Coffee and Cosmetic Treatments: What’s the Real Deal?

You’ve scheduled your appointment, you’re excited to try out your new lips, chin, or cheeks, but you’ve heard that coffee and cosmetic treatments don’t mix. So what’s the real deal?

Most of us need a bracing caffeinated pick-me-up at some point throughout the day. Caffeine works to:

1. Suppress chemical signals in the body that make us feel sleepy
2. Dilate (widen) our blood vessels

And this is where it can cause issues!

The Effect of Caffeine on Cosmetic Treatments

Now, don’t stress. If you’ve had a cup of coffee or two before or after your appointment, it’s not going to harm you or make your treatment less effective. However:

It will increase the risk and prominence of bruising, particularly if you’re having lip fillers.

Why Lips Are Particularly Affected

The lips are rich in blood vessels. These red-colored blood-filled capillaries are close to the thin skin on your lips, and they’re what make your lips appear red.

Image Source: plasticsurgerykey

When you have an injection of lip filler:

• The needle punctures the skin
• The filler is injected into the lips
• This minor trauma naturally causes bruising (blood leaking out and collecting under the skin)

The Caffeine Connection

When you’ve had caffeine recently:

• Your blood vessels are dilated, including in your lips
• More blood is flowing through
• Any trauma will result in a larger bruise

Think of it as poking a hole in a hose when the tap is on high versus on low pressure. The coffee is what’s turning the tap up.

Image Source: plasticsurgerykey

Effects on Other Treatments

• Anti-wrinkle injections: The effect is the same but tends to be much less prominent, because the volume of substance being injected into the face is much lower.
• Other areas: It also occurs in areas other than lips, but less noticeably, as the skin is thicker and less densely packed with blood vessels.

How Long Should I Wait?

If you want to reduce the risk and prominence of bruising from your treatment:

• Wait 12 hours before and after your procedure before drinking coffee again!

However, if you’re not worried about bruising, don’t stress too much. Remember, it won’t affect your health, just your recovery time.