Adding facial volume can enhance your features in many ways. Dermal fillers boost volume in different parts of your face, letting you smooth wrinkles, restore or define your cheeks, or plump thin lips. These injectable treatments come in a variety of formulas to address many different facial concerns.
What are Dermal Fillers?
Dermal fillers are biologically safe materials injected into the skin to enhance facial volume. They are a widely popular, minimally invasive procedure that provides significant improvements without surgery or recovery time. Your Longwood Plastic Surgery expert injector will choose the best fillers to help you achieve your goals.
How Long Do Dermal Fillers Last?
Each dermal filler has a different formula that makes it suitable for its specific purposes. Each formula has a different density and resilience that makes it appropriate for a different area. These traits affect how long dermal fillers last.
Juvederm®
This popular family of dermal fillers can be used almost anywhere you want to add facial volume. They use hyaluronic acid, a molecule found naturally in your skin. It powerfully attracts and binds moisture, plumping and smoothing your skin.
- Juvederm® Volbella is a lip filler that can give you fuller lips. It can also smooth vertical lines around the mouth. Its smooth, flexible formula lasts about six months.
- Juvederm® Vollure is used to smooth lines and wrinkles around the nose and mouth, especially marionette lines and nasolabial folds. It can last up to 18 months.
- Juvederm® Voluma is used to enhance and define your cheeks. Because it has to be firm and resilient, it is the longest-lasting member of the family with a lifespan of up to two years.
Sculptra®
While hyaluronic acid works by adding volume directly, Sculptra® works differently. This filler uses poly-L-lactic acid. When injected, this compound forms a scaffold that promotes new collagen formation, enhancing volume with your body’s own collagen. Sculptra® is ideal for deep lines and wrinkles, enhancing the cheeks, chin, or jawline and even softening the backs of the hands. It can last three years or more with good skincare and sun protection.
Do I Need Dermal Fillers or Botox®?
Since dermal fillers and neurotoxins are both injectables, it can be easy to wonder which one is best for you. The answer depends on the type of wrinkles or other issues you want to treat. Dermal fillers are ideal for lines and wrinkles caused by volume loss or skin laxity. Neurotoxins like Botox® are ideal for expression lines and creases caused by muscle movement.
Many people choose to have Botox® and dermal fillers together. They can be combined as part of a liquid facelift, a procedure that sculpts and smooths your features using injectables instead of surgery.
Is There Any Downtime After Dermal Fillers?
Dermal fillers do not require any downtime, and you can return to work or other activities immediately. Redness, swelling, and bruising can occur in the injection area, so we recommend not having dermal fillers within two weeks of an important event.
Take the Next Step
Interested in learning about dermal fillers? Schedule your consultation with Longwood Plastic Surgery today by calling our Brookline office at (617) 383-6250. We serve the Brookline and Greater Boston area with distinction.