Dr. Yee—our board-certified plastic surgeon in Dublin—uses fillers made from hyaluronic acid (HA), a component naturally found in healthy skin. (JUVÉDERM®, JUVÉDERM VOLUMA® XC, JUVÉDERM VOLBELLA® XC, JUVÉDERM VOLLURE™ XC) HA fillers can be injected nonsurgically, but are temporary. (Depending on the filler, it can last several months to over a year.) Dr. Yee also uses fat injections, harvested from your own fat during liposuction, for permanent filling but this requires anesthesia and surgery.
Benefits of Facial Fillers
Fillers help to reduce the appearance of facial lines by directly filling in these areas, as well as treating loss of volume that contributes to sagging. They are also used to subtly alter the contours of the face, for instance with lip augmentation and non-surgical rhinoplasty, or to create more prominence over the cheekbones.
Candidates for Facial Fillers
Facial fillers work best if you are healthy and already have a good skin care regimen, and do not smoke. They are useful to try out a cosmetic look, before proceeding to surgery (for example with a rhinoplasty or lip augmentation) or to camouflage more subtle signs of aging. More dramatic (and often natural) results can be accomplished with surgery, so occasionally Dr. Yee will advise considering surgery first. (If you think of some elderly stars who have extremely puffy faces, these are the types of patients Dr. Yee might have recommended surgery for a facelift to reposition tissues and remove excess skin, rather than filling the loose, aging skin with fillers.)
The Facial Fillers Procedure
For HA fillers, a local anesthetic is incorporated into the substance injected to provide numbing. The areas to be treated are cleansed with antiseptic. Dr. Yee administers fillers through very small needles in stages, and does one side at a time, so that you can compare and talk together about achieving the results you desire. Depending on the areas to be treated, it may take 15 minutes, or up to an hour. The treated areas are often massaged to help smooth the filler and assess the injection. The exciting part is that you’ll be able to see the final results.
Recovery from Facial Fillers
Occasionally there is some swelling or bruising, and you might have a little tenderness in the area treated, but it typically does not require any medication. You might notice firmer areas within the injection site, but this usually improves with massage. Most patients go back to work or are able to go out the same night without any difficulty.
If you’re interested in seeing how facial fillers can enhance your appearance, please contact us online or call to schedule a personalized evaluation with Dr. Yee.