Dermal Fillers
Fillers can be made from a variety of different materials. Perhaps the most commonly used is hyaluronic acid (HA). HA is in our opinion, the filler which provides the best combination of safety profile, reversibility and effectiveness and it provides the base for all the fillers we currently use.
As the name suggests, fillers can be used to fill a deficit in facial structures which may have been the result of the natural ageing process. With time, the soft tissues in the face undergo volume loss, fat pad migration and loss of elasticity, to name a few. The result is often hollowness/depression, sag and formation of lines here fillers can remedy those voids.
Fillers are not only used to replace losses but can also be used to create or augment existing structures and characteristics in the face. This can include providing additional lift, volume and contour/definition.
What can fillers be used for cosmetically on the face? There are a multitude of options from top to bottom including: straightening a hump in a nose, reducing dark circles under the eyes, adding definition and volume to the cheeks, adding size and shape to lips, reducing folds, lines and creases and so on...
HA is a naturally-occurring substance throughout the body, most notably in the connective and epithelial tissues such as those which are ubiquitous in the face. Although a major component of skin, HA degradation occurs naturally with age as it does with UV exposure (sun) and therefore it’s beneficial effects are lost with time.
Other type of dermal fillers that exist include calcium hydroxylapatite, polylactic acid (PLLA) and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). Although these have been shown to last longer than HA fillers, with PMMA being l supposedly permanent, they carry a significant higher level of risk, and are generally more inflammatory to the body. For this reason, each type have an extremely limited selection of products which have actually been approved.
HA fillers are considered safe in the fact that they are reversible. In the case of unwanted results or issues arising from incorrect placement, the product can be ‘dissolved’ and broken down by the hyalase enzyme - which we keep on hand with us at every treatment.
So a positive note is that HA dermal fillers are indeed reversible (this is not the case for most other dermal fillers) and although it is reversible, the product used to break down the filler is indeed a prescription only medicine, hence it cannot be prescribed or used by those who do not have a license to legally prescribe.