Restylane® and Other Wrinkle Fillers

Facial wrinkles and creases begin to appear as the underlying collagen and elastin begin to break down and wear out.

As we age, we lose the supporting layers of our skin which are namely the collagen and elastin fibers resulting with facial wrinkles. Injectable fillers have been utilized for the last thirty years and have become numerous and more effective in the last few years. These can be short or longlasting depdnding on the desired results. Collagen injections have been used for many years and have been proved to be safe and effective. Millions of peoples have used these fillers in the past few years. Wrinkle fillers have varied from utilizing autologous fat (fat from your own body) to utilizing bovine collagen pastes like Zyderm® & Zyplast®, Artecoll®, Fascian®, Cymetra®, and AlloDerm®, and human collagen fillers such as CosmoDermT and CosmoPlastT. Now fillers that include hyaluronic acids include Hylaform®, Restylane®, and Perlane®. Another filler is RadianceT is a hyroxylapatite filler. Microdroplet Liquid Silicone is a new injectable filler that is gaining popularity and is pending FDA approval.

Soft facial implants are non-allergenic synthetic material that is injected through a specific device and typically used in deeper lines.

The fillers are typically injected through a fine needle with minimal discomfort. Local or topical anesthesia can be utilized to minimize the discomfort or to minimize the pain. These injections have to be repeated periodically depending on the filler utilized. Among all these fillers the fat injection appears to be the most permanent and most natural at this point. Restylane® is a very popular filler that has gained popularity in the past year or two. It is a hyaluronic acid clear gel that is injected through a fine micro-needle. Typically it is applied after regional or topical anesthesia. Some swelling is experienced for a day or two and normal daily activities are resumed almost immediately after the procedure which takes only a few minutes. This has proven to be very effective especially in lip enhancement lasting almost twice as long as standard collagen implants. This material is not extracted from animals so there is no risk of allergic reaction and no allergy test is required. Hyaluronic acid is a material that is present in the skin and is natural to it and injecting it is natural. This product has been used in Europe and Canada for many years and proved its safety before it was approved by the FDA in the United States. Maintenance therapy typically is required after 6 to 12 months.

Before	After