Renuva Care Instructions

Renuva is not a gel filler. It is a scaffold of donated human fat tissue that your own body gradually replaces with your own fat. Everything you need to know before and after your treatment.

This page is for Renuva — allograft adipose matrix. Fillers are not interchangeable and the aftercare genuinely differs between them — if you were treated with something else, ask us for the right sheet rather than following this one.

Before your treatment

Preparation is much like any injectable. What differs with Renuva is afterwards: the graft has to be left undisturbed while your body moves into it, and the final result takes months rather than minutes.

One week before

  • Avoid NSAIDs such as ibuprofen and Advil, fish oil, Gingko Biloba, St John's Wort and high-dose vitamin E — all of them increase the risk of bruising.
  • Never stop a prescribed medication without your physician's approval.

Twenty-four hours before

  • No alcohol.

On the day

  • Arrive with clean, makeup-free skin so we can assess the area properly.
  • Allow a little extra time. Renuva is prepared immediately beforehand and has to be used within two hours of preparation.

Please tell us before we begin

  • Significant allergies, or any history of a severe allergic reaction
  • Active infection anywhere near the treatment area
  • Immunosuppressant medication, or any condition that affects healing
  • Blood thinners or a bleeding disorder
  • Pregnancy or breastfeeding
  • Smoking, or recent nicotine use of any kind

Renuva is human donor tissue. It is screened and aseptically processed, but it is not terminally sterilised, so the risk of transmitting an infection is very low rather than absent — we will go through this with you properly at consultation. It is only ever placed where your body already has fat.

Plan your downtime. Swelling, tenderness, redness, bruising and discomfort at the treatment site are expected in the days afterwards. Renuva behaves differently from a gel filler: what you see at first is partly graft and partly swelling, and the result establishes over the following months as your own fat replaces the matrix. A second treatment is sometimes planned once that has happened.

After your treatment

For the first forty-eight hours

  • No pressure, massage or manipulation of the treated area. The graft needs to stay exactly where we placed it while your body starts moving into it.
  • No strenuous exercise. Light walking is fine.
  • Avoid extreme heat — hot showers, saunas, steam rooms.

For two weeks

  • No facials, massage or deliberate compression on the treated area.
  • If we treated an area you would normally lie or sit on, ask us how to position yourself — this differs by site and we will tell you specifically.

While it settles

  • Do not smoke or vape. Nicotine narrows the small vessels the graft depends on to integrate, and this is the single change most within your control.

Judge this at three months, not three days. Renuva works by being replaced — your own fat grows into the scaffold over the following months. Early fullness is partly swelling and will come down before the real result comes up. This is the normal course, not a sign that anything has gone wrong.

Rare, but treat it as an emergency: severe or steadily increasing pain, skin that turns white, blotchy or dusky, or any change in your vision. Call us immediately on (949) 998-5501 — phone, not text — or go straight to an emergency room. Caught early this is manageable — caught late it is not.

Call or text us right away if

  • you develop spreading redness, warmth, pus or a fever. Renuva is donated tissue and infection at a graft site needs treating promptly.
  • swelling or bruising is getting worse rather than settling after forty-eight hours.
  • an area becomes hard, or a firm lump has not settled after two weeks.

General guidance only; it does not replace the advice your practitioner gives you. If you are unsure about a health condition or medication, speak to your physician. For any isolated adverse reaction, seek medical assistance.

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Aurora MD Aesthetics & Head Spa
21224 Beach Blvd, Huntington Beach, CA 92648
(949) 998-5501 — call or text · hello@auroramdspa.com

Questions or concerns at any point in your recovery? Call or text us on (949) 998-5501 — we would always rather hear from you early.