Aging and facial volume
You may notice a loss of fullness in your lips and cheeks and, lines and wrinkles around your mouth as you age.  With time, we also lose that “cheeky fullness” that characterizes a youthful look. We also lose elements of our skin including hyaluronic acid, collagen and underlying soft tissue volume.  The good news is now you can do something about it without surgery! At Plastic Surgery Professionals, we have a range of less invasive techniques of helping to improve the appearance of facial aging and facial deflation. Fillers, especially Restylane, Juvederm and others can make a nice improvement.

Fillers and Faces

How do fillers make you look younger?  The facial volume we lose is replaced.  We lose volume in the lips starting in our 30’s and progressing as we age.  A frequent complaint is the “lipstick bleeds into my lip lines.”  To improve this, we can add some volume back, but just enough and not too much.  The lips become fuller again and the lines become less deep. You can even see a subtle 3- dimensional projection seen on profile, giving lips that gives a youthful shape. There is an art to these fillers, to be sure, and most of our patients (and our plastic surgeons) like a natural look. Sometimes fillers can be combined with laser or other skin treatment for even more improvement.  A number of newer injectable filler agents have become available in recent years that allow us to restore missing volume and give a more youthful appearance to your face with minimal down time. Among the most popular of these fillers is Restylane.

Restylane® is a cosmetic dermal skin and soft tissue filler that is made of Hyaluronic acid, one of the natural components of our skin that we lose with aging. When you have the injection treatment with Restylane and other HA products, you are restoring volume with a natural component of the skin, so it is biologically very well tolerated. Adding back this fullness to the skin helps correct facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds and marionette lines around the mouth.

Voluma® is another hyaluronic acid product which is the first such product to be FDA approved for volume replacement in the deeper fat compartments of the midface. People we take care of appreciate the younger looking fullness that can be restored in the midface. This product also seems to last for one to two years and is a very nice addition to the rejuvenation we can achieve with injectable materials.

Lyft® is a similar hyaluronic acid product to Restylane but is used for deeper filling of lines and depressions. It can also be used in the hands for a younger look there. Sometimes in the past when patient’s had a facelift or other facial treatments, the hands could give away their age. Now, with certain filler products, we can achieve younger looking hands. This can sometimes be combined with our Smart-DOT fractional CO2 laser or skin peel to achieve what some have called a “hand lift” effect.

Juvaderm® is a different hyaluronic acid product which, like Restylane can be used to fill in lines and wrinkles. Some prefer this preferentially to enhance lip fullness because of its smoothness.

There is nuance and artistry to using these products well. Our doctors have years of experience with these and other injectable treatemts and can help inform and guide you as to which approach might be best for you. Also, at Plastic Surgery Professionals, all our treatments are performed by our Board Certified Plastic Surgeons and are not relegated to others who may not have the same experience..

If you would like to learn more about Restylane and other fillers, call 410-715-9205 today and book an initial consultation with Dr. Kanter or click here to email a request for an appointment.

Click here to see Before and After images for Fillers.