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Although collagen was one of the first popular fillers to be used for filling wrinkles, the armory that plastic surgeons can now choose from includes a whole range of products to best suit the need of the patient and the circumstances.
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Please note that we are not involved in any way with cosmetic surgery, or any procedures like collagen injections or fillers, but are manufacturers of skin care products, but include these information pages on our website for the interest of our visitors, since it also deals with looking good in the broadest context. |
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A wrinkle is an indentation of the skin, and the shadow cast by the surrounding higher skin causes us to see a wrinkle. Bringing that wrinkled, lowered part of the skin to the same level as the surrounding skin reduces the appearance of the wrinkle.
When a filler is injected into this lowered skin region it fills up the skin, while the reverse is achieved with facial peels, laser resurfacing and Dermabrasion.
Hundreds of thousands of patients the world over resort to fillers to temporarily fill wrinkles and other small facial abnormalities, and although there are many benefits to this type of treatment - there is generally no recovery time or adverse side effects - it must be kept in mind that it is a temporary solution to the problem and needs to be constantly attended to at regular intervals.
The procedure is quick and is normally performed in the rooms of the plastic surgeon.
Collagen fillers 
- These collagen fillers are extracted from cow hide which is processed, purified and sterilized into a liquid form. A thin gauge needle is then used to inject the collagen into the skin.
- Great care must be taken by the plastic surgeon when placing the collagen injection fillers, as placement too deep in the skin will not help the wrinkle, while a too superficial placement in the skin could result in the area persistently feeling like "beading".
- The FDA has approved collagen injections for correcting contour deformities such as acne scars and wrinkles, but not for augmentation of the facial features nor for injection into the pigmented area of the lips.
- Some patients are allergic to bovine collagen injections, and a skin patch test should be done before such procedure.
- Since the problem experienced with "Mad Cow Disease" some people are reticent about using bovine collagen, but with so many other options available to choose from, it does not present a problem.
- Autologen
- This filler is made by Collagenesis Inc. from collagen harvested from the patient at the time of surgery. The drawback of this type of filler is that a relatively large piece of skin is required for processing to obtain an injectable amount.
- Although good results are obtained using this method, the cost and waiting period, as well as the large piece of tissue required may present a problem to some patients.
- Isolagen
- This filler is made by Isolagen Technologies and is a cloned-collagen injectionable filler, which is cloned from a 3 mm punch biopsy of the patient, and sent to Isolagen in special packaging. This small piece of tissue is then grown for 6 weeks.
- A minimum of three injections are normally needed. A 15% improvement is normally achieved with the first injection, 35% with the second and 70% with the third. It is live cell therapy and does take time for the patient to see the full results and may take up to 4 months.
- Dermalogen
- This filler, also made by Collagenesis, is made from deceased human donors. The tissue harvested from deceased donors is very thoroughly checked for a variety of transmittable diseases and has two viral inactivation steps to secure that no transmission of infection occurs while using this injectionable filler.
- Restylane / Restylane Fine / Perlane
- These products contain NASHA gel (Non-Animal Stabilized Hyaluronic Acid) and are used for wrinkle correction as well as lip enhancement. The correct injection technique needs to be used since the three different gels have different sized particles where injection of the large particles in the superficial tissue can lead to tissue disturbance / uneven results.
- For more information on Restylane please click here.
- Hyaluronic acid is a polysaccharide and is identical in all species and tissue types.
- The gel is bio-degradable and is non-allergenic and the hyaluronic acid is stabilized at approximately 1%. This provides longer-lasting results with minimal tissue disturbance. Nutrients, hormones and oxygen can pass freely between the gel particles, leaving the skin healthy during the entire residence period.
- Since it is non-allergenic and is manufactured by bacterial fermentation (no animals are used as source material), no risk of disease transmission exists and no skin testing is required.
- The range of products come in different sized particles and will give your cosmetic surgeon a range to choose from. Two or three of these products may be used together to obtain the maximum results.
Restylane Fine Line (200,000 particles per ml) has the smallest particles for the correction of very thin superficial lines and is injected in the upper part of the dermis. Restylane (100,000 particles per ml) contains medium sized particles for moderate wrinkles and is injected in the middle part of the dermis. Perlane (10,000 participles per ml) has large particles and is ideal for deep folds and is injected in the deep layer of the dermis or the surface layer of the subcutis.
We use Low Molecular Weight Hyaluronic Acid in a selection of our Dermaxime skin care products, since it can penetrate the skin well, and helps to bind moisture to tissue - resulting in a younger looking skin.
- Alternative to collagen fillers
- An alternative to fillers, which has just come on the market, is a cream containing acetyl-hexapeptide, which reduce the formation of wrinkles, and which has also proven to reduce wrinkle depth.
- This cream is not cheap, but the results are good and do not call for any injections, and it is a good moisturizing cream as well. To read more about Crème de Vie anti-aging and anti-wrinkle cream, please click here to go to their site.
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