The two-week review: why day one is the worst day to judge your injectables

The most common message I get lands around day three, and it comes in two flavours: 'I don't think it worked' and 'I think it's too much.' Both are almost always the same message — you're judging a result that doesn't exist yet. It's why every injectable patient at Lumen has a two-week review booked before they leave the building.

What day one actually shows you

Filler on day one is filler plus swelling — lips especially, which swell for two or three days and can look like someone else's decision entirely. Judge lips at two weeks, never in the car outside. Neuromodulators run the opposite direction: nothing has happened yet. They start working around day three to five and peak near day fourteen, so the day-one mirror shows you exactly what you looked like yesterday, minus a few injection-site bumps.

What we're checking at day fourteen

The review isn't a courtesy call — it's a comparison against the written plan. Photos from your chart beside your face today. The movement we intended to soften, softened or not. Symmetry, settling, anything unexpected. And the dose notes that make your next visit smarter than this one: what your anatomy did with 22 units is information no textbook has.

Top-ups — and when the answer is 'not yet'

We dose at the conservative end on purpose, and the review is what makes that safe to do. If the plan under-shot, a small top-up at the review closes the gap — that's the cost of caution, and we cover the visit. Over-treating can't be walked back the same way: too many units is three months of a face that doesn't move the way you want.

What we won't do is add product to a result you're unhappy with just to end the conversation. If the result missed the plan, we fix it against the plan — a conservative adjustment, or for hyaluronic-acid filler, dissolving. More is not a remedy for wrong.

It's included, never billed

The two-week review is part of the treatment price, not an add-on — same as the written quote and the sixty days it holds. If you're comparing clinics, ask whether a review visit is included and what happens if a top-up is warranted. The answer tells you how the clinic thinks about dosing before you've spent anything at all.