To continue my summary of new innovations presented at the fall meeting of the AAFPRS in San Diego, I am going to review the latest Hyaluronic Acid (HA) facial fillers. New fillers are continually being developed and released on the market. Which are good, which are not so good and which are going to fade away – that is fade from use not just fade from your face.
The fastest growing selection of facial fillers is the HA fillers. One of the first to be FDA approved and widely used was Restylane followed by Juvederm. Along with Restylane there is Perlane, a thicker version and Juvederm Ultra Plus; a thicker version of Juvederm. Historically, Captique and Hylaform were early contenders but these fell by the wayside as not measuring up to Restylane and Juvederm. New to the market is Hydrelle; the first HA to have local anesthetic right in the syringe. Many of us now combine HA with local anesthetic to reduce the discomfort on injection. This saves a step. However, will Hydrelle stand up as a filler? The presentation on new fillers compared Hydrelle to Captique, which really couldn’t hold a candle to Restylane or Juvederm.
An exciting new pair of HA fillers are Prevelle Silk and Prevelle Shape. These also have local anesthetic. According to the new technologies seminar, Prevelle Silk has the smallest HA particle size. This may work well for treating very fine lines in the skin, especially around the mouth. Right now, the HA options of Restylane and Juvederm can be used, but when injected too superficially, the clear gel may be visible as a bluish bump within the skin called the Tindal effect. A smaller particle should reduce this potential side effect. For really small, superficial lines, the best stuff out there right now is Cosmoderm, but there is a rumor going around that Cosmoderm and Cosmoplast might be dropped from production due to low sales from HA competition and high production costs. I will definitely try Prevelle Silk since it will fill a needed niche in facial fillers.
Next week I will expand on fillers (no pun intended) to discuss Evolence, Radiesse and Sculptra.
