How Juvederm and Hyaluronic Acid Fillers Add Volume and Soften Lines

beautiful woman smiling, pretty earrings, long brown hair | How Juvederm and Hyaluronic Acid Fillers Add Volume and Soften Lines | Masterpiece Skin Restoration

Why Use Juvederm and Hyaluronic Acid Fillers?

Our skin has a bottom layer made up of fat. There’s even a special name for it: the subcutaneous fat layer. It pads your muscles and bones and protects them from bumps and falls.

As we age, our faces naturally lose this fat. Lost fat means there’s less fat between your muscles and the top layers of your skin. As a result, your facial muscles are closer to the skin’s surface than they were when you were young. Smile lines and crow’s feet become more noticeable. This whole situation is only made worse by aging skin. Sun exposure, heredity, and lifestyle choices (like smoking) cause skin to stretch making the fat loss look worse.

Fillers work by restoring fullness to your face, lips, and hands.

Juvederm and other hyaluronic acid fillers can be used to plump thin lips, fill shallow contours, soften facial wrinkles, add volume to cheeks, and improve the look of recessed scars. They act like a cushion to support facial structure and tissues that have lost volume and elasticity due to aging. Their main ingredient is hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid occurs naturally in your skin.  It attracts water to the skin to keep it looking fresh and hydrated.

In general, fillers are used on the lower part of the face, from the eyes down. Read more about hyaluronic acid fillers on our Lip Rejuvenation,  Juvederm,  Juvederm Voluma, and Liquid Facelift pages.

Are the injections painful?

You should definitely ask for a filler that includes lidocaine as an ingredient. Many injectors also use a lidocaine cream. If you ask for these, you'll feel some pain, but it should be manageable.

How long does Juvederm last?

  • Juvederm Volbella (for lips and fine lip lines) lasts about 1 year.
  • Juvederm XC (for the deeper lines and wrinkles around your nose and mouth) lasts about 1 year.
  • Juvederm Vollure (for the deeper lines and wrinkles around your nose and mouth) lasts about 18 months.
  • Juvederm Voluma (for adding cheek volume) lasts about 2 years.

While the effects aren't permanent, hyaluronic acid fillers last long enough that you should learn all the facts.

Repeat treatments are required to maintain the results. Most people get another treatment when the signs of aging reappear.

Who is a good candidate for fillers?

Age should be a consideration. If your features are still changing, fillers like Juvederm aren't the best choice. The FDA has approved fillers for use in adults 18 and over who are not pregnant or breastfeeding. For lips fillers, you must be 21.

Instead of getting fillers, most injectors will encourage teenagers to try contouring with makeup. TotalBeauty.com has a great page about contouring lips. And Lauren Conrad can teach you how to contour your face.

You should not have fillers injected if your skin is red or infected (including acne or cold sores), you scar easily, you have a bleeding disorder or  a history of severe allergies to bacteria or lidocaine.

beautiful lips getting hyaluronic acid injections | How Juvederm and Hyaluronic Acid Fillers Add Volume and Soften Lines | Masterpiece Skin Restoration

How long does the treatment take? How long is the downtime?

Most treatments take 15 – 30 minutes and one office visit. Patients like Juvederm because they can return to everyday activities immediately after getting the injections. They see the results right away and they can get the treatment during a single office visit (however, some fillers require a few visits).

Will I look natural?

Your results will look more natural with a conservative approach. For example, people with thin lips who have their lips made really full rarely look natural.

Just how safe are hyaluronic acid fillers like Juvederm?

This is one of the safest cosmetic treatments available. For years, dermatologists have been refining filler injection techniques to minimize the signs of aging. Today, dermatologists and other medical injectors safely treat people of different ages and skin colors.

Another benefit of Juvederm and other hyaluronic acid fillers is that they are immediately reversible. The hyaluronic acid is quickly broken down with a shot of the enzyme, hyaluronidase.

If you do decide that fillers are right for you, remember that these injections are a medical procedure. Having a filler injected by someone without a medical background can be dangerous. And when fillers aren't injected in a medical office, serious side effects increase dramatically. In other words, you're taking big risks.

What is the treatment like?

Prior to injections, you may have ice or a topical anesthetic applied to your skin. This is dependent upon the filler used and the area to be treated. Your medical provider will inject the filler into the areas you want treated, often giving several injections to get the best result. You may feel a burning or stinging as the hyaluronic acid gel is being injected. To reduce any swelling and redness, your provider may recommend icing the area for 15 – 20 minutes before you leave. You'll be able to gently apply makeup before you leave the office.

How do I care for my skin after I leave? What are the discharge instructions?

  1. No strenuous exercise/activity for 24 hours.
  2. No tanning, either indoor or outdoor, and stay out of the sun!
  3. Avoid touching the treated areas for 3 days unless otherwise instructed.

What are the possible side effects?

The most common side effects are temporary and usually disappear in 7 – 14 days. They include redness, swelling, tenderness, itching and occasionally, bruising.

How Juvederm and Hyaluronic Acid Fillers Add Volume and Soften Lines | Masterpiece Skin Restoration

RARE but severe side effects:

The FDA recently came out with new warnings that fillers can be accidentally injected into blood vessels causing rare but severe side effects such as stroke, visual impairment, blindness, and death of the surrounding skin and underlying tissue.

According to Forbes.com, “Plastic surgeons and dermatologists at the Cleveland Clinic estimated in 2013 severe adverse reactions from the dermal fillers occurred in 0.0001% of all such procedures – a rate of 1 in 10,000.”

Look for signs and symptoms of possible blood vessel injection including unusual pain, vision changes, a whitening of the skin near the injection site, or any signs of a stroke (sudden difficulty speaking, numbness or weakness on one side of your body, difficulty walking, face drooping, severe headache, dizziness, or confusion) during or shortly after the procedure.

Ready to Learn More About Fillers? Read These:

Head shot, Amy Takken, RN & Founder, Masterpiece Skin Restoration

Amy Takken, RN

Amy Takken is a registered nurse with 20+ years of experience helping people improve their health. Her in-depth skincare articles have been featured on Nazarian Plastic Surgery and The Palm Beach Center for Facial Plastic & Laser Surgery. She's also been quoted on Dermascope.com.

Amy loves research and constantly watches for new products and treatments to help you improve your skin’s health – because healthy skin is beautiful! To reach Amy, visit our contact page.

Masterpiece Skin Restoration is your online resource for all things medical aesthetics, skincare, beauty, and wellness. We keep you up to date on leading edge technology and the services available to help you restore your natural beauty.

We have all the information you need to restore your skin.

If you liked this post, you'll LOVE these:

References:

https://www.juvederm.com/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkroll/2015/05/29/rare-but-severe-facial-damage-with-soft-tissue-dermal-fillers-fda-warns/

https://www.plasticsurgery.org/cosmetic-procedures/dermal-fillers

https://www.skintour.com/fillers-botox-injectibles/dermal-fillers-juvederm-restylane-sculptra-radiesse/guide-to-dermal-fillers-restylane-juvederm/

https://www.bustle.com/articles/84584-temporary-lip-fillers-are-safe-as-long-as-you-proceed-with-plenty-of-caution

https://www.aad.org/public/cosmetic/wrinkles/fillers-lasting-results

https://www.aad.org/public/parents-kids/healthy-habits/parents/kids/skin-layers

https://www.totalbeauty.com/content/gallery/makeup-school/p101232/page9

https://laurenconrad.com/blog/2015/05/beauty-beginners-how-to-contour/

Disclaimer:

The Information provided on our website is not medical advice and should not be viewed as such. By law, only a medical doctor can diagnose or give medical advice. As a registered nurse, my goal is to educate, so I provide information on skin care, skin care products, and skin care treatments. If you have any condition that concerns you, please see a medical doctor. While most skin conditions are benign, some – like melanoma – can be deadly. If there is any doubt, please, please consult your physician. Thank you!

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