from the Winter 2004 issue
It’s finally here! In late November 2003, the FDA finally approved the long-awaited new injectable filler for wrinkles called Restylane®. Restylane is a crystal-clear, non-animal, biodegradable gel based on a natural substance called hyaluronic acid. The gel is injected into the skin in tiny amounts with a very fine needle. The result is instantaneous and produces a long-lasting, natural enhancement, gentle and safe to your skin. Restylane is made in Sweden and was originally approved in European countries in 1996. Since then, more than a million people have been successfully treated in more than 60 countries worldwide.
A Restylane treatment adds volume to lips and lifts up wrinkles and folds. The most commonly treated areas are the nasolabial folds (from the nose to the corners of the mouth), the glabellar lines (between the eyebrows), the marionette lines (from the corners of the mouth to the jaw line), and the lips. It can also improve acne and chicken pox scars.
There are advantages to this new filler. First, Restylane requires no pre-testing, and it dissolves naturally in the body. Results from the procedure can be seen immediately. Next, it lasts approximately six to nine months, in contrast to injectable collagen, which lasts three to six months. A clinical study was performed in the U.S. in which Restylane was compared with injectable collagen. One hundred thirty-eight patients had one nasolabial fold injected with Restylane and the other one injected with collagen. At a six-month follow-up visit, 56.9 percent of the patients had a better remaining effect on the Restylane-treated side versus the collagen-treated side. Only 9.5 percent of patients had a better result on the collagen side at the six-month visit.
Restylane can be used in combination with Botox®. This works especially well in the frown lines between the eyebrows. The Botox relaxes the muscles that cause the frown line to form. Then Restylane is used to fill out any residual wrinkle. A Canadian study conducted on 38 women with frown lines showed that the combination treatment was more effective than either product on its own.
Patients should take a few precautions before treatment. Use of aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, and vitamin E supplements should be avoided for one week prior to treatment because these agents may increase the risk of bruising at the injection sites. If an individual is prone to facial herpes simplex (cold sores), the injections could possibly trigger an outbreak. Taking an antiviral drug can prevent such an outbreak.
To help with the discomfort from the needle pricks, a topical anesthetic can be applied 30 to 60 minutes before the procedure. The actual procedure takes about 30 minutes. After the treatment, you can expect slight redness, bruising, swelling, tenderness, or an itching sensation in the treated area. This is a normal result of the injection. The side effects are temporary and generally disappear in a few days. After a lip treatment, the lips may become slightly swollen and look somewhat uneven. This can persist for a few days up to a week. While more severe reactions occur in only one out of every 2,000 patients on average, some patients have experienced localized swelling at the injection point. It is thought that hypersensitivity brings on this reaction. Reactions typically occur within a few days after the injection. However, they can appear as far out as four weeks. Should a reaction occur, it usually lasts only a few weeks and is typically described as mild-to-moderate in severity. One published study looked at the rates of allergic reactions in 144,000 patients injected with Restylane in 1999 and 262,000 patients treated in 2000. The allergic reaction was 0.15 percent in 1999 declining to 0.06 percent in 2000. The authors felt that the declining incidence of allergic reaction was due to improvements made in the purification of the hyaluronic acid, eliminating traces of proteins in the raw material.
If you are interested in trying this new, longer-lasting filler, call our office at 713.850.0240 to schedule a consultation or to RSVP for one of our upcoming seminars.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |