What are Facial Fillers?
Facial fillers are injected to smooth lines and wrinkles and restore volume. Fillers also provide contouring for the cheeks, jaw and nose, and can add fullness to the lips.
Other fillers stimulate your body to produce more of its own collagen, which is a protein that helps with skin elasticity and volume. Common brand names include Radiesse and Sculptra.
Your doctor will help you decide which kind of filler might work best for you.
How Facial Fillers Work
Hyaluronic acid or collagen-stimulating fillers are done in your doctor’s office. The area to be injected will first be cleansed with an antibacterial cleanser. To minimize injection discomfort, a topical cream or cold pack can be applied. Your doctor will use a thin needle to inject a precise amount of the filler under your skin. The area may feel tender for a day or two, and you may see minor swelling or bruising.
Which Areas of the Face are Best for Facial Fillers?
In general, fillers are effective for the following:
- Improving the appearance of recessed scars, such as acne scars
- Lifting sunken cheeks
- Diminishing crow’s feet
- Decreasing under-eye circles
- Filling deep smile lines between the nose and the corners of the mouth (nasolabial furrows)
- Filling frown lines between the eyebrows
- Plumping thin lips and redefining the borders of the lips
- Filling vertical lines around the mouth (smoker’s lines)
- Decreasing horizontal forehead wrinkles (worry lines)
How soon will you see results with facial fillers?
You’ll see results right away with hyaluronic acid fillers, while fillers that stimulate your own body’s collagen production will gradually build over a few months.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Facial Fillers
Botox prevents the contraction of muscles that cause wrinkling, while fillers add volume to spots where your facial structure has changed over time. Your doctor will examine you and offer advice about which products will work best; in some cases, that means a combination of Botox and fillers.
Your doctor has experience with all of the filler types and knows which work best for particular goals — for example, Juvederm often works best on very fine lines, while Restylane is usually best for plumping up areas where you want to regain significant volume. You may need a mix of fillers, depending on which area(s) you want to address and the look you want to achieve.
