Dermal fillers are products comprised of various safe substances that restore volume and fullness when injected into the skin. Although there are many different fillers available today, and each is slightly different, all focus on adding youthful volume to the skin to smooth and contour, lift and support, or enhance a feature such as the lips.
Dermal fillers volumize the skin differently depending on their ingredients:
- Hyaluronic Acid (HA) Fillers: Once injected, Hyaluronic acid dermal fillers (Juvéderm® and Restylane®) work by attracting water from surrounding tissues to cause a plumping effect. As a molecule, hyaluronic acid attracts and binds over 1,000 times its weight in water to itself. This quality allows HA fillers to instantly plump the lips or soften wrinkles with soft, natural-looking results. Your provider can also reverse the effects of HA fillers with a product called hyaluronidase.
- Calcium hydroxyapatite (CaHA) Fillers: Calcium hydroxyapatite dermal fillers (Radiesse®) use CaHA suspended in a gel carrier to restore support and volume to the face and hands. Over time, your body absorbs the gel and stimulates new collagen production.
- Collagen Fillers: Collagen fillers (Bellafill®) contain collagen safely sourced from bovine material combined with small polymethyl methacrylate beads. These fillers provide immediate volume and lift to correct wrinkles and acne scars. Once injected, collagen microspheres stay in place and create a base that provides structural support for smoother-looking skin over time.
- Poly-L Lactic Acid (PLLA) Fillers: PLLA fillers (Sculptra® Aesthetic) is more of a collagen stimulator than a filler. Instead of working instantaneously to smooth fine lines and wrinkles, PLLA fillers work deep within the dermis to help revitalize collagen production and help restore your skin's inner structure and volume. Unlike other dermal fillers, results develop over time.
Dermal fillers aren't just for softening fine lines and wrinkles! They are also used for:
- Fill hollows under the eyes
- Enhance the shape, size, fullness, and definition of your lips
- Create a more contoured nose
- Restore volume to deflated earlobes, so earrings have more support
- Create a more masculine chin and jawline on men
- Sharpen the angles and definition of the chin and jawline
- Smooth the bands of the neck
- Rejuvenate the neckline
- Smooth the appearance of creases on the chest/décolleté
- Replace volume loss in the temples
- Restore a fuller, smoother, more youthful appearance to the hands
- Improve the appearance of recessed scarring
- Enhance the balance of facial features
- Restore symmetry to facial features