What Are Dermal Fillers?

Dermal fillers are man-made substances that mimic the naturally-occurring Hyaluronic acid (HA). HA has many functions in the body and at the skin level, it maintains skin buoyancy by retaining water into the skin. As we age, HA starts to deplete, leading to the loss of skin buoyancy and therefore lips become thinnner, nasolabial folds become deeper, marionette lines start to appear and skin becomes generally less smooth.

HA can be injected safely into the face to replace an already depleted HA in the skin (that is to correct ageing) or to add volume (that is to enhance).

As with every medical intervention, HA injections are not without their side effects. Side-effects may include temporary bruising, immediate or delayed swelling, skin necrosis (if HA is injected into the a blood vessel) and local skin infection.
It is important to have any medical intervention by a licensed medical practitioner. 

A vial of HA has 1 ml of filler. Sometimes this is more than enough to treat an area of the skin. Dermal fillers remains in the skin between three to nine months. Every individual is different. Once HA is absorbed by the body the area treated goes back to its original shape. Some clients prefer to have a ‘top-up’ once the effect of filler starts to wear off to avoid going back to the original shape. During top-ups, the volume of filler that is used is less than that used during the first augmentation.