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Permalip ®:Revolutionary Lip Enhancement

Professional beauty experts contend that the key to a youthful appearance is the lips. If your lips are full and young-looking, other age-related flaws such as crows’ feet and frown lines become less noticeable in your overall appearance.

While such environmental factors as sun exposure adversely affect your facial features, the aging and thinning of your lips as you advance in years depends largely on your genes. You can prevent looking older than you feel by being proactive and correcting the demise of the thickness and plumpness of your lips. Additionally, if you are young but want more volume to achieve that ideal look of “kissability,” there are both temporary and permanent cosmetic fixes to give you the lips you desire.

Temporary Cosmetic Enhancement

Temporary treatments to replace the youthful lip fullness that time begins to take away include such injection programmes as Botox and collagen. While Botox works beneath the skin to immobilize the muscles that govern your facial expressions, thus smoothing those wrinkles that become apparent when you frown or smile, collagen injections actually plump up your lips, filling in the lines just beneath your skin surface. The downside of injection treatments is that their positive effects last only 3-9 months, and then the treatments must be repeated.

A Permanent Solution

Permalip® is a new advance in the field of cosmetic surgery that offers a permanent solution to the problem of aging lips. The ground-breaking procedure utilizes a unique silicone implant to fill and plump your lips for a lifelong, beautiful smile.

The Permalip® implant, developed by U.S. cosmetic surgeons, is composed of a soft, pliable silicone solid. A proven procedure that developers have extensively tested, Permalip® has attained CE Marked approval for use in Europe. This permanent lip enhancement that will keep your appearance youthful without repeated treatments.

Unlike older implant treatments, the Permalip® implant is rupture-proof, will not bond with surrounding tissue, and will not harden or deteriorate throughout years of use.

The Procedure

It takes less than one hour under local anesthetic for your cosmetic surgeon to place your implant. You will retain no visible scarring, and you can feel confident knowing that the procedure is fully reversible and can be adjusted for size upon your request.

You will enjoy full recovery from the procedure within two weeks, and the beautiful results will keep you looking as young as you feel. Permalip® is truly revolutionary.

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How do Dermal Fillers work?

Cosmetic surgery is a way to achieve a youthful appearance. It is particularly helpful in erasing marks of aging associated with skin changes,Dermal Fillers ranging from wrinkles to the loss of subcutaneous fat and dermal collagen with Dermal Fillers.

While the most well-known method of tightening the face around the skin is through a surgical face lift, a less well-known, but equally effective, method is dermal filling.

Although dermal filling may sound like a revolutionary new trend in aesthetic medicine it has been around for over a century. In the 1890s, dermal filling consisted of removing fatty tissue from one part of the body where it was not needed, like from sagging fat in the arms, and injecting it to another part where it was needed, like the wrinkling skin of a face. Today, a variety of many more filler choices are available. These fillers are said to work better and to last longer than their earlier counterparts.

Bovine collagen was popular in the United States in the 1980s. Results were claimed to last as long as eighteen months, but the reality was closer to five months, with three months being the average. Nevertheless bovine collagen became the standard by which other fillers were assessed.

Human collagen, collagen derived from human beings that was cultivated in the laboratory, replaced bovine collagen in popularity. Then researchers began to look for something even more compatible with the patient’s body. They arrived at the autologen method. In this method, human collagen is still used, but this time it comes directly from the patient‘s own tissues. This collagen, derived from the patient’s own body, is made into a sterile suspension of fibres. Three square inches of skin can be manufactured to supply 1 ml of 3.5% collagen. This collagen is used to treat wrinkles, lines, scars, and sagging lips.

An alternative to injecting fillers has been autologous collagen. By stimulating an inflammation in the patient, the resulting new collagen deposits are harvested and fat is then mixed with sterile distilled water.

Other viscous fluids have also been tested and used in cosmetic surgery. These include the use of fillers made out of recycled skin, hyaluronic acid, and hybrid technologies.

The recycled skin came from rehabilitation centres for burn victims and was processed for use in aesthetic medicine. Hyaluronic acid, a protein in the skin of mammals, including humans, has been used to form a gel. Finally, artificial Dermal Fillers suspended in bovine collagen have been used to treat wrinkles and scars.

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Collagen, Hyaluronic Acid and Elastin

When fine lines develop around the forehead, crow’s feet around the eyes and wrinkles around the mouth, it is a sign of aging that is more obvious than a change in hair colour and density or a change in body posture.

Skin, consisting of bonded layers, begins to sag and become lumpy as a person ages. What is basically happening is that the skin loses its elasticity. This is usually a result of a depletion of three proteins common in skin: collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid.

Collagen is a fibrous protein found in skin, bone, cartilage, muscles, and tendons. It works to connect body tissue. It makes up 25 percent of the protein in the human body, and it is even found in teeth. Like a glue, it holds the tissues of the body together, including the layers of the skin.

Elastin is a protein that pulls back the skin when it is stretched. In addition to keeping the skin elastic and flexible, it keeps the skin smooth. This is why your mouth returns back to its normal shape after using the muscles of your face when talking.

The third essential protein for a youthful, healthy skin is hyaluronic acid. The more of this protein that is lost, the more aged a person begins to look. Fortunately, apart from cosmetics, it is also possible to take nutritional supplements to restore levels of hyaluronic acid. Moisture is lost because of lower amounts of hyaluronic acid. Diets rich in kelp, seaweed, and fish help maintain hyaluronic acid. People with Mediterranean or Asian diets appear to age slower with “plumper skin” than those people who live in cultures where refined foods filled with additives have become the norm. In cultures with poor diets, an enzyme called hyaluronidase begins to work against hyaluronic acid. Part of the process of restoring hyaluronic acid is to reduce the hyaluronidase enzyme.

Depletion of these three skin proteins is exacerbated by indulging in poor health habits like smoking, drinking alcohol, not drinking enough water, not eating nutritious food, not exercising, and getting an excessive sunburn. While taking care of your health by reversing all these conditions will go a long way to restoring your youthful appearance, you can also get relatively quick results by using lotions that provide the skin with what it needs to maintain its elasticity. Most anti-aging skin care programs work on restoring collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid.

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How To Find The Best Collagen Firming Products

Although getting wrinkles is a natural part of aging, it is possible to have younger, tighter skin for more years of your life by using the right skin care lotion.

What collagen does best is firm wrinkles and one of the best ways to combat wrinkles is to use products that have both collagen and skin tightening ingredients.

Besides helping with wrinkles, collagen reduces cellulite. Both these conditions are a result of aging skin. As skin ages, its multiple layers held together by collagen and elastin begin to loosen. Not only do these bonds loosen, but the skin becomes lumpy and uneven, and we perceive these as wrinkles.

With so many products on the market, it can sometimes be difficult to decide on the best lotion to use, but before shopping for the right product, you should consider your personal needs like skin type, regions of your body that need toning and tightening, and so on. Considering your skin type is an important deciding factor in the product you choose. For example, those with dry skin will need more moisturizing ingredients. Some of the more effective products fill out the skin cells, rather than just reduce wrinkles. Look for products with natural ingredients like CoQ10, Cynergy TK, and Hyaluronic Acid. Prefer products with natural ingredients over those with chemical blends.

While collagen is used for both wrinkles and cellulite, you have to use different products for each of these conditions. One product will not work as a complete solution because the sources and the concentration of collagen used to treat wrinkles is different than the collagen used to reduce cellulite. Moreover, what works for one condition will not work for another. Collagen products are made from a variety of sources, including wool, herring, mackerel, soy, kelp, and even a special type of honey called makuna. In addition, other ingredients are added like moisturisers for wrinkle creams.

It bears repeating that it is important to identify your personal needs first before buying skin care products because otherwise you will choose products that will not work for you and be disappointed by the lack of results.

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Botox Largely Unregulated in UK

For over 5 years, the Expert Working Group on Cosmetic Surgery has been recommending to the Healthcare Commission that Botox use be more closely monitored. As Botox procedures become increasingly popular, greater numbers of patients are exposed to health risks by accepting shoddy, low-cost treatments from fly-by-night operations that don’t care what happens once the money is in their pockets and patient is out the door.

The government doesn’t accept that patient risk should be any of their concern. They have continued to decline the recommendation and instead ask cosmetic surgeons to regulate themselves. Under the current system, absolutely anyone can set up an office and administer the injections of Botox. Botox is a diluted form of deadly toxin produced by botulism-causing bacteria. The toxin tightens muscles under the face, paralyzing them. This has the side effect of reducing wrinkles.

Dr. Andrew Vallance-Owen, chairman of the Independent Healthcare Advisory Services’ Wirjung Group on Cosmetic Surgery and medical director of BUPA confirmed that cosmetic surgeons urged Parliament to bring regulation to the Botox industry.

Vallence-Owen stressed the importance of regulation. “We are talking about invasive procedures,” he said. “Botox is a prescription-only medicine and patient safety should be paramount.” He continued, “If things go wrong, some patients could be left scarred physically or psychologically for life.”

Vallence-Owen, for one, isn’t going to step back and let the procedure go unregulated. “Self-reulation is better than no regulation,” he said. “If we want the sector to maintain its success, we must retain patient confidence.” He maintains that if the industry doesn’t step up, then “these procedures will be less-regulated than ear-piercing.”

Health Minister Lord Hunt announced the UK plan for self-regulation of the Botox industry. “Cosmetic surgery providers have shown real commitment to improving levels of quality and safety in this area, and so, I have decided to ask the industry to take the lead in further improving standards.” Lord Hunt admits that the most the British government intends to do is keep open the possibility introducing “statutory regulation should it become necessary in the future.”

The Independent Healthcare Advisory Services have been given the responsibility in producing a set of standards for the industry. Sally Taber, speaking for the group, said they were ready for the task, but not willing, as nothing they could do compares to statutory regulation.

Jenny Driscoll, a health campaigner, concurs with the popular sentiment. “The government needs to step in now because, left to regulate itself, it’d be all too easy for the industry to focus on introducing multiple codes that will just end up confusing people.”

President of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, when asked for a statement, said that the self-regulation mandate was “total nonsense.”

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Dermatological Scarring

Many individuals suffer the lasting effects of severe acne outbreaks. Dermatological scarring can lead to emotional and psychological trauma. Medical science is continually developing treatments to alleviate the physical aspects of the condition. These interventions provide dramatic and lasting results.

Nodular or cystic acne leaves severe scarring but dermatologists can treat the problem. Laser treatments were once the standardized option for treating this type of scarring, but are not effective in diminishing severe scars. Presently, the chosen remedy for treating scarring is with cosmetic fillers.

Silicon Fillers

Following 30 years of research in treating acne scars with various fillers, Dr. Jay Barnett and associate, Dr. Channing Barnett found that silicone fillers are the only means to soften acne scars. The doctors found that five patients with severe scarring had amazing results with silicone injections following one treatment. These patients were studied for 30 years.

Hyaluronic Acid Fillers

In addition to silicone fillers, severe scarring treated with hyaluronic acid fillers showed promising results. But, while the results were impressive, they only lasted six months. Fillers like Perlane have been studied and approved by the Food and Drug Administration for deep skin folds, but not scarring on various areas of the face.

Calcium Fillers

The Journal of Cosmetic and Laser Therapy contains a report where scientists studied a filler made with calcium hydroxlapatite to correct severe acne scars. Scientists used the filler on different types of scarring from deep round scars to pitting scars. They found that in ten subjects, only rounded scars responded well to treatment. Some of the test subjects experienced results that lasted up to a year.

Selecting the Correct Filler

Cosmetic fillers are not an inexpensive treatment. Treatments that last the longest are the most expensive. Filler injections run from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand per treatment. Additionally, a trained and qualified physician must administer the filler properly to achieve maximum results.

If considering cosmetic fillers, locate a physician who has gained expertise in minimizing severe acne scars using this type of treatment. The filler injections cannot be used on acne that is not controlled. The treatment cannot be provided in skin that has inflammation or discomfort caused by continual acne outbreaks.

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Dermal Fillers Require Professional Services

Quick fix dermal filler products include such widely recognized products as Botox, Juvederm, and Restylane. These substances, when properly injected by an experienced clinician, can eliminate obvious signs of aging such as wrinkles, crows’ feet beside the eyes, and forehead creasing.

How Do They Work?

While Botox works beneath the dermal layer to relax those muscles that when contracting, form expressive lines on the face, Juvederm and Restylane work within the skin layer to immediately fill and voluminize the flesh on the face and then provide nutritive revitalization for the longer term. They are especially effective in smoothing areas around the mouth and nose.

Application

Because all three of these dermal fillers require application via injection into facial tissues, they call for the services of a licensed clinician. Only the experienced expert can judge the correct quantity of filler and the proper areas for application. A professional office venue is the safest, most sterile and quality-controlled environment for treatments of this kind.

Industry Concerns

In recent years, especially since sales of Botox, Juvederm and Restylane no longer require a physician’s prescription, more sources are making these dermal fillers available to the general public. People have the option to buy the products directly or online. Incredibly, people are actually giving themselves a do-it-yourself quick facial fix by self-injecting dermal fill substances.

This practice is raising considerable concern among the medical community. Some clinicians point out that medical supplies from unproven sources can easily be counterfeit or substandard products that may cause unwanted side effects. Others focus on the fact that an untrained individual is hardly qualified to judge quantities and injection sites. Amateur applications of Botox, Restylane, or Juvederm can produce some surprising and sometimes alarming results.

Self-injection of dermal fillers can cause redness and infection, excessive swelling, scarring, bleeding, and migration of fillers to undesirable areas of the face. When you inject fillers around your eyes and forehead, you can create droopy eyelids or areas of swelling that a physician may find hard to reverse.

Conclusions

The majority of individuals self-injecting dermal fillers do so to save professional fees. Yet when you consider the potential health problems and side effects that often require a doctor’s intervention later, these do-it-yourselfers rarely save much, and often manage to make themselves look worse rather than better. An initial investment in professional injection of dermal fillers undeniably produces the best results.

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Hyaluronic Acid

Hyaluronic acid is a chemical that combines with collagen and elastin to create cartilage. HA helps cartilage to retain its strength and elasticity, but also assists with supplying the necessary fluid that lubricates joints.

Physicians use hyaluronic acid injections as an effective treatment for osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Scientific findings conclude that more than 80% of arthritic patients studied experienced substantial amounts of reduced pain immediately following hyaluronic acid injections. The diminished arthritic symptoms lasted up to a year before patients required further treatments.

Tissues throughout the body contain hyaluronic acid and the chemical accomplishes numerous tasks. HA delivers nutrition as it removes pollutants from areas of the body not equipped with blood circulation , like cartilage. Joints without proper amounts of hyaluronic acid become fragile and weaken. In addition to lubricating joints, HA maintains fluid levels of other tissues and is found in the spaces between the cells in the body. The chemical holds moisture inside the spaces, which moistens elastin and collagen, keeping them healthy.

The medical and cosmetic fields are using hyaluronic acid more frequently. Cosmetics manufactured with HA contend that skin contains more moisture, which provides a smooth and radiant appearance. Research has proven that HA heals injuries rapidly and minimizes scars regardless of how long an individual has had them. Physicians inject Restylane, an hyaluronic acid filler, to diminish fine lines and acne scarring in addition to toning and tightening the skin.

The body naturally absorbs hyaluronic acid as it deteriorates, so repeated treatments are necessary. Results last for 6 to 9 months after which further injections are required.

Besides injections, HA is manufactured in oral form and supplements are available at pharmacies, health food stores and through online distributors. Inidividuals taking an oral supplement experience results after 2 to 4 months. Many have reported decreasing the dosage once the desired amount of results are obtained.

Hyaluronic acid may cause a skin irritation where injected and skin rashes and irritations when taken orally, but no major side effects have been reported. Adverse effects should be reported to the physician. Hyaluronic acid injections should be administered by licensed physicians only.

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Critics Slam New Crackdown on Cosmetic Surgeries

Surgeons across the UK are lining up to criticise a new government initiative, backed by medical regulators and the cosmetic industry, which seeks to clampdown on cosmetic surgeries such as Botox. The government is seeking to ensure that consumers have access to credible facilities to receive cosmetic procedures by listing clinics with qualified staff and appropriate facilities. Critics however have said that the measure does not do enough to stamp out “rogue” providers of cosmetic procedures.

Currently the Care Quality Commission, which oversees medical treatment in the UK, has no control over procedures like Botox injections. Roughly 5,000 facilities across the UK provide these cosmetic procedures to over 200,000 patients a year. As a result, the procedures can be provided in places like beauty salons where the staff have no formal training in medicine, dentistry, or nursing. If the procedures are wrongly-applied they can cause health problems and good hygiene is needed to reduce the risk of infection.

The new initiative seeks to provide qualified clinics and professionals with a “Quality Assurance Mark” that will be backed up by a timetable of regular inspections. The initiative would establish a list of clinics that have qualified staff and clean facilities for consumers to choose from to ensure they receive proper treatment.

Cosmetic injections are designed to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and the industry has experienced a 25% growth in the last year alone, making now the perfect time in the minds of many to tighten the regulation of the industry. Due to the growth of the industry, the government has recognised the need to regulate the procedures to safeguard patients. The programme has received an initial investment of 200,000 from the government to help launch the initiative.

Critics have slammed the new initiative though calling the plan an easy out for the government to wash its hands of industry regulation. A representative from Safer Cosmetic Surgery criticised the scheme stating that the only clinics likely to sign up for the programme are those that already meet the high safety requirements.

Supporters fired back though, believing that other measures contained within the initiative will serve to further prevent irresponsible providers from conducting cosmetic procedures. Supporters have said the “Quality Assurance Mark” will serve as an additional weapon for consumers against poor facilities and unqualified providers. The measure also seeks to make it harder for unqualified providers to get insurance coverage in hopes it will prevent places like nail bars and beauty salons from providing cosmetic injections.

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Plastic Surgery Decline – A Boost for Botox and Fillers

Women are not as eager to have cosmetic surgery as they once were as recent statistics show that procedures have declined by almost 20% in the previous year. Breast augmentation, facelift and tummy tuck procedures are not occurring as frequently.

The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery reports that in 2005, 2.1 million procedures were performed whereas in 2009, 1.9 million were done. Surgeons feel the largest factor is the current economy. The luxury industry in general has suffered a blow as consumers exhibit more frugal behavior. Health insurance in most cases does not cover the cost of rhinoplasty or breast augmentation and procedures typically run thousands of dollars.

In the last ten years, the cosmetic surgery industry experienced a surge. Procedures once procured by celebrities and the affluent were being acquired by women of lower class status. The topic was commonly discussed in various forms of media and popularized by such TV shows as Nip/Tuck and Dr. 90210. Reality TV shows, The Swan and Extreme Makeover chose everyday citizens to undergo head to toe transformations to the delight of the viewing audience. These shows are no longer broadcasted.

In recent years, celebrities and others opting to have elective procedures have been the subject of ridicule and gossip. Procedures are scoffed at as being too noticeable or individuals are accused of being addicted to personal appearance and cosmetic surgery.

Heidi Montag, a reality show actress, received criticism from peers, the public and family when she admitted to undergoing 10 cosmetic procedures within a year. Miami Beach plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Hall believes that society’s desire for luxurious excess is coming to a close. People are exercising common sense when it comes to surgical cosmetic procedures.

Though cosmetic surgery is declining, non-surgical procedures are on the rise, which may merely reflect a more conservative choice in treatment. Botox injections, filler injections and laser treatments are less expensive, quicker and patients forfeit long recovery times associated with traditional surgery. Individuals are opting for procedures that are less invasive.

Physicians are noticing cultural as well as economical redirection. The size of breast implants has reduced along with the economy. Washington plastic surgeon Dr. Richard Baxter cites that while at one time one third of his patients chose B cup sizes, currently one half of the patients choose the smaller size.

The industry now wonders what the long term effects will be. Opinions differ, but most concur that while individuals may opt for other procedures, the vanity of humanity will continue to feed the desire for change.

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