What are dermal soft-tissue fillers?
Dermal fillers are made up of hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid is a type of sugar molecule that’s naturally found in your skin and is responsible for holding moisture in your skin. Dermal fillers look like a clear gel and are used to lift and fill fine lines and wrinkles in the face and also to replace volume you once had. The goal is to make you look like your natural self, just more refreshed.
The dermal fillers we use in our office include, Restylane, Restylane Lyft, Restylane Refyne, Belotero, Juvederm Voluma, and Juvederm Volbella.
How do dermal soft-tissue fillers work?
Filler treatments can help replace what’s lost over time and restore your skin back to its more youthful contours. Biocompatible with the human body, fillers are eventually broken down naturally.
What areas can be treated?
- The smile lines that go from the nose to the corners of the mouth
- The marionette lines that go from the corner of the mouth to the angle of the jaw
- The vertical lipstick lines surrounding the mouth
- The lips to create a more natural fullness
- The cheeks to restore lost volume
- The jawline to restore a youthful contour
- The tear troughs below the eyes
How soon can I expect results? How long will the results last?
The results are immediate. How long the results last depend on the area treated. For immobile areas such as the cheeks, results can last 1 or more years. For highly mobile areas such as the lips results may last 6 months.
How are treatments performed?
Treatment with dermal fillers typically takes 30 minutes. We start by first having you take a look in the mirror and identifying the desired areas to be treated. Then, a topical anesthetic cream is applied to numb the skin. After the skin feels numb, the filler is injected under the skin until the desired result is achieved. Most patients find the treatment to be very tolerable.
How many treatments will I need?
Some patients will achieve their desired result after just one visit, but many will return for touch-up treatments over time to completely and fully fill their lines or areas of volume loss.
Are there any side effects?
Generally, there is little to no down-time associated with treatment. Normal, injection-related reactions include swelling and bruising. More serious adverse effects such as vascular occlusion are rare.
If you bruise easily, avoid taking aspirin, vitamin E, or fish oil for two weeks prior to your treatment since these are blood thinners that can make you bruise more easily.
Are dermal fillers permanent?
No. They are slowly dissolved in your body so the effect will gradually dissipate and require a repeat injection after a year. Nevertheless, studies show that dermal fillers stimulate your tissues to create more collagen in the injected areas. So patients often see prolonged improvement.
