Few Facts And Myths About Cosmetic Fillers

1) If you can only afford one anti-aging treatment–do cosmetic filler injections

Doing aesthetic filler injections is one of my very favorite procedures because it makes such an improvement in giving a healthy, youthful appearance. But you do have to be realistic about how many syringes you need, and the results that you can achieve with the number of syringes you can afford. It takes a certain volume to get a certain result. It is fine to do it a little at a time as you can afford it, but to say that: “filler didn’t work” when you needed three syringes but only did one is not a fair test. I always try to stay grounded in reality. If you are looking for more bang for your buck try doing fat and stem cell injections as you can get as much material injected as you want for one fixed price.

2) Don’t expect filler injections to remove etched lines

The hyaluronic acid fillers Esthelis, Juvederm and Restylane plump up wrinkles from below and provide lost fullness. But if the line is etched from being folded ten million times, you will need skin resurfacing to really smooth the sharp line. If you stretch the skin and the wrinkle totally disappears, usually filler is all you need. If there is still a surface crease, you will need resurfacing. But either way the line will look a lot better after injecting with a filler.

3) Treat eyebrows, chin and temples

When you’re looking at doing filler augmentation of face lips, the corners of the mouth, and the smile lines are the first priority; cheeks next. But don’t forget the eyebrows, chin and temples. With age, the eyebrows thin and begin to droop, especially at the outer comers. The fat that sits on the brow bone begins to descend, taking the brows down with it. A relatively small amount of hyaluronic acid in the outside wing of the eyebrow gives 3 dimensional structure and helps reduce hooding of the upper eyelid. Sunken temples give you a skeletal look and make you look old. Adding a little filler to the chin you can balance the face beautifully.

4) Treat corners of the mouth

Turned down corners of the mouth make you look unhappy and older. Hyaluronic acid is injected below and to the side of the corner to turn it up. It breaks up the line from the corner down to the chin. You look happy.

5) With age, thin faces need volume

They do! Trust me on that. As we age we loose collagen, elastin, fat, muscle volume and bone density. Gravity pulls every thing down and thin faces look droopy and aged. The youthful V shape of face gets inverted and need restoration.

6) Face lift without filler = caught in a wind tunnel look

People with fuller faces don’t need filler after a face-lift and they look good with a face lift alone. But many people, thin women especially, and most women in general, really benefit from either targeted hyaluronic acid, or overall increased fullness from fat injections or Radiesse (a long term filler). In fact, the volume replacement alone is often called liquid lift or liquid facelift. Some women get enough tightening and lifting from volume replacement alone or volume replacement + Radiofrequency Tx, called Radio-Fill. Some don’t and need a surgical face-lift. Just as full and loose isn’t a good look, neither is tight.

7) If you don’t like it–reverse it

I am always amazed at the number of patients who come in and tell me that they got filler elsewhere, didn’t like it because of a bump, or weirdly done lips or something else, but put up with it for a year. The hyaluronic acid fillers Esthelis, Juvederm, Juvederm Plus, Restylane and Perlane (with or without anesthetic) etc. can be reversed with an injection of hyaluronidase. Try and avoid doing long term fillers which can't be corrected or removed. In case of a mistake you'd be sorry for a very long time.

 8) Hang on to your teeth

When teeth are pulled and dentures placed, the age related loss of bone in the upper and lower jaw is greatly accelerated. Just like astronauts lose bone mass in low gravity conditions, bone needs pressure placed on it to avoid de-mineralization. The pressure transmitted through the teeth with chewing keeps the bone strong. With dentures the pressure is not transmitted to the bone and bone in the jaw is lost. As the bone is reabsorbed, the mouth collapses inward and the cheeks hollow. Not uncommonly, the chin muscle becomes hyperactive in an effort to hold the dentures in the mouth, further pushing the mouth inward. Take care of your teeth. You need them to support your face and look youthful.

The long and short of all this is: right amount of filler in the right place can work wonders and wipe years off of your face!