Fillers

How Do Fillers Work?

While there are a number of different sorts of fillers and they all work a little differently, they do have some things in common. As the name suggests, their primary purpose is to "fill out" various areas of the body. When injected just under the top layers of skin, these fillers can mimic natural tissues and restore or build up areas under the skin, or fill in wrinkles and creases. Some types of fillers accomplish this by sucking up water from the body and binding it in place to fill out the desired area. Others are composed of collagen, an important protein the body uses as building blocks to create new cells. The body can then use this raw material to fill in the spaces itself. Still others stimulate the body to produce more collagen on its own to repair and rebuild dead or damaged cells.

Depending on their chemical structure and composition, different fillers are better at different things. Some work best for fine lines, while others are good for filling in deep wrinkles or creases. Some can even be used to create the appearance of additional volume where it might be lacking, such as in the lips or along the jaw.

One thing all fillers have in common is that they aren't permanent, meaning that if a patient decides he or she wants to maintain their new appearance, they will have to go back in for more injection periodically, typically at spaces of six to nine months.

What Kinds of Problems Can Fillers Help With?

Dermal fillers have a wide range of uses. Most commonly, they are used to combat aging and restore the appearance of youth to the skin. They do this in several ways: removing wrinkles, softening folds or creases, filling out sagging areas, adding lost volume (especially in places like lips or cheeks) and smoothing out any other rough or uneven areas. Dermal fillers can also be used to enhance certain features, such as the lips, to fill in scars or imperfections, or in some cases they may even be used in place of more serious cosmetic procedures such as rhinoplasties.

Dermal fillers are most often used on the face, but they can be used on other areas of the body as well, where they can firm up sagging flesh and reduce the appearance or wrinkles, folds, or scars.

Benefits of Fillers

The benefits of fillers are increased self-confidence and a greater satisfaction with your appearance. Fillers can help an older person recapture the appearance of their youth, an accident victim repair scars and reconstruct their faces, a younger person change a feature or two they don't like about their body, and anybody remove the lines and creases that accumulate throughout life.

A secondary benefit of fillers is their longevity. Most fillers last somewhere between four to twelve months. While this may not seem like a lot when compared to something like a facelift, it is a much more effective way of altering your appearance than putting on makeup every morning, and less time-consuming than complicated regimens of creams, lotions, and masks. Also, dermal fillers are much cheaper than most other forms of plastic surgery, meaning that even if you have to repeat the procedure every year, it can still end up being cheaper—not to mention less risky—than a full face lift, especially if the person in question would have to get a loan for their cosmetic surgery, adding finance charges and interest on top of the already hefty bill.

Then, too, the fact that fillers aren't completely permanent is a selling point for some, especially those who have never had cosmetic surgery before and are nervous about how it will turn out. Although getting fillers is really quite a simple procedure that nearly always goes well, those who are concerned about the chance of something untoward happening can reassure themselves that even if they hate what is done to their face, everything will go back to normal within a year at the most. Dermal filler procedures are also very non-invasive, meaning that they cause little trauma to the body, are easy to recover from, and unlikely to become infected or cause unwanted side effects somewhere down the road. They also typically don't cause much pain.

Risks of Fillers

Most fillers typically cause a few minor side effects in those who get them. There is a little pain from the needles, and some swelling caused by the substances injected. Like with flu shots, gently massaging the area can help the swelling go down faster, and may also relieve pain. Minor bruising is common with dermal filler injections, and can be more extensive in those taking medications that thin the blood. Redness, bumps, and itchiness around the injection site are also normal, but these side effects are usually mild and should go away by themselves within a few days to a week.

Less commonly, some fillers may cause lumps or nodules to form around the injection site. While these lumps are harmless and will eventually go away, they can be noticeable and frequently take as long as two to three months to dissolve on their own. Because of this, if you should notice you have them contact your doctor right away. He or she may have another chemical they can inject you with to help break down the lumps more quickly.

Dermal fillers, like all injections, also carry the slight risk of infection., In order to minimize this danger, patients should be sure their doctor is fully trained and licensed to administer fillers, and they should follow all of his or her instructions with regards to keeping the site clean an germ-free.

One last very uncommon side effect of fillers is an allergic reaction. Doctors pre-test patients against allergic reactions for those fillers which most commonly cause problems, but even many non-allergenic fillers contain trace amounts of gram-positive bacterial proteins, which can cause problems in individuals you have a history of severe allergic reactions. If you swell in other places than the injection site, or begin to have trouble breathing, call 911.

As with all medical procedures, women who are pregnant or nursing or people who have severe or chronic health problems need to be sure and tell their doctors about their condition before being injected.

What Can I Expect During A Dermal Filler Procedure?

Prior to your procedure, you will probably meet with your doctor to discuss it. He or she will answer any questions you may have, and help you make the right decision about what sort of filler would work best for you. He or she will also determine whether you need any blood or allergy testing before you are cleared for the procedure. If you need testing or are still unsure whether or not you want to get fillers, you can make another appointment at a later date, but if you are ready and the clinic has space in their schedule, you may be able to get your filler injections right away.

When you are ready for your procedure, your doctor will have you lie on a table or chair. He will thoroughly clean the area to be injected, and may use a pen to mark your skin at the exact places the injections need to go. Depending on the doctor, he will either give you a topical anesthetic to help minimize the pain, or he may inject local anesthesia before or with the filler. If you are nervous about the procedure or uncomfortable at the sight of needles, he may also give you something to help relax and stay calm.

Once the preparations are over, the doctor will inject your chosen filler into the treatment area with an extremely fine needle. Depending on what kind of pain medication he or she is using, you may feel a little prick, or you might feel nothing at all. Moving slowly to avoid lumpiness, the doctor will inject enough filler in to achieve the results you want. The entire procedure usually takes about half an hour, or one hour for more complicated cases with multiple injections.

When the doctor has finished the injections, he may ask to wait in a recovery room for fifteen or thirty minutes to make sure you don't have a negative reaction to your filler, but after that, you should be free to go. Depending on which kind of filler you get, you may see results immediately, or it may take a few days to a week to see the changes.