in neurotoxin technique. The person who assesses your face at the consultation is the person who treats you and the person you see again at six weeks. If your first injectable is a neuromodulator rather than filler, Torey’s note on what to expect at a first Botox appointment walks through that visit step by step.
Our office is at 7420 E Pinnacle Peak Rd, Suite 120, on the Pinnacle Peak corridor in North Scottsdale. We see first time filler patients from DC Ranch, Silverleaf, Whisper Rock, Grayhawk, Troon, and McDowell Mountain Ranch, from Paradise Valley, and from across Scottsdale.
At another medspa I went home from my first cheek filler with two black eyes and nobody had told me what to expect or what to do. What does a first time filler patient at MODE get told?
That is a fair worry, and bruising and swelling are a normal part of filler, not a surprise you should meet at home. MODE publishes a practice approved pre and post care guide for filler on its site: when swelling peaks, what is normal, and when to call us. Marisa Dulin, MSN, FNP-C, or Torey Varner, RN, places it and sees you again at a complimentary six week follow up.
Torey’s bio is here.
The clinical references behind this article, each claim cited to its source, are published as a companion authority reference.
Sources
Originally shared by Torey Varner, RN on Instagram. The before and after shows one patient, her first filler treatment; individual results vary, and whether filler or Dysport is appropriate, and how much, is decided at your consultation.
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