The Profhilo timeline, week by week
Day one. Profhilo at our Harley Street clinic is injected at a small number of precise points rather than spread across the treatment area, so you will see five raised deposits on each side.
Days two to three. The deposits flatten as the product disperses through the tissue. Most people are comfortable in makeup and back in front of colleagues by day two or three. Any bruising at the injection points is usually at its most visible now.
Week one. The injection sites have settled. Skin hydration is often noticeably better and the skin looks slightly brighter, but there is no dramatic change and nobody should expect one. Collagen stimulation has started and is not yet visible.
Weeks two to four. The first real improvements in skin quality appear. Skin texture is smoother, the skin holds light differently, and fine lines look softer. This is gradual enough that you often notice it in photographs before you notice it in the mirror.
Week four, second session. The second of your two treatment sessions completes the course. Results build from a higher baseline this time, so the change after it is more noticeable than after the first.
Weeks six to eight. This is usually the peak. Firmness and skin elasticity are at their best, and it is the point at which other people start commenting that you look well without being able to say why.
Month three onwards. Results hold, then decline slowly as normal ageing resumes. Most patients return for a top-up treatment at around six months.
That timeline describes the face. Other treatment areas behave slightly differently: neck skin and the décolletage are thinner and less forgiving, so they bruise a little more readily and results tend to arrive closer to eight or ten weeks. Crepiness in these areas responds more slowly than on the face, because there is less dermal thickness to remodel.
Profhilo aftercare
Recovery time is shorter than for most non-surgical cosmetic procedures, and nearly all post-treatment restrictions apply only to the first day or two.
For the first 24 hours, leave the injection points alone. Do not massage or rub the area, avoid makeup over the points, and sleep on your back if you can.
For 24 to 48 hours, avoid anything that raises body temperature or blood flow to the face: strenuous exercise, saunas, steam rooms, hot yoga, sunbeds and very hot showers. Alcohol is best avoided in the same window because it worsens bruising.
For two weeks, hold off other facial treatments, including skin tightening devices, peels and facials, unless they are already part of a treatment plan your practitioner has agreed with you.
Drinking water will not make Profhilo work better, despite what you may have read. Hyaluronic acid binds water already present in the skin. Staying normally hydrated is sensible; drinking extra litres achieves nothing.
Profhilo side effects and what is normal
As with all injectable treatments, the common side effects are local and short-lived: redness, tenderness, small bumps at the injection points, and occasional bruising. All of these settle within a few days.
The safety picture is helped by how the product behaves. Because Profhilo is placed in only ten points and disperses on its own, it carries a lower risk of lumpiness than a traditional dermal filler that is shaped and moulded in place.
What is not normal is a firm lump that persists beyond two weeks, increasing pain rather than decreasing, skin that blanches white, or any change in vision. Those warrant a call to your clinic the same day rather than a wait-and-see. Any reputable clinic would far rather hear from you unnecessarily.
Why Profhilo results look subtle
This is the reason people choose it, and it follows directly from how it works.
Profhilo does not add contour and it does not correct volume loss, which is what dermal filler is for. It improves the quality of the skin you already have by stimulating collagen production and elastin, so the improvement shows up as better texture, firmness and hydration rather than as a different face. Your expressions are unchanged and your features are unchanged.
The gradual pace matters too. Because the result builds over weeks rather than appearing at an appointment, there is no visible before-and-after moment for anyone else to notice. People tend to say you look well rested. They rarely ask what you have had done, because from the outside nothing obviously happened.
Among injectable skin booster treatments, that restraint is the whole proposition of Profhilo treatment in London. It is also why it suits people who want to start early, before there is anything obvious to correct.
How long Profhilo lasts
The collagen-boosting effect of a two-session course typically holds for around six months before a maintenance treatment is worth considering. Skin laxity continues to develop with age regardless, so Profhilo holds the line rather than stopping it, which is the argument for treating consistently rather than once. Where sagging skin is already established, it is worth asking whether a tightening treatment would serve you better.
Book a Profhilo consultation
The most useful thing a consultation does here is set your expectations against your own skin, so you know what week six should look like for you rather than for someone else.
Book a consultation with our practitioners and we will assess your skin quality and tell you honestly whether Profhilo at our London clinic will deliver the skin rejuvenation you are hoping for, or whether something else will serve you better.