Today, are so many filler options available to consumers that it’s a wonder to some why pharmaceutical companies continue rolling out new injectables, especially when some existing products are already considered highly effective favorites in the aesthetic medical community and do not broker much room for competition.

But according to Dr. Gary Monheit, who commented on the topic in a recent Cosmetic Surgery Times article, unique new filler formulations and, to a lesser extent, new “me, too” products (fillers that closely resemble existing formulations) will still have a place in facial rejuvenation.

Despite the array of injectables available for wrinkle treatment, patients with fine lines around the eyes and mouth are still currently underserved, an issue which will likely be exacerbated by the fact that collagen injectables long used to treat superficial wrinkles (Zyderm, CosmoDerm) were recently discontinued by Allergan.

In addition, Dr. Monheit says patients are presently hard-pressed to find fillers that provide long-lasting results without a host of potential safety issues. Other than Sculptra and Radiesse, most fillers that can last longer than one year have generally proven problematic.

“To date, many long-lasting and permanent fillers, including both volumizing and structural products, have been associated with a number of problems. Reported complications include development of fibrotic nodules, granulomas and biofilm formation. These adverse events have not been reported with any filler materials approved by the FDA, but limited experience acquired in premarketing clinical trials may not be sufficient to fully understand product safety and biocompatibility issues,” Dr. Monheit says.

Joining the existing gamut of widely used hyaluronic acid (HA) injectable fillers, such as Restylane, Juvederm and Prevelle Silk are Juvederm Voluma (Allergan), Prevelle Lift (Genzyme/Mentor) and Belotero (Merz).

While Juvederm Voluma will primarily focus on chin and cheek augmentation and Prevelle Lift on correcting deep creases, Belotero is expected to be versatile, longer-lasting than many existing HA fillers and capable of correcting both deeper facial folds and superficial fine lines.

“In theory, this filler should be able to improve both superficial and deep lines. In patients enrolled in the clinical trial, effects lasted 6-12 months,” says Dr. Monheit, who serves as a consultant for Merz. “However, further evaluation of its benefits awaits use in clinical practice.”

As consumers eagerly await the latest and greatest fillers poised to enter the U.S. market, it is more important than ever to keep in mind that while the filler product certainly affects your facial rejuvenation results, the skill and expertise of your injector makes the biggest difference in the success (or failure) of your injectable filler experience.

Whether you’re seeking lip augmentation, wrinkle reduction or facial contouring, be sure to choose an experienced Lake Oswego plastic surgeon with a variety of FDA approved injectable fillers available to customize your facial rejuvenation treatment.

Plastic Surgery

Facial rejuvenation surgeries such as facelift and brow lift procedures are expected to become increasingly popular in 2011, as many consumers rebound from economic hardship and seek treatments for sagging skin and wrinkles they’ve been putting off for the past year or two.

ASAPS anticipates that increased awareness of obesity risks and dramatic weight loss awaits many patients in 2011, thus ushering in the need for more thigh lift and tummy tuck procedures, as well as others designed to remove loose, excess skin after weight loss.

Buttock augmentation procedures such as the butt lift, which is designed to give patients a plumper, shapelier posterior a la Kim Kardashian or Beyonce, will also continue to increase in popularity in 2011, according to ASAPS.

In addition, baby boomers with aging breast implants are also likely to need maintenance procedures, such as breast implant replacement surgery to exchange aging implants and breast lift surgery to lift drooping or sagging breasts.

Non-surgical Cosmetic Treatments

Injectable wrinkle relaxers and fillers, such as Botox, Restylane and Juvederm became some of the most popular cosmetic treatments in 2010 and will continue to be widely used in 2011, according to ASAPS. The organization also noted that injectable treatments will continue to evolve over the next year, as scientists bring new wrinkle smoothing treatments to the U.S. market.

Non-invasive and minimally invasive cosmetic treatments will continue to increase in popularity as doctors and pharmaceutical and medical manufacturing companies work to give consumers new body contouring and skin rejuvenation options that don’t require surgery in 2011.

ASAPS predicts non-surgical fat-zappers like Zerona and CoolSculpting will only continue to increase in popularity over the next year, and technological improvements will likely make these and other non-invasive fat reduction procedures more effective.

However, the organization reminds consumers that for the foreseeable future, surgical liposuction, which is coincidentally less invasive than ever, will remain the most effective method for permanent fat reduction.

Study results revealed that the typical patient profile includes married, college-educated women in their early 50s. Additionally, the study found that women seeking cosmetic treatments also tend to be working moms.

The fact that the average patient seeking cosmetic treatments is female, employed and college-educated is unsurprising, as these results coincide with statistical data released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, as well as common sense knowledge that higher levels of education typically result in higher employment rates and income levels, and thus access to elective cosmetic treatments.

More interestingly, survey results also indicated that among married women, those younger, not older, than their partners were found to be the most likely to seek cosmetic treatments. Women who are older than their partners were also found to be more likely to seek cosmetic procedures, especially injectable fillers, than women who are the same age as their partners.

The average age difference between study participants and their older partners was slightly over four years, whereas the age difference between those with younger partners was slightly over six years.

The patients who participated in the study all did so voluntarily and anonymously while visiting private cosmetic surgery practices. The procedures sought by study participants included the following popular minimally-invasive and non-surgical cosmetic treatments:

• Liposuction
• Sclerotherapy (vein treatment)
• Botox or Dysport
• Injectable fillers (e.g. Juvederm or Restylane)
• Tattoo removal
• Cellulite treatment
• Chemical peels
• Microdermabrasion
• Laser hair removal
• Fractionated CO2 laser resurfacing

Many of these procedures are available at the Lake Oswego and Vancouver plastic surgery offices of Dr. Michael Workman.

In fact, a recent study confirms this common sense notion and shows that people are more likely to make a positive first impression and be perceived as successful in various facets of life after improving their physical appearance with hyaluronic acid fillers to correct nasolabial folds (laugh lines).

Conducted by facial plastic surgeon Dr. Steve Dayan, the study concluded that full correction of the nasolabial folds with a soft-tissue filler made of hyaluronic acid, such as Juvederm or Restylane, “significantly and positively influences the first impression an individual projects.”

This determination was made after Dr. Dayan performed hyaluronic acid filler injections on 22 patients and included their images, alongside images of untreated patients, in a survey that asked more than 300 blinded participants to measure their overall first impressions and perceptions of the photographed individuals in the following categories:

• Social skills
• Academic performance
• Dating success
• Occupational success
• Attractiveness
• Financial success
• Relationship success
• Athletic success

The treated patients whose photographs were included in the survey were pictured 4 weeks after their initial filler injections, after optimal injectable filler results were achieved, and more than 5,776 first impressions were recorded.

Study findings show that the average first impression score improved significantly in all categories, including overall first impression, when photographed individuals who had nasolabial fold correction with hyaluronic acid fillers were evaluated by study participants.

If you’d like to make your first impression on others the best it can be and are thinking about correcting your laugh lines with a filler like Juvederm or Restylane, feel free to contact Dr. Michael Workman with your questions to learn more about this non- invasive, no downtime way to help you put your best face forward.

Dubbed “Botox Bandits” or “Beauty Bandits” by popular media, these criminals give doctors’ offices a fake name and phony contact information, then undergo facial rejuvenation and lip augmentation treatments with Botox, Juvederm, Restylane and other injectable treatments worth anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.

When it’s time to pay the bill, the crooks make up an excuse to leave the office after their treatment is complete, such as needing to withdraw cash from an ATM, retrieve their purse from the car or check on a waiting child, then take off without paying up.  Other patients wishing to get out of settling their tab write rubber checks, knowing they don’t have the funds to cover them.

Doctors in Florida, Texas, Arizona, Nevada and California cities have reported being defrauded by “Beauty Bandits.”  Some have even been hit multiple times.

“I’ve had it occur,” says Dallas plastic surgeon and American Society of Plastic Surgery past-president Dr. Rod Rohrich.  “It’s mostly in patients I’ve never seen before. The best way [to prevent it] is to have all new patients pre-pay.  In this way, we prevent the ‘runners,’ as we call them in Texas.”

Although Florida law enforcement caught local perpetrators of these crimes, including the highly publicized cases of Jaime Merk and Maria Chrysson, doctors in other cities haven’t been so lucky.  Some doctors say they don’t even bother reporting these crimes any longer because catching the perpetrators is not a priority for police.

As a result, Dr. Rohrich’s preventative solution of asking new patients to pre-pay for cosmetic services is being adopted by more and more physicians who wish to safeguard their practices against potential fraudulent activity and revenue loss.  Many physicians also no longer accept checks.

Upfront payment may sound a bit unwelcoming to some, but a patient-doctor relationship built on trust is hardly fostered when your physician fears of getting bilked out of revenue they need to keep their business afloat.  Given the recent influx of “Beauty Bandit” criminals, don’t be alarmed if your doctor asks for cash, credit or debit card payment before doing a round of Botox injections.

On the official Juvederm Facebook page, you can receive helpful tips on your health, beauty and lifestyle, written by television personality Dayna Devon.

Devon says she has experience with wrinkle fillers and began using them in her 30s, when she “noticed deep lines around [her] nose and mouth that looked like two parentheses.”

Why should I use Juvederm?

Juvederm has become one of the most popular non-surgical treatments available, offered by plastic surgeons and dermatologists here in Vancouver and all over the United States. Made with a smooth hyaluronic acid gel, Juvederm gets injected beneath the skin to restore volume and reduce the appearance of wrinkles or folds.

Juvederm  comes in different formulas, so your surgeon can effectively treat wrinkles of varying degrees. The latest formula, Juvederm Ultra XC, contains lidocaine to make the treatment more comfortable than ever before.

Click here to learn more about Juvederm in Vancouver, or contact us for a consultation.

The addition of 0.3% lidocaine is said to numb the treatment area within seconds, decreasing the need for topical anesthetic.

Fillers like Prevelle Silk and the new Juvederm XC have actually been used for years, but physicians have not always been convinced of their value.   When Prevelle Silk first received FDA approval in 2008, the response was lukewarm. “The issue with a hyaluronic acid filler with lidocaine is that it doesn’t work until you actually start injecting patients, and these injections are so quick, by the time the lidocaine takes effect, you’re almost finished” said Dr. Joe Niamtu to Cosmetic Surgery Times.

Effective methods of pain control are already in use. During injection, plastic surgeons routinely use numbing cream or dental blocks to control pain, so you might say the new addition of lidocaine is all about marketing the filler to people who are afraid of potential discomfort. We’ll know more once Juvederm XC has been widely used in the United States.

• More information on Juvederm in Vancouver