Fillers and Liposculpture: Doctors Fleming and Mayer

These products and techniques are used to treat depressions of the skin caused by aging, scars due to trauma, surgery, infection, illness or injury, or wrinkles that occur with the aging process.

The advanced dermafillers which we use today provide longer lasting results than earlier products. Each of the dermafillers has its own unique characteristics which are used to contour specific areas of the face and body.

Collagen

Collagen is a naturally occurring structure in our skin. Collagen therapy has been used for over twenty years. The collagen that is injected into the superficial layers of the skin to fill in depressions is a highly purified protein from the skin of cattle. Since a small number of patients are allergic to collagen, a skin test is performed and the patient must then wait one month for the results of that test. If there is no allergic reaction, we can proceed with the treatment.

The material is injected into the skin depressions being treated. The evening after the treatment, the patient may have some slight redness in the injected area, but the day after the procedure the patient may resume normal activities. In unusual cases, the patient may have persistent swelling for several days. Most people return to work the same day. People absorb collagen at varying rates, but treatments usually last three to six months.

Cosmoderm

Cosmoderm and Cosmoplast are purified human collagen. Therefore skin tests are not necessary prior to treatment. Like bovine collagen the results last three to six months.

Juvederm

As you age your skin changes. There’s loss of a naturally hydrating substance called hyaluronic acid. This results in facial wrinkles and folds. A Juvederm injectable gel replaces the huyalurnoic acid your skin has lost, bringing back the normal volume and smoothing away facial wrinkles and folds.

Because the Juvederm is a gel the result is a soft and smooth consistency in the injected area. This is obviously advantageous in most structures such as the lips. The concentrated Juvederm gel is the only huyaluronic acid filler that is FDA approved to last up to one year.

Juvederm is frequently used in lips, the nasolabial folds, depressions along the lower eyelid margin, and facial wrinkles.

Radiesse

Radiesse is a safe FDA approved dermal filler that restores a natural, youthful look. This convenient treatment fills and corrects smile lines, nasolabial folds and wrinkles around the nose and mouth. Radiesse is made of unique calcium-based microspheres suspended in a natural gel that is injected into the skin through a simple, safe and minimally invasive procedure.

Radiesse is injected into the skin with the use of a local anesthetic. Radiesse treatments have little to no downtime, with most patients returning to normal activities soon after treatment. Tiny calcium-based microspheres form a “scaffold” to support and stimulate the growth of your own collagen. Over time, the calcium-based microspheres gradually break down and are safely and naturally absorbed by your body. Radiesse does more than just temporarily fill in facial folds and wrinkles – it rebuilds your skin’s foundation and restores your youthful look, without the risks associated with a permanent implant. Temporary bruising is possible.

The results are immediate. Radiesse typically lasts a year, saving you time and money. Since results may vary, be sure to discuss your expectations with the doctor.

Liposculpture

This is a new twist on an old procedure. We can remove fat from one area of the patient’s body and use it to fill in depressions in other places of the patient’s body.

For example fat can be placed in the furrows between the upper lip and cheeks using a small needle at the base of nose. After surgery there will be some swelling for several days. More fat is placed in the recipient area than is needed, since the body will absorb part of the fat in the immediate post-injection period.

Fat can also be used under the eyes and to fill depressions in the cheeks. We have even developed a new procedure called Cleavoplasty to soften the bony area of the chest between the breasts.

See the following link for a discussion of cleavoplasty and before and after photos of patients who have had this procedure: Cleavoplasty

There are several advantages to liposculpture. It is safe and available to everyone because we use the patients own tissue. Therefore, we don’t have to worry about allergic reactions (as with collagen). We have followed these patients since 1984 and the results have been excellent, achieving long term normal appearance. In 90% of the patients the results have been permanent.

Over the past several years we have expanded the use of fat transplantation both to contour and augment lips. Lack of full lips can be an inherited characteristic or a result of the aging process. Fat augmentation will make the lips look fuller and softer.

Fat transplantation may also be used to fill in depressions and wrinkles which develop on the back of hands. This condition is caused by loss of fat and decrease of elasticity of the skin. Long term effects have been very rewarding.

See the following link for a discussion of these techniques: Hands and Lips Augmentation Photos

Although, fillers and Liposculpture will not replace other cosmetic procedures such as facelifts, forehead and eyebrow lifts, cheeks lifts or chemical peels it will soften the depressions, fill in frown lines and can contour problem areas.

See the following links for before and after photos of patients who have had these procedures: Fillers and Liposculpture Photos