Fillers
What are fillers?
- Many injectable products currently exist to reduce the presence of wrinkles on the face.
- The most used are based on hyaluronic acid, a natural constituent of the dermis.
- These are the only kind used by Dr Gerbault, because they have proven their excellent tolerance over time and low complication rate.
- They are naturally degraded by the body.
- Depending on the type and concentration of the product, its use is for superficial or deep wrinkles or to fill areas that have hollowed with time.
- The disadvantage of these products is their transient effect, requiring repeated injections. The injections may be every 6 to 18 months to obtain a certain stability.
Why consider fillers?
Facial aging is reflected in:
- The appearance of wrinkles or grooves due to the action of external factors on the skin (such as sun, tobacco, pollution ...)
- Ptosis or sagging tissue (skin, fat)
- Progressive fatty atrophy,
- And finally because of the repeated action of facial expression muscles.
These factors are causing deep wrinkles:
- Nasolabial fold (or bitterness fold)
- Labio Jugal furrow (or fold the corner of the mouth)
- But also generally less deep wrinkles (frown lines, forehead wrinkles, wrinkles of the crow's feet ..)
- And wrinkles (especially around the eyes and mouth).
The consultation
- During the consultation, the various wrinkles and fine lines are delineated.
- The most suitable treatment is discussed section by section (or fractional laser peels, filler injections, facelift, blepharoplasty ...)
- Digital photos are taken in order to properly monitor the effects of injectable products in time.
How does an intervention work?
- The day of the injection, you do not need to be fasting. The injection session lasts 10 to 30 minutes.
- For women should come without makeup or have it removed before the injections.
- It is very important to minimize the risk of bleeding in treated areas and avoid taking aspirin and anti-inflammatory drugs during the 10 days prior to the injections.
- The treatment consists of a series of injections in the face. The needle is very thin, and injections are usually not painful. In some cases however, the use of an anesthetic ointment is performed before injections.
- The amount of product needed (number of needles) of course is extremely variable depending on many parameters. It will be evaluated in advance as precisely as possible.
- Usually treated furrows are markedly attenuated by the injections, but still do not completely disappear. In fact, some locations are particularly difficult to treat and there are deep wrinkles that will never be completely erased.
The effects of fillers
- Usually, the consequences of these injections are minimal.
- The patients can resume their normal activities after the injections.
- The immediate aftermath may eventually be marked by the appearance of a slight edema and skin redness and bruises which importance and duration vary widely but generally remain moderate (not prohibiting the return to a normal social and professional life very quickly) and disappear within one to three days.
- However, on the lips, edema is often stronger and can sometimes last a good week.
- Note that the first few days, there may be some temporary irregularities due to the inhomogeneous distribution of edema, or an aspect of overcorrection that will gradually disappear.
The risks of an intervention
- The injection of these products in the skin is the introduction of a foreign body that may cause in some people, a skin reaction.
- These reactions are usually temporary (redness, edema ..) but influenced by many external factors (injection site, number of injections ...) and those specific to the individual (tolerance and patient history).
- The main risks associated with their use are mentioned in the product use instructions (hematoma, erythema ...).
- According to available data, the incidence of significant adverse effects is between 0.1 and 1% of patients.
After an intervention
- The results are visible within a few days following the injection.
- Indeed, some time is required for the product to be well integrated, the swelling is gone and that the tissues have regained their flexibility.
- The immediate outcome after treatment therefore does not reflect the final result.
- A session for possible adjustments (additional injections) is systematically foreseen for the control consultation 1-2 weeks.
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