DERMAL FILLERS
Treatment with Dermal Fillers can smooth out folds and wrinkles, add volume to the lips, and contour facial features that have lost their fullness due too aging for example, cheeks, chin, jawline etc..., sun exposure, weight loss, or illness, etc. Facial rejuvenation can be carried out safely and with minimal complications.
Dermal Fillers include, but are not limited to: Restylane™, Restylane Lyft™, Restylane Silk™, Juvederm Ultra™, Juvederm Ultra Plus™, Juvederm Vollure™, Juvederm Vobella™, Juvederm Voluma™, Versa and Radiesse™. Your physician/practitioner will evaluate the area for treatment and determine the level of correction necessary to achieve the optimal result. This may involve using one to several syringes depending on the product and/or the depth of the wrinkles/folds. An anesthetic numbing medicine used to reduce the discomfort of the injection, may or may not be used. These Dermal Fillers are injected into the skin with a very fine needle. The products produce a natural volume under the wrinkle, which is lifted up and smoothed out. Often multiple injections are needed to achieve the best correction and the results can often be seen immediately. Since these filling agents are considered temporary, periodic touch-up injections are necessary to help sustain the desired level of correction. Studies have shown if a full correction (enough product is used) initially, and periodic touch up treatments (maintenance) are done, a synergistic effect occurs stimulating the body’s own response to produce collagen, which “may” prolong the results of the correction and “possibly” less product will be needed in the future.
All medical and cosmetic procedures carry risks and possible complications. You have a right to be informed about your condition, the treatment, and possible complication so that you may decide whether or not to undergo the procedure after knowing the risks and hazards involved. This disclosure is not meant to alarm you; it is simply an effort to make you better informed so you may give, or withhold, your consent for the treatment you are requesting.
RISKS AND COMPLICATIONS
There are certain inherent potential risks and side effects with any invasive procedure.
Such risks include but are not limited to:
1) Commonly, post treatment discomfort, swelling, redness, lumpiness, and bruising that generally subsides within a few hours to days (bruising may last up to 2 weeks depending on the patient’s healing mechanism).
Less common side effects are:
1) Post Treatment itching and discoloration of light blue hue under skin associated w/hyaluronic acids
2) Post treatment infection associated with any transcutaneous injection
3) Reactivation of Herpes (cold sores)
4) visible yellow or white patches associated with Radiesse
5) Granuloma formation
6) Localized Necrosis and/or sloughing, with scab and/or without scab if blood vessel occlusion occurs.
7) Failure to achieve desired result.
Rare Complications:
1) Allergic Reactions
2) *Keloid formation/ hypertrophic scarring *(dermal filler treatments are not indicated in individuals who are susceptible to hyper keloid formation).*
It is FDA approved for correction of moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds and for restoration of lipoatrophy and fat loss due to HIV. Extrusion or the appearance of product under the skin (e.g., in the form of nodules) is possible. Calcium hydroxylapatite can show up on an x-ray, but this is usually of no clinical consequence. Radiesse and Hyaluronic Acids Fillers are not a permanent fillers, since they will be reabsorbed over time.
Some patients may experience additional swelling or tenderness at the injection site and in rare occasions, pustules might form. These reactions might last for as long as approximately 2 weeks, and in appropriate cases may need to be treated with oral corticosteroids or other therapy.
If you are considering laser treatment, chemical skin peeling or any other procedure based on a skin response after your dermal filler treatment, or you have recently had such treatments and the skin has not healed completely, there is a possible risk of an inflammatory reaction at the implant site.