How dermal fillers can keep your skin looking youthful

Are dermal fillers the elixir of youth?

By: Dr Ami Shah | | Published: August 26, 2014 12:13 pm

If there is one human desire that matches mankind’s unflinching quest for progress, it is the eternal desire to stay beautiful and ageless. The quest for beauty has not only propelled men and women into adopting some quirky beauty practices over the centuries, it has also instigated major research to identify scientific mechanisms to augment appearances and delay ageing.

Till some decades ago, the facial features you were born with were meant to stay with you all your life. Today, however, it is possible to substantially alter your appearance with the help of modern advancements in the field of cosmetology, and this doesn’t necessary mean going under the knife. If Botox changed the way people looked at ageing, dermal fillers like Juvederm are another category of cosmetology innovation that have enabled many people to augment their beauty and charm.

Dermal fillers, as the name suggests, are gel-like injectables meant to ‘fill up’ the upper layers of the skin to achieve multiple results. From anti-ageing to facial contouring to non-surgical facelift, they serve a variety of purposes depending upon the need of a person. Arguably, fillers are among the most remarkable inventions in the field of cosmetology and skincare over the past few decades.

Among the most popular forms of fillers are hyaluronic acid based gels like Juvederm that can work wonders on your face, when in the hands of an expert. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a naturally occurring substance that is found in the layers of the dermis and along with instruments like collagen and elastin, provides elasticity, youthfulness, volume and flexibility to the skin. A hydrophilic substance, HA promotes water retention in the skin, proving hydration, sheen as well as volume. The loss of the natural reserves of hyaluronic acid with age is among the factors causing wrinkles, dullness and sagging in the skin.

What if we could replenish the lost reserves of HA back into our skin? Well, this is what HA-based fillers do. Let’s take a look at the purposes, dermal fillers can serve:

Anti-ageing: If you believed your anti-ageing cream can radically halt your advancing years, you may be expecting too much. Particles in creams, usually, are not capable of penetrating the multiple layers of the skin, and their impact can at best be limited to the upper most layer of the dermis. This is where injectables like fillers have an advantage. When injected into the deeper layers of the skin, a filler like Juvederm will fill up the skin with HA, giving the skin more elasticity, more volume and greater water retention capacity. This results is marked reduction of wrinkles and the filler fills up the folds and lines in the skin and smoothens the surface of the skin. When used in combination with Botox, fillers can give a remarkable facelift effect and addresses age-related volume loss.

Facial contouring and lip augmentation: Thicker versions of the filler like Juvederm Voluma and Juvederm Ultra are used to redefine the facial features that need improvement. For example, if a woman has thin lips, they can be made more pronounced with the use of Juvederm Ultra. Similarly, Juvederm Voluma can be effectively used to give greater volume to the cheeks or redefine the chin to achieve a more pronounced jawline.

Glow and hydration: Juvederm fillers are also used to add more glow and shine to the face. They work this through their water retention ability. As hyaluronic acid promotes absorption of more moisture, this adds glow and shine to the skin. Finer and thinner versions of the filler like Juvederm Refine are used to address the early signs of ageing like very fine lines and wrinkles or dullness on the skin, in relatively younger people.

Filling up scars: Fillers can also be used to fill up minor depressions on the skin like acne scars which leave the surface of the skin rough and dull. But filling up the little depressions, fillers help smoothen the skin surface, making it more radiant and beautiful.

Image source: Getty Images

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Published : August 26, 2014 12:13 pm

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