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Temporary Dermal Fillers

As a person ages, the skin of the cheeks and lower portion of the face loses it’s elasticity. Wrinkles begin to form, and the lips lose their volume. Lips and skin can regain that volume by injecting dermal fillers. Dermal fillers are components that are injected directly into the skin to address these ageing issues. There are several types of dermal fillers. Some are comprised of human or animal tissue, while others are made of a synthetic material. Dermal fillers can either be temporary, permanent, or semi-permanent.

Depending on the situation, one dermal filler might be better than another. Temporary hyaluronic acid fillers are the most popular variety of dermal fillers. This type has been proven to be safe and efficient. The skin naturally contains hyaluronic acid, but in a matter of days it’s broken down by the body and is replaced. Temporary hyaluronic acid fillers are made so these particular molecules are better balanced in order to slow down the rate that they break down. The results of using a temporary hyaluronic acid filler can last anywhere from a couple of months to up to two years, depending on how the filler is applied. There’s no need to worry about improper placement of the product or lumpiness. A component called hyaluronidase is able to dissolve the temporary hyaluronic acid filler.

In Australia, a few brands of this type of dermal filler are Restylane, Jevederm, and Esthelis. These products come in various sized syringes. While some products merge with surrounding tissue when they’re injected, others will stay exactly where they’re placed. Because of this, certain products will work better on one spot of the face than they will on another spot.

The product Esthelis, for example, is soft and is able to be injected near the surface of the skin to clear up superficial wrinkles. Products that are thicker can cause over-correction or lumpiness. A thicker product like Jevederm Ultra Plus is useful in treating nasolabial lines as well as the marionette area of the face. Cheek augmentations can be achieved through using Juvederm Voluma, which is an even thicker substance than Juvederm Ultra Plus. Products that are thicker have a tendency to last longer than those that aren’t as thick.

As a person ages, it’s normal to change dermal filler products to best suit the needs of the patient. It’s always best to consult a doctor before using any type of filler product.

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Juvederm Versus Restylane

Hyaluronic acid is the human body’s natural way of providing volume and a fresh faced appearance – in fact there are large quantities of hyaluronic acid present in the skin. However, as the body ages the amount of hyaluronic acid steadily decreases, often leaving behind sagging and wrinkled skin due to the loss of volume. Today hyaluronic acid is being produced in the laboratory for use in the fight against aging. Hyaluronic acid based dermal fillers such as Juvederm and Restylane are able to plump up the skin in specific areas where volume has been lost. These fillers also have the helpful effect of binding to water molecules in the body, allowing for a long term facial correction.

Since there are now a number of different dermal fillers on the market, selecting the right one can be difficult. Two of the most popularly used hyaluronic acid based dermal fillers are Juvederm and Restylane. Both have specific advantages, and for a patient to make the proper choice it is necessary to carefully compare the two and decide which one is best for their needs.

Overall, Juvederm and Restylane are very similar products. Both are made from hyaluronic acid and are nearly identical in composition. While Juvederm is slightly thicker than Restylane, it is considered by many physicians to be easier to mold and shape into the facial tissue. Both Juvederm and Restylane are injected into the nasolabial folds (the area extending from the edge of the nose to the edge of the lips), the tear troughs underneath the eyes, and the frown lines in the brow area. Both products are also used in the lips as a plumping agent, or for overall lip reshaping.

The primary difference in the products appears to be the texture. Many doctors prefer to use Juvederm in areas such as nasolabial folds or other large areas since it molds into the skin more easily. However, other doctors feel that the two products work equally well even though the texture of Restylane is slightly thinner. In terms of longevity, Juvederm appears to have a slight edge over Restylane. While this effect may vary with each patient, Juvederm is generally considered to be the longer lasting of the two products due to the fact that Juvederm contains about 10 percent more cross-linked hyaluronic acid by volume.

Overall the two products are very similar and in most cases will produce virtually identical results when administered properly by a licensed practitioner. Each patient and doctor may find that they have personal preferences after trying both products, however.

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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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UK Dermal Fillers

Dermal fillers present a multitude of options for those who are involved in the practice of aesthetics. The use of dermal fillers has grown tremendously due to the fact that they present a valid alternative to surgical procedures. While originally used as a treatment for lines and wrinkles, dermal fillers are now available for a wide variety of other aesthetic purposes.

Dermal fillers are now available that can help with things like making someone’s face more symmetrical, enhancing people’s lips, correcting tear trough, and much more. The extensive uses now applicable to dermal fillers has flooded the UK market with a variety of these kinds of products. There are now around 160 dermal filler products available throughout the UK, and the majority of these do not even require a prescription as they are classified as “medical devices”.

While there are not even ten of these products approved by the FDA for use in the United States, there is no regulation available in regards to these products in the UK. This means anyone can buy these products and inject themselves with the ingredients without really knowing what is going into their body. Since there are so many unlicensed products now available, this makes the job of anyone practicing aesthetics harder than it already was, because they will have to learn about these products to get an idea of which one may be the best option for their patients.

While various aesthetic injections have actually been available since the late 1800’s, the term ‘dermal filler” did not come along until the introduction of collagen practically a century later. This led to the revolution of non-surgical aesthetic procedures, with Botox and collagen injections leading the way. While collagen is still a very popular choice, the emergence of other dermal fillers, one of the most popular being hyaluronic acid, has made the choice of collagen less popular than it once was.

Due to the high safety profile provided by hyaluronic acid fillers, they have become the most popular dermal filler used in the UK. Because hyaluronic acid is something that is present in every living organism and is a naturally occurring substance, some form of this type of filler has been used by an estimated 30 million patients throughout the world. The versatility of this product is likely why it has become so popular, as it is available in a variety of thicknesses. Other types of dermal fillers include:

* Calcium hydroxlapatite
* Poly-l-lactic acid
* Polymethyl methacrylate
* Porcine collagen
* Polyacrylamide

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Different Types of Dermal Fillers

There exist a few kinds of dermal fillers on the market, all of which have the same intention: to decrease the signs of aging. The only realDermal Fillers differences among them are how long they take, what they are made of, and how they work.

Collagen

Collagen is an injection, thus making it a rather soft product. Because it is based on humans, there are hardly ever any negative reactions and it usually sits well with anybody who takes it. The primary advantage is the fact that it has lidocaine in it, meaning the process is less uncomfortable for a person, making it a good choice for those who fear pain. On average, the product will remain good for up to six months, though it must be refrigerated.

Hyaluronic Acids

Restylane and Perlane are two examples of a non-animal based hyaluronic acid Dermal Fillers. The former product will typically last upwards of six months, where the latter product seems to last a little bit longer than that since it is a bit of a more robust product. Captique, another similar product, will normally last upwards of four months. Juvederm, on the other hand, is a new product of its kind that has been proven to last even longer: upwards of twelve months. Like collagen, it is a soft product that injects with ease.

Hylaform is another type of this product, though unlike the others, it is avian based. It is quite similar to Restylane except it does not last quite as long. However, it does come in numerous different levels of concentration for the purposes of property tailoring for a different level of wrinkles.

Semi-Permanent Dermal Fillers

Manufactured by BioForm, Radiesse is a product that of which is greatly compatible with people due to the fact that it contains a natural body substance: calcium hydroxyapatite. Though it may take multiple injections before the desired result is achieved, when this occurs, it should last upwards of two years. The natural body substance functions as a way to increase the production of new collagen. However, included with this advantage is one drawback: It causes a little bit more pain and bruising than that of other methods.

Manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis, and equally as compatible as the previous mention, Sculptra comes delivered within a vial. Ideally, one would reconstitute the substance at least three hours prior with lidocaine and sterile water. Since the water is used, the results will not be immediate, though it should occur within two days afterwards. Because the final product contains lidocaine, it will not be quite as painful as other methods, though this is a method requiring future injections at least a full month in between. This may last upwards of two years.

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The Pros and Cons of the Cosmetic Treatment Craze

Cosmetic treatment technologies continue to evolve, making beauty easier and cheaper for women to attain. This is good news for women seeking to appear younger, particularly because research has shown a correlation between attractiveness and career success. And since today’s non invasive treatments are less costly and require less recovery time than surgical procedures, more and more women are climbing on the cosmetic treatment bandwagon. But these newer treatments are temporary compared to traditional cosmetic surgery, requiring recurring visits to cosmetic treatment providers, and costs and time invested can add up. Also, experts worry that the growing fad may have societal repercussions in which younger and younger women are turning to cosmetic treatments in order to feel acceptable. And finally, little studies have been conducted to determine the long-term effects of non invasive treatments.

It’s true that cosmetic treatments are getting easier. Where cow-sourced collagen formerly required skin testing, human collagen and Botox now require no skin test. The treatments are quick and easy, with virtually no recovery time. When compared with traditional cosmetic surgery, fillers and injections are much more affordable, costing hundreds of dollars instead of thousands of dollars. But since these treatments are not permanent, women must routinely have the treatments repeated. And experts say that the non invasive treatments are simply postponing the traditional plastic surgeries, such as eyebrow lifts and face lifts. In the end, women may pay more than if they had opted for the traditional surgery in the first place. Also, traditional surgery has a longer history, so side-effects and long-term effects are well known by doctors.

But many argue against the growing fad altogether. Younger women are undergoing non invasive cosmetic treatments than ever before. Books such as “Bodylove: Learning to Like Our Looks and Ourselves, A Practical Guide for Women” by Rita Freedman and “Midlife Crisis at 30: How the Stakes Have Changed for a New Generation – And What to Do About It” by Lia Macko and Kerry Rubin address the negative repercussions that this fad has on society. Women see celebrities and even their peers undergoing treatments, and they feel like they don’t measure up. Indeed, studies have shown a correlation between career success and attractiveness, so it may be that the trend is already irreversible. Cosmetic enhancements may be no different than any other technology taking over the globe. Once we go there, it’s hard to turn back.

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