Can Fillers Prevent Aging?
When you think about dermal fillers, you probably picture their incredible ability to restore lost volume and smooth away existing wrinkles. It's a treatment known for turning back the clock. But what if fillers could do more than just correct the signs of aging? What if they could actually help prevent them from forming in the first place?
Shifting from Correction to Prevention
When we think of aging, the first thing that comes to mind is typically the lines associated with repeated facial movements. But there is more to aging than these dynamic wrinkles.
On a structural level, our faces naturally lose volume as the supportive fat pads in our cheeks, temples, and under-eyes begin to shrink. At the same time, our bodies produce less collagen and elastin, the proteins that keep skin firm and smooth. This combination of volume loss and decreased elasticity leads to sagging, hollows, and the formation of deep-set wrinkles.
Fillers for Anti-Aging
While neuromodulators like Botox and Dysport are usually the go-to injectables to prevent dynamic lines and wrinkles, fillers also have a role to play as a sophisticated preventive tool to manage the aging process. Let's see how.
Plumping the Skin to Prevent Creases
Areas of your face that move a lot, like your smile lines (nasolabial folds) or marionette lines, are constantly folding. As you lose underlying volume, these folds deepen and eventually etch into permanent wrinkles that are visible even when your face is at rest.
While neuromodulator treatments prevent the muscle movements that can cause these wrinkles, sometimes you don't want to dampen your expression, or you want a little more help in a specific area.
By placing a small amount of a hyaluronic acid-based filler, like Juvéderm or Restylane, directly beneath these emerging creases, we can:
Plump Skin: The filler adds subtle volume under the skin to smooth the crease. Less creasing means slower wrinkle development.
Hydrate the Skin: Hyaluronic acid fillers attract and hold water, providing deep hydration that improves skin quality and resilience in the treated area.
This approach aims to smooth the wrinkle before it sets in, as well as slow its progression to a deeper crease. Alone, or in conjunction with Botox injections, this method can have a preventative effect, especially on areas prone to deep, set-in wrinkles.
Structural Support
One of the earliest signs of aging is the loss of volume in the mid-face, or cheeks. As these fat pads degrade, the skin above them begins to sag, leading to the formation of jowls, deepened smile lines, and hollows under the eyes. By the time you notice these changes, the volume loss has already occurred.
Preventative filler treatments focus on restoring this foundational support before significant sagging is apparent.
Restoring Structural Support: Placing filler deep into strategic areas acts like support for the facial skin.
Delaying the Onset of Jowls: By keeping the mid-face lifted, you can proactively counteract the downward pull of gravity and delay the development of jowls along the jawline.
Advanced Fillers that Do More Than Add Volume
While traditional hyaluronic acid fillers provide immediate volume, hydration, and support, a new type of injectable takes prevention a step further. Sculptra is specially designed to work with your body to rebuild its own collagen.
Sculptra is made of poly-L-lactic acid, a biocompatible substance that acts as a collagen stimulator. When injected, these microparticles trigger your body's natural regenerative response, prompting it to produce new, healthy collagen.
Why Sculptra is different:
Address the Root Cause: Instead of just adding volume, Sculptra helps restore the skin's underlying structure, improving its density and firmness over time.
Gradual and Natural Results: The results appear slowly over several months as your collagen network is rebuilt. This creates a remarkably natural-looking transformation.
Long-Lasting Improvements: Because you are building your own collagen, the results are durable, improving skin quality for two years or more.
Using Sculptra is the ultimate proactive strategy, as it strengthens your skin's foundation against the future effects of aging.
Start Your Proactive Aging Plan Today
Are you curious about how a preventative filler strategy could work for you? Contact our office today to schedule an anti-aging consultation. Let's discuss your goals and design a proactive treatment plan to keep you looking and feeling your best for decades!