Dermal filler products, featuring well-known brands such as Juvederm, Radiesse, Restylane and others like Sculptra, are widely used in aesthetic medicine to address wrinkles and to compensate for the loss of volume over time. In this article, we run down these popular formulas, and how they can help roll back the clock. First let’s recap how fillers work their magic.
How Dermal Fillers Work
Most fillers are composed of hyaluronic acid, a carbohydrate (sugar derivative) that already occurs naturally throughout the human body. As we age, and from repeated exposure to environmental pollutants and even the sun’s UV rays, our skin cells lose their ability to produce hyaluronic acid. As a result, our facial features become harsh and sunken. That’s when volume-building injections of synthesized hyaluronic acid can help. Injected carefully under the skin, hyaluronic acid binds to water, capable of holding more than one thousand times its weight in water, which makes it ideal to hydrate the skin and to restore (and then maintain) tissue volume. Now, let’s look at some of the most popular and effective dermal filler formulas.
Juvederm Ultra Plus
Juvederm Ultra Plus is a smooth consistency gel made of hyaluronic acid (HA). As mentioned above, HA is a naturally occurring substance in your skin that plays a key roll of adding volume and providing youthful hydration. In a brief treatment session, this smooth gel is injected under the skin to instantly restore the skin’s volume and smooth away facial wrinkles and folds, including “smile lines” or “parentheses”.
Juvederm Voluma
This is another hyaluronic acid filler great for correcting volume loss and providing a boost to the cheeks. Juvederm Voluma is also great for use in the chin and jawline to help add projection and balance your profile. It’s one of the few fillers that can actually add volume to ‘bony’ parts of the face like the cheekbones and jawline.
Juvederm Volbella
Age manifests itself in many different ways on the face, and one of the most noticeable spots is in and around the lips. You may yourself be noticing the formation of unwanted lip lines or a decrease in lip fullness, but now it’s possible to easily erase those signs of age and rejuvenate your lips. On June 1, 2016, the FDA approved Juvederm Volbella, the newest addition to Juvederm’s diverse and trusted line of dermal fillers.
Restylane
Restylane is another popular filler option. Restylane not only fills facial wrinkles and lines, but also adds moisture and lubrication. Once injected, the molecules in Restylane will naturally draw in water and cause the tissue beneath facial lines and wrinkles to swell. This immediately fills out wrinkles and provides the skin a smoother surface. Treatments can take anywhere from a few minutes to a half hour. Like most other filler treatment sessions, patients are able to return to their normal activities immediately after receiving treatment.
Restylane Lyft
Restylane Lyft is another leading filler that offers a simple procedure and provides instantaneous results. It’s also long-lasting, and you can expect to enjoy smoother, more beautiful skin for up to 8 months after treatment. It can be used to correct deep facials folds and wrinkles. It adds definition to the lips, cheeks and eyebrows. It can also contour and lift sunken areas of the face and restore lost volume.
Restylane Refyne and Defyne
Restylane Refyne and Defyne were recently approved by the FDA as the newest flexible hyaluronic acid dermal fillers ideal for targeting nasolabial folds, also known as laugh or smile lines. By utilizing next-generation XpresHAn Technology, these two Restylane products can effectively treat moderate, severe, and deep facial wrinkles and folds for up to 12 months.
Sculptra
Sculptra is a relatively new type of facial injectable made from poly-L-lactic acid, which can effectively help to replace lost collagen. As we age, our body’s collagen production decreases, and this can lead to the formation of wrinkles. Sculptra helps correct shallow-to-deep facial wrinkles, and folds, that appear with aging by replacing lost collagen naturally over the course of a few months.
Belotero
This is an up-and-coming dermal filler, designed to treat and rejuvenate the skin. It is ideal for treating wrinkles and fine lines, such as lip lines around the mouth and crow’s feet around the eyes. Belotero offers a great safety profile and effective resolution of wrinkles in many facial zones.
Radiesse
Radiesse incorporates a patented formulation of CaHA microspheres suspended in a gel carrier and is designed to provide satisfying, long-lasting, safe and cost-effective aesthetic benefits for patients. The product helps to restore facial volume and even better, promotes growth of the body’s own collagen, providing lasting augmentation.
Restylane Kysse
Restylane Kysse is the first HA lip filler formulated with XpresHAn Technology for smooth, natural-looking results, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The XpresHAn Technology manufacturing process allows for a gel that integrates excellently into the skin for natural expression in motion.
Conclusion
While the results you experience with dermal fillers is typically immediate, it’s important to understand that dermal fillers are not permanent. The way the aging process effects your face, environmental irritants and how your body’s unique metabolism absorbs fillers will determine the timing of repeat treatments. But with no downtime with dermal fillers, and a great safety record, dermal fillers offer some amazing solutions to turn back the clock on aging.