What are dermal fillers?

Dermal fillers are aesthetic tools that help to manage skin aging. They are gel-like injectables that fill the soft tissue present beneath the skin and improve the appearance of sagging skin, wrinkling and aging. They are ideal for filling facial lines or creases, to enhance facial contours and pumping up lips. They provide a subtle look which can be adjusted to meet your cosmetic needs.

What dermal fillers can do?

• Plump thin lips
• Enhance cheek contours
• Chin Augmentation
• Jawline Shaping
• Improves undereye hollows
• Soften facial creases and wrinkles
• Improve the appearance of recessed scars
• Reconstruct contour deformities in the face
• Decrease or remove the shadow of the lower lids

Dermal fillers can be very helpful in those with early signs of aging, or as a value-added part of facial rejuvenation surgery.

Types of Dermal Filler

Dermal fillers are derived either from hyaluronic acid.

Hyaluronic acid is a polysaccharide. It is naturally found in our skin, synovial fluid, connective tissues and certain cartilages. The hyaluronic dermal filler is derived from purified microbes and then modified so that they will last longer. It is non-immunogenic. It has excellent hygroscopic and viscoelastic properties that create volume expansion. It reduces depression and improves the skin contours. It is used to treat:

• Acne Scars
• Forehead lines
• Cheek depressions
• Crow’s feet
• Deep smile lines
• Nasolabial furrows
• Frown lines
• Marionette lines
• Redefining lip border
• Acne wound or burn scars
• Smoker’s lines
• Worry lines

The duration of the result of hyaluronic acid filler depends on the product used and ranges from several months to 2 years. Research shows that repeated injections of hyaluronic dermal fillers can even stimulate the body to produce collagen, adds support and firmness.

Causes: Reasons You Should Consider Dermal Fillers:

• To plump thin lips
• Augment shallow facial contour
• Diminish wrinkles, fine line, smile lines and crow’s feet
• To dispose of thick lines around the brow, mouth, forehead, and eyes.
• To improve the appearance of scars and depressions in skin resulted from injury or acne.
• Reconstruct facial deformities and inherent imperfections.
• Decrease lower lid shadow
• You want cheek, lip or Jawline enhancement
• You are interested in having a minimally invasive procedure to improve facial contours.

Who Are Good Candidates For Dermal Fillers?

• Individual who is physically fit and healthy
• Non-smoker
• Who has a positive outlook
• A client with a realistic expectation
• A client who is committed to maintaining skin health.

FDA recommends following patients to avoid dermal fillers:

• With a history of bleeding disorders.
• Allergy to cow collagen, eggs or lidocaine.
• History of keloid or predilection formation.
• Infected or inflamed skin.
• If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or have some neurological disorders.

Who Are Good Candidates For Dermal Fillers?

• Individual who is physically fit and healthy
• Non-smoker
• Who has a positive outlook
• A client with a realistic expectation
• A client who is committed to maintaining skin health.

FDA recommends following patients to avoid dermal fillers:

• With a history of bleeding disorders.
• Allergy to cow collagen, eggs or lidocaine.
• History of keloid or predilection formation.
• Infected or inflamed skin.
• If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or have some neurological disorders.

Precautions Before Getting Dermal Fillers Injected

• Avoid taking blood-thinning medicines and supplements a couple of weeks before the procedure.
• Your doctor will evaluate your health condition and conduct lab test to ensure that you are healthy. If you had any surgery in the past, have an allergy or if you are on certain medications inform your doctor.
• Stop smoking a couple of weeks before the procedure.
• Keep yourself hydrated.
• Avoid suntan.
• Avoid bleaching, threading, waxing on the area to be treated from 3 days before the procedure.
• Avoid drink alcohol from 24 hours before the treatment.
• Stop using anti-aging products three days prior to the procedure.
• Photographs are taken to compare with the results.
• On the day of surgery clean your face and do not apply any makeup.

Procedure:

The procedure of dermal filler includes following steps:

1. Facial assessment and mapping- Your cosmetic surgeon will evaluate your skin tone, facial appearance and examine the facial areas that are to be enhanced.
On your face strategic points will be marked as filler injection sites.

2. Cleaning the site and anesthetizing- With an antibacterial agent, the injection site is cleaned. A sterile, cold instrument is used to chill the skin, or an anesthetic ointment is used to numb the area to be treated. In some cases, local anesthesia is also applied. However, the injections are easily tolerable.

3. The injection- With the help of a syringe dermal filler of your choice is injected into various areas on the head, face, around eyes, around the lips, along with the jaws and forehead. The location and depth depend on the optimum results and types of filler injections used.

4. Clean up and recovery- Once satisfactory results are deemed the markings are cleaned.
Precautions After Filler Injection

• The ice pack is applied to alleviate discomfort and reduce the swelling.
• For about 10 hours avoid strenuous activities and drinking alcohol.
  Avoid suntan, hot tubs, hot wax, and sauna until swelling subsides completely. Also, avoid winter sports.
• Until recovery takes place, avoid too much movement of the treated area. Limit talking and laughing. Better eat soft foods so that you don’t need to chew a lot.
• Before stepping out in the sun do remember to apply sunscreen.
• Avoid makeup for a few days.

Dermal fillers help to diminish facial lines and restore volume and fullness in the face.

As we age, our faces naturally lose subcutaneous fat. The facial muscles are then working closer to the skin surface, so smile lines and crow’s feet become more apparent.

The facial skin also stretches a bit, adding to this loss of facial volume. Other factors that affect the facial skin include sun exposure, heredity and lifestyle.

Elastin and collagen are body proteins. They maintain the elasticity of skin and firmness of the tissues. As we age, our body stops the production of elastin and collagen, and also existing body collagen begins to break. This results in loss of subcutaneous facial fat and stretching of the skin. The typical signs of aging such as sunken cheeks, thick lines, wrinkles and hollow eyes start appearing. Crow’s feet and smile lines also become apparent. Other factors that exacerbate the signs of aging are an unhealthy lifestyle, heredity, and exposure to the sun.

To restore the facial volume, rejuvenate the skin and to remove facial lines dermal fillers are used. They are the least invasive, less expensive and safe. Just one treatment and you will immediately regain your skin’s youthful vitality.

Which filler is the best for which treatment?

Now we come to the practical and most important part of using fillers. I will reveal to you which brands I love the most, and which fillers I have on my shelves, but first let us begin with an analysis of the best fillers for some of the most popular treatments.

Lips

I will begin with the lips because in my many years of experience I have come across the greatest controversies especially when it comes to this treatment. Although it appears to be simple, it is one of the most difficult procedures in aesthetic medicine, and one which requires years of experience.

Today I am proud to say that I perform hundreds of lip augmentations and contouring on a monthly basis, using my “heart lips” method. Despite being one of my favourite treatments (along with non-surgical correction of the nose and undereye bags using my “wow treatment”), we are still in a dilemma over which dermal filler is the best for the lips.

Restylane Classic is a dermal filler I used for years for lip augmentation. The results were excellent and yielded very natural and soft lips. It is still one of my favourite lip fillers because it contains the optimum concentration of hyaluronic acid.

Drawbacks? The results only last 6 months, and the lips are very swollen right after the procedure; however, the swelling dies off in just 24 hours.
Restylane Lyps is a newer version of Restylane Classic filler, with everything the same, except that results last over 9 months, because of the larger molecules and higher concentration of hyaluronic acid. Juvéderm Volift may currently be the most popular lip filler in Croatia, which I myself use quite often. Results last for 12 months, there is no significant swelling following the procedure, but I have noticed minor swelling in some patients, which can be manifest as small balls and thickening of the upper lip after a couple of weeks. However, this problem quickly dissipates on its own, or after a massage.

Undereye Hollows

This is a remarkable treatment that yields outstanding results, and the best fillers for it are Restylane Classic and Restylane Lyft (Perlane). Here it is possible, with great expertise, to use both thinner and thicker dermal fillers. Knowledge is what counts most.

Non-surgical face-lifting / cheek augmentation

This increasingly popular treatment offers a natural facelift for skin that has lost volume and appears relaxed. With the expert administration of hyaluronic dermal fillers, there is no more need for a scalpel and surgery, because the butterfly facelift method, 8-point lift, or MD codes can yield very effective and natural results with non-surgical face-lifting, and requires the use of 2ml – 5ml of dermal filler. What’s more, the effects can last for even 18 – 36 months (because this treatment uses denser fillers with larger molecules).

Nasolabial folds

The correction of nasolabial is still the most sought-after dermal filler treatment.

To achieve the best results, in order to avoid side-effects such as vascular compromise, which cannot occur when administered by an expert, but becomes highly probable when one is in “unprofessional” hands.
Here, many dermal fillers are very suitable, and so one can choose from a wide pallet. The dermal filler should be thinner, with less molecules, such as is the case with Juvéderm Volbella or Volift filler, Restylane Classic, or Belotero Soft filler. When dealing with shallow wrinkles, 1ml is enough for both wrinkles, but in many cases 2ml are required.

Rejuvenating the skin of the face, neck, décolleté and hands with stabilised hyaluronic acid (“skinboosters”)

Modern aesthetic medicine is turning more and more to treatments of the skin itself and its rejuvenation. Laser treatments, plasma treatments, and dermal rollers are increasingly popular, but hyaluronic preparations achieve the best results. The skin of the face, neck, décolleté and hands gain a new glow, while wrinkles, pores and scars disappear. Elasticity is restored, and the skin is firmer. In a treatment which I call medical mesotherapy, the best product is Restylane Vital Skinbooster. It’s greatest advantage is the technology of the syringe itself that has a special “clicker” to provide a precise dose with each prick of the needle. The latest product of this type on the market is Juvéderm Volite, which yields excellent results

These Dermal fillers procedures are approved by FDA and at Elements of Aesthetics under Dr.Stuti Khare Shukla guidance these techniques are administered and performed and scientifically Dr.Stuti Khare Shukla clinical research studies published in top international journals on how this procedures show amazing results in Indian patients .