You Can Do *What* with Fillers?? 9 Tricks You Should Know

Posted on: July 29th, 2020 by Kristen Chang

You’ve probably heard of dermal fillers. Maybe you use them yourself. After all, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, in the United States in 2016 alone, 2.6 million filler procedures were performed!

Fillers are commonly injected into the skin’s topmost layers to smooth out scarring or wrinkles, such as vertical lip lines. At deeper levels, they add volume, plumping up lips and accentuating cheekbones. Fillers also restore areas where time has depleted collagen and elastin and left the skin loose. Common areas are the nasolabial folds (laugh lines or “parentheses”), marionette lines, and others facial areas where skin looks thin or lax.

The Right Filler for the Job

Dermal fillers can meet a wide range of needs and beauty goals. They come in a variety of viscosities, with assorted active ingredients. Some of the most popular are:

• Hyaluronic fillers — The most common by far, these include the Juvederm, Belotero and Restylane families of gel fillers. They feature hyaluronic acid (HA), which is a substance that attracts water (hydrophilic) and exists naturally in your skin. HA fillers range from thin and ultra silky to extra thick. Depending on the viscosity (particle size), structure (crosslinking) and injection area, they can last anywhere from 6 months to 2 years.
• Poly-L-lactic acid fillers — The most reputable of this filler type, Sculptra causes your skin to produce collagen for weeks after injection. Its star ingredient, poly-L-lactic acid (PLA), is a synthetic, biocompatible material that has been used to make non-toxic, biodegradable sutures for more than 40 years. Results can last more than 2 years.
• Calcium hydroxylapatite fillers — Biostimulatory like Sculptra, Radiesse triggers your skin to produce collagen. It carries particles of calcium hydroxylapatite, a natural component of human bone, into the dermal layers to build back substantial volume. It often lasts about a year.

Work with an experienced California Skin Institute professional to determine which filler you need. They’ll make sure you’re getting the best product and treatment to achieve any of the following nine goals.

1 – Unsink Your Temples

When you muse in the mirror about any improvements you’d like to make, you probably don’t think about the temples. Yet, the temples can take on a hollow, skeletal look over time due to bone loss, as well as a decline in collagen. A phenomenon sometimes called “the temples of doom,” it tends to hit thin people the worst. Not only can it cast a darker, dreary look over the eye area, but it can also contribute to sagging and fine lines at the outer eye.

Sculptra is a favorite for this area. Commonly used for facial wasting in HIV/AIDS patients, it stimulates your body to build collagen when your temples are sunken. Thicker, hyaluronic fillers work nicely too. Bonus: fillers tend to last a long time in this area!

2 – Define the Jawline 

Some people can address a soft jawline with a procedure to get rid of their double chin. But what if you don’t have extra fat and just want to sharpen your face shape?

Jawline filler has become what Elle Magazine recently called “the must-have aesthetic treatment.” Injected deep into the dermis, an experienced California Skin Institute professional places it, as needed, along the bone from below the ear to the chin. They use a thick, strong filler like Juvederm Voluma XC, Restylane Defyne or Radiesse for their ability to create definition and stay in place.

3 – Lift Your Brows

If your eyebrows are looking droopy, you can try targeted facial exercises for subtle improvement. However, you need to do them regularly, without fail, and some require scrunching up your forehead (contributing to wrinkles there!).

If you want to raise eyebrows — literally — consult a skilled, board-certified professional about fillers to treat this complex, three-dimensional area. A medium-viscosity hyaluronic filler like Restylane or Juvederm, strategically placed along the brow bone, is great for reversing the primary cause of sagging eyebrows: volume loss. The resulting lift can also help reduce the sad look of drooping eyelids.

Tip: for extra lift, add Botox between the eyebrows (frown lines) and at the ends of your brows!

4 – Smooth Out Under-Eye Circles 

Tired of looking tired even when you’re feeling quite refreshed? If under-eye bags are your challenge, a hyaluronic filler may just be the solution. It can smooth over those half-moon indentations, reducing shadows and brightening your eyes.

Particularly with this filler procedure, it’s important that you trust a California Skin Institute board-certified doctor. They’ll inject into the tear troughs using a cannula (tiny tube) to help avoid bruising and protect eye health. They’ll also know which filler to use and where to place it to avoid causing a bluish tinge (called the Tyndall effect). Done right, under-eye filler can create a better, rested and more youthful look.

5 – Rejuvenate Your Hands

A quick and easy way to restore volume and impart a fresher appearance overall is with dermal fillers. Hands down. Injected into the backs of the hands, just under the skin, they can do wonders to reverse a sunken look. The added thickness also tightens the skin, helping flatten out wrinkling and bulging veins.

Hefty fillers like Restylane Lyft, Juvederm Voluma XC and Radiesse work beautifully to rejuvenate the hands and last up to 18 months or more.

Raise your hand if that sounds good!

6 – Pad Your Feet

Metatarsalgia: if only it were a chic brand of Italian stilettos. Unfortunately, it’s a common and painful injury to the ball of the foot from fat-pad loss and regularly wearing high heels. If you’re a sufferer — and not willing to give up those chic Louboutins just yet — a so-called “stiletto lift” can offer relief.

In one study published by the National Institute of Health (NIH), research subjects with metatarsalgia received injections of Restylane hyaluronic acid filler at the top of the ball of the foot (the metatarsal heads). Even after 6 months, one third of subjects reported no pain, while the rest were able to wear high heels more than twice as long as usual before experiencing discomfort.

Many doctors are also injecting achy soles with Radiesse or Sculptra. These stimulate fibroblasts to build up collagen and elastin during the weeks after injection, helping restore volume and cushioning to the ball of the foot. Treatment can keep you in those Jimmy Choos for up to 2 years!

7 – Fill in Neck Rings

Like the rings in a tree, rings in a neck can age you. Increasingly, however, they’re not just a side effect of aging, but also of prolonged use of devices like tablets, phones and laptops. Characterized by horizontal wrinkles along the throat, so-dubbed “tech neck” is the result of the many hours we spend bending our necks downward to look at screens.

Hyaluronic acid fillers, injected directly into creases etched into the neck, do a wonderful job of addressing the rings. Also look into preventing future neck rings by, for instance, raising the height of your computer or holding your phone higher to use it.

8 – Give Mouth Corners a Lift

No matter how kind and content you are, age and genetics can cause a perpetually downturned mouth. This can condemn you to a misleading grumpy expression.

You can help turn that involuntary frown around with hyaluronic filler. In a procedure known in Korea as “lift edge filler,” you receive injections angled upward into the upper corners of the mouth. You will normally receive a smooth yet viscous filler, like Restylane Refyne or Juvéderm Volbella XC, which is also excellent for adding lip volume.

9 – Plump Your Lobes

When you’re applying sunscreen, it’s easy to miss your earlobes! Then, there are the chunky, dramatic earrings weighing down on them. Over time, earlobes can look shriveled and saggy. It’s a more common concern than you might guess.

Especially in the last couple years, many women have been delighted to discover filler to plump up the lobes. As Byrdie recently put, filler is “a new cosmetic surgery trend that’s keenly spiking upwards.”  It normally entails injecting earlobes with a firm hyaluronic filler, like Restylane Defyne, to compensate for deteriorated collagen. The result is a firmer, more springy lobe that really shows off those gorgeous diamond studs.

 

Ready to try any of these exciting dermal filler treatments? No doubt!

Just be sure to entrust your skin only to an expert. Naturally, they have to know which filler to use, how much, proper method and correct placement for each area. But they also need to have the talent and experience to consider your treatment in context. For instance, if you’re also using filler to enhance your cheekbones, you’ll require additional filler at the temples to keep them from looking hollow.

Schedule your appointment with a seasoned California Skin Institute professional who has expertise in fillers.

 

Individual results may vary.