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Monday 14 March 2011

Why aesthetic use of permanent fillers is a bad idea.

Some people ask me why I don't use permanent fillers? One person wanted permanent fillers in her lips to avoid repeat treatments so she can avoid the cost.
Last week has been particularly hectic for me. I have used plenty of hyalase. This is an enzyme which is used to dissolve hyaluronic acid based fillers. I had to dissolve fillers done elsewhere as patients were not happy with the results. This may be due to various reasons but it illustrates the point which I have been trying to make. Unless there is a good reason not to use hyaluronic acid, it is always my first choice. I also prefer restylane range of fillers as these have unmatched safety data with more than 12 million treatments carried out worldwide.
OK, there are cheaper fillers available but I want to be absolutely sure that I am using the best product.
It gives me flexibility to reverse or modify the effects if there is a problem-and it is very rare to have to do this but it is nice to know that it is possible.
Permanent fillers can cause problems which are difficult to rectify. A filler that looks good today may look unsightly few years down the line, what will you do if you don't like it then?
Then there are bio stimulatory fillers which can also cause granulomas. This can occur many months or years after the treatment. Some doctors use fat but hyaluronic acid fillers are readily available, cheaper and one does not need to extract fat from somewhere! Also what happens if you gain weight in the future- the filler will become fat too!
I am not suggesting that there is no place for fat or permanent fillers or indeed bio-stimulatory fillers. I am sure some doctors are pretty good at doing these and get great results. I just think that there are simple and better options available and as aesthetic treatments are elective treatments we must try to minimise chance of things going wrong.