Basically, Fillers are injectable treatments that we use to help restore facial volume. If you are in your mid 30’s or above age wise, and you are at a normal weight, you are probably noticing that your face looks a bit thinner each year. A full face is associated with youth. Look at the Victoria Secret supermodels that are plastered everywhere, they are all about 6’0″ tall and 120 lbs but they all have these beautiful round, full faces. That’s because they are all in their teens and 20’s.

So, we use filler to help restore the volume to your face to help you look younger. Now, today’s fillers are an evolution from the Collagen injections of days gone by. The problem with collagen was that some people were allergic to it so you had to skin test them, then wait several days or weeks, then inject, but you had to over inject them because some was going to go away almost immediately so you never really knew what your result would be, and in the end the stuff went away in 3 months or so. And it was expensive. Bad combo.

Today’s most commonly used fillers are made of Hyaluronic Acid (HA). The two most common trade names for these fillers are Juvederm® and Restylane® which you can find in almost any plastic surgeons offices. These are FDA approved products to help fill deeper facial lines and restore facial volume. HA is what is known as a GAG, a gylcosaminoglycan and is already found throughout the body in your connective tissues. So it is already a part of your person and very safe to use. The companies that produce these products all of varying claims of their longevity but what we see is that most people seem to get about 15 to 18 months out of these fillers. The HA fillers are reversible as well so if the patient does not like the result they produce the product can be dissolved. We love them and their popularity amongst our patients and nationally increases every year.

There are more sophiticated fillers like Radiesse and Scuptra. These last much longer, are irreversible and tend to be more expensive. These products are typically used for patients who have had the HA products a couple of times, know they like the results, and want a longer lasting product.

If you have filler questions contact us and schedule a consultation via e mail at [email protected] or 502.721.0330.

Lee Corbett, MD

Medical Director Corbett Cosmetic Aesthetic Surgery and MediSpa.