Over the last several years, plastic surgeons have come to the dramatic realization that aging of the face not only involves the development of increased facial skin laxity but also involutional changes to facial fat and underlying bone structures. Surgical facelift procedures may effectively treat facial skin laxity but in many cases the post operative facial appearance still lacked an elusive quality of youthfulness. After much additional reflection and analysis loss of facial fat volume was found to be the missing piece of the cosmetic puzzle.
Fillers such as Restylane and Juvederm act to replace the loss of volume in common areas around the perioral and periorbital areas. These fillers can be used in conjunction with surgical procedures such as face lifts or alone in patients who are looking for an immediate improvement of limited facial wrinkle problems.
There are numerous ever increasing numbers of facial cosmetic fillers on the market today. Some are designed for use in finer wrinkle areas such as around the eyes and others are more robust and designed to be used to fill and lift areas of depression around the mouth and jowl regions.
Most fillers used today to treat facial lines or depressions are not permanent but they are in general much longer lasting than fillers commonly available several years ago. Most products last 4-6 months depending on the product used, volume placed and area of the face that is treated.
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