YOUTHFUL-GLOW - DERMAL FILLERS

 You might have heard about Restylane or Juvederm. Most dermal fillers are made out of Hyaluronic Acid. This is a natural substance in the body found in all of your joints and in your skin. Each filler is made to have different properties for different uses. For instance, some fillers are very soft and silky and are made specifically for the lips, which should be smooth and silky. Others are made to be stiff and firm, adding to the cheekbones. They come as a gel in a pre-filled syringe and can be used to fill volume in the body (mainly the face) where it has been lost. So it can be placed into a wrinkle to smooth it out, or it can be placed next to the cheekbones to give them more prominence. 

 As we age, our faces naturally lose subcutaneous fat. The skin also stretches, adding to this loss of facial volume. Other factors that affect the facial skin include sun exposure, heredity, and lifestyle.

Dermal fillers, such as Restylane, Juvederm, and Versa, help diminish facial lines and restore volume and fullness in the face. Fillers can also enhance the cheeks and shallow contours, soften facial creases and wrinkles, and improve the appearance of recessed scars. 

Fillers are most often used to:

• Build the cheeks 
• Fill lost volume and lift the lower face
• Plump the lips
• Fill the hollows under the eyes (tear troughs).

 Once fillers have been placed in or under the skin, the body starts to break them down. How long this takes depends on where the filler is located and how much blood flow there is to that area. The lips have a lot of blood flow, and fillers in the lips last only about 6-9 months. The filler placed next to the cheekbones lasts much longer, generally about a year. The filler placed in the lower face, like in the nasolabial folds or marionette lines, is somewhere between 9-12 months. 

 Dermal fillers are gels that fill a space. If the lips are thinned out, the gel can be added to plump them. A small line of filler can be placed in an individual wrinkle to fill the space that has become a crease. Fillers can be used to fill hollows in the face that have developed with age, adding back the volume that the fat pads used to occupy before they faded away. Fillers work simply by adding volume to a space that has diminished with age. 

 Most offices charge for filler by the syringe, and fillers range from $600 to $1500/syringe. At YOUTHFUL GLOW most of our fillers are $650 per syringe. 

 Hyaluronic Acid (HA) fillers are hydrophilic, which means they like to absorb water. All HA fillers swell a little bit– some more than others. After receiving dermal fillers, you can expect some swelling for about 1-3 days. Some people will experience bruising, which takes at least a few days to resolve (the bigger the bruise, the longer it takes). The areas of injection can be a little bit sore for a day or two, with occasional redness. Sometimes, the filler can feel a little bit lumpy at first, but that tends to even out within 1-2 weeks. Infection is a risk but is rare. The amazing thing about fillers is that you will see results immediately. 

 At YOUTHFUL GLOW, we use a wide range of dermal fillers as part of our overall toolkit to address these issues. 

Allergan makes the Juvederm family of fillers, including Juvederm Ultra, Ultra Plus, and Voluma. Galderma makes the Restylane family of fillers, including Restylane L, Restylane Lyft, Refyne, Defyne, Kiss, and Contour. The newer Restylanes (Refyne, Defyne, Kiss, and Contour) are designed to be flexible, allowing normal facial expression.  

Revanesse makes Versa and  Versa+, fillers that contain cross-linked hyaluronic acid (HA), which offers better and longer-lasting results than non-cross-linked HA. These fillers are approved to treat moderate to severe facial wrinkles.  

Ready to schedule an appointment or have a question? Contact us today and our friendly staff will be happy to assist you.