| Dr. Tom Rohrer is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology. Here the Doctor has answered some of the common questions Bizymoms visitors have about Cosmetic Dermatology.
Q. What are Dermal Fillers used for?
Essentially, dermal fillers are used to replace lost fat and collagen in the skin and restore a more youthful fullness in a variety of areas on the face. Over time, normal healthy collagen seen in younger skin starts to break down and become fragmented. Elastic tissue also breaks down and the skin starts to sag and does not snap back like it did in the past. In addition, some fat pads in the face shrink and others descend creating a sagging hollowed out appearance. The old solution was to simply pull the skin tight again with a face lift procedure. Although this can help with sagging jaw lines, in some instances it can create an unnatural appearance and does not address the loss of volume a face suffers as it ages.
Dermal fillers can be used to plump the skin back up and fill in lines that have appeared from the sagging of aging. Dermal fillers are approved for treatment of the nasolabial folds. These are the lines that run from the nose to the corner of the mouth. Filling in these lines can do remarkable things to someone’s appearance if these lines are beginning to become noticeable. Filling in these lines creates a much more smooth youthful appearance. In addition to these lines, many physicians use dermal fillers to fill in the marionette lines that run down from the corner of the mouth, the hallowing out under the eyes, and the upper part of the cheek where the fat pads have either shrunk or descended. They may also be used to enhance lips or fill in depressed scars.
Q. How does Dermal Fillers work?
Dermal fillers can be made from a variety of different materials. Most of these are naturally occurring components of the skin itself, like collagen and hyaluronic acid. They are injected just under the skin to fill in the lost tissue that occurs with aging and plump it back up. The effect is almost immediate with most fillers and they generally have little to no "down-time." The treated area may be red for a few hours and there is a chance of bruising with any injection so it is best not to have the procedure right before a big event.
Q. How effective are Dermal Fillers?
Dermal fillers can produce dramatic effects and make someone look years younger. The best thing about dermal fillers though is that when done properly, the effect is very natural and other people generally do know that you have had a cosmetic procedure done. They just think you look better. A patient still looks like themselves, just many years younger.
Q. What are the types of Dermal Fillers?
There are many dermal fillers on the market at present and most work very well. For a long time, the only FDA approved filler was bovine collagen. While this product was used to fill lines and enhance lips, the effects were very short lived and the procedure did not gain the type of popularity that dermal fillers have today. When hyaluronic acid fillers were approved by the FDA nearly ten years ago, it created a much larger market. Hyaluronic acid fillers last much longer (three or four times longer) than the traditional bovine collagen fillers and their popularity skyrocketed. Other fillers using a variety of substances have since been introduced to the market that last even longer than hyaluronic acids. They include fillers made with L-poly lactic acid, methyl methacrylate beads, and calcium hydroxyapatite. Although these newer fillers last longer, they are not naturally occurring substances of the skin and they do not have an antidote. Hylaluronic acids have the advantage of having a substance (hyaluronidase) that can be injected into the product to dissolve it if there is any issue. Other fillers do not have this added safety feature.
Q. How long does the effects of Dermal Fillers last?
The duration of the filling effect depends on the filling agent or product as well as where the product is injected. In general, bovine and human collagen lasts a few months, hyaluronic acids last nine to twelve months, calcium hydroxyapatite lasts a bit longer, the L-poly lactic acid can last a few years, and the methyl methacrylate beads are permanent. Even the shorter lasting fillers do have some long-term effect. Filler substances induce a reaction around them which leads to the body producing its own collagen that lasts long term. That is why when depressed scars are injected, they never go back to being as deep as they once were and why people generally require less filler on subsequent injections than they did on their first injection. |
