Every year, new cosmetic injectable products come into the market to enhance facial appearance and turn back the clock on aging faces. Fillers continue to improve…they are safer and more predictable, more natural, and last longer. Injection techniques have also improved, evolving from simple wrinkle filling to three dimensional facial augmentation anatomically based on what truly happens to one’s facial bones and overlying fat as a result of aging.
Certain fillers work best in particular areas of the face, so patients typically see multiple types of fillers used to augment their face in one session. For example, Belotero is used for fine lines or off-label for tear troughs, Voluma is used for cheeks and Juvederm Ultra is used for smile lines or depressions around the mouth. What you see coming from the manufacturers of injectable fillers is a trend toward providing patients with spectrum of fillers with slightly different characteristics, so that specific areas of the face have a product uniquely suited to it, for the best and most natural results.
Just because something is new doesn’t always mean it is better. Trust your board certified plastic surgeon to guide you away from fleeting trends and stay with products that have the science and studies to back it up.
Here’s what’s up and coming for 2016:
Emervel is a collection of 5 different types of hyaluronic acid fillers, similar to Juvederm, Restylane, Perlane, Voluma, and Belotero. It is being used in another countries and may be FDA approved here in the US sometime this year. Results are similar to our current hyaluronic acid fillers with longevity 6-12 months. The 5 types of Emervel products provide different hylauronic acid particle sizes to optimally correct fine lines, moderate to deep lines, volume enhancement, and lips. It comes from Galderma, a large dermatologic company whose product lines include Cetaphil and Restylane.
Read more about Emervel here:
ATX-101 – Remember Lipodissolve and Mesotherapy, a popular procedure advertised in the media where injections of fat dissolving enzymes were used for fat reduction? Health advisories were issued in 2010 as a result of fraudulent advertising without proven safety or efficacy, and the procedure was mostly abandoned. Well, studies have been underway using one of the injectable fat dissolving substances called deoxycholate to dissolve small fatty deposits under the chin. It does not tighten overlying skin and so the best candidates have good skin tone and a small double chin. Do not anticipate results close to those obtained from liposuction or neck lift surgery. The treatment is being presented to the FDA in March of this year. Read more about ATX-101 here:
https://www.kytherabiopharma.com/pipeline/ATX-101
Restylane Silk – Restylane silk received FDA approval in June 2014. It also comes from the company Galderma, makers of Restylane, Perlane and Sculptra. It is used for lips and fine lines around the mouth and lasts 6 months. The benefit of Restylane Silk over Restylane is it’s more natural feel and fluidity, being supposedly less bulky and nodular than regular Restylane. We have our Restylane Silk in-service this month so we will see for ourselves how this new filler flows.
Juvederm Volbella – From Allergan, the makers of Juvederm Voluma, comes Volbella, also a hyaluronic acid filler. Like Restylane Silk, it is used for lips and fine lines around the mouth but longevity is twice as long with results lasting one year. The product is soft and natural and provides an attractive sheen to the lips. FDA approval may come in years so we will have to wait for this one, but I anticipate it will end up being more popular than Restylane Silk simply based on double the longevity.
https://www.juvederm.ca/juvederm/products/#volbella
Juvederm Volift – another hyaluronic acid filler of the Juvederm family best used to treat smile lines. Not expected to be FDA anytime soon but may provide longer lasting and more natural results for smile lines. It may out perform the current Juvederm Ultra products, only time will tell.
