Facial Fillers – Juvederm and Restylane

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What Are Facial Fillers

Facial fillers are a injectable gel largely comprised of hyaluronic acid (HA), a naturally occurring substance found in the skin, muscles, and tendons of mammals. Fillers such as Juvederm and Restylane are tailored to to soften deep folds and reduce wrinkles in specific areas of the face. The FDA approved fillers are non-animal derived, biodegradable, and natural. Juvederm injections are most often used for three applications:

• Soften “smile lines” (nasolabial fold), the creases of skin that run from the corners of the nose to the corners of the mouth.
• Fill in marionette lines, the vertical facial wrinkles and folds that form below the corners of the mouth.
• Plump up thin lips or augment lips that have lost their volume and fullness.

The results are almost instant and typically last anywhere from six to twelve months. Repeat injections may be required to achieve and maintain optimal correction of your wrinkles and folds since all hyaluronic acid facial filler products eventually get absorbed back into the body. Juvederm wrinkle treatment can be combined with other cosmetic skin procedures such as Botox, chemical peels, microdermabrasion, or even facelift surgery to further improve your results. This combination of therapies can even help to prevent the formation of new lines and wrinkles.

Types and Uses Of Facial Fillers

Deep Fillers – Juvederm Voluma and Restylane Lyft

Over time, cheeks may begin to flatten, and the skin around the cheeks may begin to sag. Juvederm Voluma and Restylane Lyft are designed to counter this natural process by adding volume and fullness to a patient’s cheeks – rebalancing the face and restoring the aesthetic “V”. These thicker fillers can also be used to correct hollowing of the temples, add width to the back of the jaw, better define the jaw line, or produce a “liquid chin augmentation.”

Medium Weight Fillers – Juvederm Ultra and Restylane L

The workhorses of the filler line up, Juvederm Ultra/Ultra Plus and Restylane L have a variety of uses. Typically these gels are injected just under the skin to push up larger folds of the face including the naso-labial fold (from nose to corner of the mouth) and the marionette lines (corner of the mouth to the jaw). They can also be used for lip filling, “liquid rhinoplasties,” and to soften the smile lines along the cheeks.

These injectables typically last 6-9 months, however because of the range of uses and placements, the actual time varies considerably.

Threading Fillers – Restylane Silk and Juvederm Vollure

Restylane Silk and Juvederm Vollure are thin hyalaronic acid fillers made with smaller particles that are best suited to soften fine lines and smoothing the texture of lips. These fillers are “threaded” into the creases of the lips, cheeks, and between the eyes to make these lines less noticeable. Although thinner then their cousins, these fillers last about the same amount of time – 6 – 9 months for most patients.

Targeted Fillers

Aside from filling lines and correcting contours of the face, fillers can also be used to correct other areas of the face.

• Restylane L has a number of properties that make it ideal for correcting dark circles, or deep tear troughs, around the eyes.
• Juvederm Volbella and Restylane Refine and Define are springier fillers that are ideal for plumping the lips.
• Restylane L and Juvederm Ultra/Ultra Plus can be used to soften bumps or humps on the nose in a “liquid rhinoplasty” and to make crooked noses visually straighter.

Finding the Right Wrinkle Treatment

Facial fillers won’t fix all types of facial wrinkles. For example, while it can diminish smile lines, it can’t repair the damage caused by the sun or fill in forehead wrinkles. Your skin thickness, type, and the degree of wrinkling all play a role in determining the effectiveness of facial fillers. Board-certified plastic surgeons, like Dr. Tauber and Yan, are the best person to evaluate the appropriateness of facial fillers for you.

It is common to combine facial fillers with other treatments aimed at correcting other signs of aging.

• Botox and Xeomin are neuromodulators that help smooth active wrinkles of the forehead and around the eyes.
• Kybella is an injectable that melts the fat of the central neck, improving the contour.
• Chemical peels are used to resurface the skin – helping to improve coloration and fine lines and wrinkles.

Not all the signs of aging are able to be addressed with injectables. Patients with significant skin laxity and soft tissue drooping along the jaw or neck will not see a significant improvement with fillers and may be better treated with surgery. A modified mini face and neck lift corrects these concerns and can be performed in the office under wide-awake tumescent anesthesia.

Your Appointment at DeLuca Plastic Surgery

At DeLuca Plastic Surgery, Dr. Tauber and Dr. Yan personally administer all cosmetic injections and facial fillers. Why? Because anatomical knowledge, skill, and years of experience lead to better results and fewer complications when it comes to facial fillers. Injections may seem simple when compared to say, rhinoplasty, but injectable fillers actually require a very experienced medical professional to safely achieve optimal results.

After discussing your goals and carefully analyzing the lines and folds of your face, Dr. Tauber and Dr. Yan will inject small amounts of filler into using a very thin needle. While no anesthesia is required, Dr. Tauber and Dr. Yan do like to use topical or local anesthetic to minimize discomfort. The procedure takes 15-30 minutes, and there is no post procedure downtime. The results are immediate, and most people only require one treatment session to achieve their goals – a natural-looking correction.

The total number of injections you need will depend on multiple factors, including your facial features and the deepness of your wrinkles. For example, filling in nasal labial folds usually requires 1 to 2 vials of filler while lip augmentations and lip lines typically takes only one vial.