Collagen, fascian, Restylane, etc., are wonderful options for tissue fillers, but their effect seems to be measured in months. If a patient repeats the procedure enough, the costs soon approach those of surgery. I found myself suggesting to more and more patients that they should just have surgery and make the result more permanent.
Fat injections in the facial area do provide a longer lasting result than most fillers. However, fat injections are more of a surgical procedure rather than a quick injection. With fat injections, I use the patient’s own fat as a filler. The results can be dramatic and long lasting. Fat injections can be used in areas besides the face. I use a special type of fat injection is to fill out areas we never thought could benefit from large volume injections, such as the butt. I love doing fat injections, but there are a certain amount of pre and post op issues associated with it. So I look upon fat injections as a surgical procedure with a recovery time.
Now, what if there were a tissue filler that was long lasting, without the surgical aspects of fat grafting? Well, there is. I have recently started using SCULPTRA, and I love it. It is injected in a deeper layer of the skin than Restylane. Since sculptra is injected as a liquid, it is easily molded after injecting. But best of all, sculptra is long lasting. I am now using it a lot to fine tune Facelift results, as well as in a lot of patients who are not quite ready for surgery. I am happy to introduce this new filler into my practice.
