Dermal Fillers

Facial lines may be softened or erased by injecting a substance into the skin to 'plump' out the line, scar or fold

Wrinkles, scars and even heavier expression lines can be improved with these filling agents. Lines of expression include frown lines, 'crow's feet', 'smile lines', and 'smoker's lines', and these are commonly treated. Cosmetic improvements such as the 'Paris Lip' are also popular. Injectable fillers provide temporary correction; as yet none offers a permanent solution to facial lines or augmentation.

Recently, a revolution in this type of treatment has seen its use extended enormously. Volume changes of the ageing face are now treated, as are textural problems both there and in other areas such as the hands, neck and décolletage: areas that have been very hard to treat in the past.

Natural polysaccharides are found in all tissues in the body and one of these is used in many dermal fillers. Because of its tissue-friendliness, it is currently used in many pharmaceutical products, and around 27 million people have been treated with the substance in its many forms. The product has a greatly decreased risk of allergic reaction and is an exciting development.

When this substance is injected into the dermis, it smoothes out facial wrinkles and can create larger, more accentuated lips. It can also be used to fill out scars where the scar is no more than 4mm deep, and can be manually stretched to the point that it is at least 75% eliminated.

The following are some of the advantages of natural polysaccharides.

Being a non-animal substance, allergic reactions are very unlikely. This means that skin testing is not necessary, thus eliminating the delay before a patient may have the treatment. It is also a suitable filler for those patients who are allergic to animal-derived fillers.
It has a relatively long duration compared to other fillers. Overseas studies show it lasts around 8 months, 80% of the time. For this reason, it may be more economical than collagen replacement therapy.

Various natural polysaccharide products are available, each fulfilling a different function. These fillers can be used to:

soften fine superficial lines around the eyes and mouth;
help achieve smoother lifting of fine superficial lines;
temporarily soften the naso-labial area (the lines running from the nose to the corners of the mouth) and glabellar frown lines (the vertical lines running between the eyebrows) for medium depth lines and wrinkles, it is also used to give the outer lip more definition;
plump up the lips;
to eradicate deep folds, augment lips and/or adjust their contours.

The procedure

Irrespective of the filler used, anaesthetic cream may be applied to the area 30-40 minutes prior to the procedure to minimise discomfort, then the product is injected into the dermis. The results can be seen immediately and there is no need to overcorrect the line with this product. Make-up maybe applied following the procedure and a return to work may be made.