Dermal & Soft-Tissue Fillers for Facial Rejuvenation (a.k.a. Wrinkle Fillers)

This section contains information on dermal and soft-tissue fillers for cosmetic facial rejuvenation. They are often called wrinkle fillers, which is less accurate but more concise. Wrinkle fillers are used primarily to correct localized facial defects, such as lines, furrows, folds, pitted scars, skin depressions due to fat loss, and the like.

Most wrinkles fillers are administered via injection, although a few require a small incision. In some cases, wrinkle fillers are the only minimally invasive way to correct certain types of defects, such as deep folds and furrows, depressed scars or the areas of subcutaneous fat loss. However, small defects, such as fine lines or mild-to-moderate wrinkles should be treated by topical agents before treatments like fillers or lasers are considered. For motion wrinkles (lines caused by facial movements), the optimal tactics in many cases is to try Botox first. In fact, even if Botox has failed, it may still be a good adjunct to a filler because simply injecting a filler does not eliminate the cause of a motion wrinkle.

Even though a few wrinkle fillers have been in use for decades, the majority are relatively new and their long-term effects are unknown. This is partly mitigated by the fact that manufacturers often try to develop new fillers based on human or animal tissue, natural biopolymers, or synthetic polymers with a history of other medical uses. Still, no wrinkle filler is ideal; each has a unique profile of effectiveness, durability, biocompatibility, side effects, costs, risks and uncertainties. The trick is to determine if a filler is an optimal solution in your particular case, and, if so, which one is likely to be the best fit. Try to learn as much as you can first - you can start with the articles below. The "let's learn by trying" attitude may works for topicals, but tends to backfire for more invasive and costly treatments.