No matter what your age, we want you to be comfortable in your skin. That means being happy with how you look even while your appearance changes as you get older. Lines and wrinkles can take a toll on our self-esteem and confidence. If you’re unhappy with the signs of aging you see staring back at you, call Rejuvené MD in El Paso, TX and ask about the transformative effects of the treatment Bellafill.
What Causes Signs of Aging?
When we’re young, it’s clear our skin has everything going for it. Think of your skin when you were 20. It was smooth, bright, taut and supple. The main reason young skin looks so good is that it has an optimal amount of the protein that makes it so strong—collagen.
Collagen
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body and accounts for 80% of our skin. You can think of collagen as the building block of our skin. We have three layers of skin, and collagen forms a tight and sturdy scaffold in the middle layer. This fibrous protein forms a tightly packed structure for our outer layer of skin to lie on top of. The top layer of our skin is so smooth and wrinkle-free because there are no weaknesses in the layer below.
The deepest layer of our skin that is comprised of fat pads and fat layers attaches firmly to the strong middle layer above, so we don’t have sagging skin and our face stays proportional. Collagen works hand in hand with elastin and hyaluronic acid to keep our skin taut and looking healthy.
Elastin
Our bodies produce this protein to keep our organs, including our skin, flexible. Each time we move, our skin stretches to a certain extent and elastin allows it to snap back to place. When a woman is pregnant, elastin helps her skin go back to its original shape after birth. The same is true of the skin on our faces. When we make expressions or pull and tug on our skin, elastin makes it go back to place.
Elastin works with collagen in the deepest layer of our skin to keep our fat pads and tissue in place. Our skin stays taut and always looks smooth.
Hyaluronic Acid
You may have seen the trend of skincare products touting hyaluronic acid as their main ingredient. Why? Because it is a powerhouse of hydration. Hyaluronic acid is a sugar our bodies produce to keep our skin and other connective tissue lubricated and hydrated. Each molecule holds 1000 times its weight in water and even attracts moisture to the skin. This gives young skin a supple look and feel.
Young skin rarely looks dry or ashen because it just naturally has so much moisture. Makeup goes and stays on easily because there’s so much natural hydration. When the skin has plenty of collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid, it’s gorgeously smooth, soft, and supple. Something changes as we enter our 20s.
The Slow in Production
Around the time we turn 20, we lose collagen production by about 1% per year. While this may not sound like a lot, it definitely takes its toll on our skin. In the middle layer or the dermis, what once was a tightly packed layer of skin starts to show areas of weakness. These weaknesses allow little crevices to form.
Because we’ve also lost production of elastin, our skin can’t fight gravity anymore and the surface of our skin falls into those crevices. When the skin falls into those grooves, it creates lines, wrinkles, and folds.
Loss of Volume
Another issue that happens because of our loss in the production of collagen, is the loss of volume in places like our cheeks and cheekbones. Collagen can’t hold the fat pads in place that gave us our high cheekbones and apple cheeks, so they slip, and those areas flatten and can even look hollow. The same is true under our eyes. Losing volume can cause deep tear troughs and bags under our eyes.
Fat pads slip, making the bottom of our faces heavier, leading to jowls and an undefined jawline.
Solutions
One of the most popular solutions for lines, wrinkles, folds, and volume loss is a family of injectables called dermal fillers. There are many fillers on the market. Each serves a different purpose and produces different results. Results vary because of differences in the active ingredients and how those ingredients are suspended. Most fillers give results that last up to 12 months. There is one dermal filler called Bellafill that offers amazing results lasting much, much longer.
What Is Bellafill?
Bellafill is a revolutionary filler that targets multiple signs of aging with results that can last five years or more. Its active ingredient and the way it behaves are completely unique in the dermal filler world. Many fillers’ main ingredient is synthetic hyaluronic acid, and when injected, it plumps the area but is then naturally metabolized by the body between 6-12 months later, taking its results with it.
Bellafill is a collagen gel-filled with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) microspheres. This FDA-approved dermal filler promises permanent results for certain areas of concern like moderate-to-severe lines and folds.
How Does Bellafill Work?
When the collagen and microspheres are injected, the mixture immediately plumps up the area, filling in lines. The microspheres settle in, causing collagen production to be ramped up. The fibroblasts of collagen build up around the microspheres causing your body to naturally rebuild the strong structure of your skin. These microspheres are not absorbed by the body, so you enjoy results for up to and even over five years. This treatment is approved for use on moderate to severe nasolabial folds, often the deepest lines on the face.
Acne Scarring
Bellafill has also been approved to help clients with acne scarring. When you have a cystic acne breakout, those cysts form in the middle layer of your skin. When they resolve, they leave a space in the middle layer of your skin so the top layer of your skin falls and creates those crater-like scars left on the face. Bellafill can be injected to smooth the surface of the skin, greatly diminishing or eliminating the look of acne scars.
What to Expect
We will always do a thorough consultation with you to determine if this is the right solution for your areas of concern. We’ll examine your skin and talk through the results you expect. If we decide this is the right treatment for you, there are just a few pre-treatment instructions for you to follow to ensure you get the most out of treatment.
Pre-Treatment
Because this is a quick and easy, minimally invasive treatment, there’s very little preparation for you to do before your appointment. To reduce the already low likelihood of bruising, avoid taking blood-thinning medications like:
- Aspirin
- Ibuprofen
- Naproxen
- Fish oil
- Gingko Biloba
- Ginseng
- High doses of vitamin E
It’s also advised that you refrain from drinking alcohol for 24 hours before your appointment. As always, we ask that you stay out of direct sunlight for a week before your appointment, including tanning beds. This limits the inflammatory response of your body so we can gauge how much filler you really need. We will do an allergy test to ensure this treatment is compatible with your biology.
During Your Appointment
When you arrive, we’ll clean the area to be treated and apply a numbing cream so you’re as comfortable as possible during your session. Bellafill is one of the few dermal fillers that has lidocaine in its solution. Lidocaine is a local anesthetic, so your treatment gets more comfortable as it continues.
We can see the progress of your treatment as we go so we can make sure the right amount is used to get optimal results. When you walk out, you will look years younger.
Post-Treatment
After your 10- to 30-minute treatment, you’re free to go back to your normal routine. Many of our clients make their appointment during breaks from work and immediately go back to the office when they’re finished. This minimally invasive treatment requires no downtime. It’s always a good idea to stay out of direct sunlight, including tanning beds, for a week or two after treatment.
When Will I See Results After Bellafill Treatment?
You’ll see immediate and amazing results as the filler is being injected. Looking in the mirror right after treatment, you’ll see a much younger appearance. Those results will continue to approve over the next three to five months when you’ll see optimal results. This happens because collagen production continues to improve over that length of time.
Those microspheres keep collagen production at optimal levels for five years and beyond. How long results last really depends on the individual person, their natural metabolism and collagen production rate, the beginning condition of their skin, and their age. 83% of patients are still thrilled with their results after five years: a number previously unheard of in the dermal filler world.
Who Is a Good Candidate?
We will conduct an allergy test before your treatment to make sure you won’t have any adverse effects. There are some clients for whom this treatment may not be ideal, though the consultation is the only way to accurately determine if this is the right solution for you. Those clients may include:
- Clients under 21
- Pregnant or breastfeeding women
- Clients with severe allergies
- People who may have a condition that causes irregular scarring
Only Dr. Herman can determine if this is the right treatment for you, your skin condition, areas of concern and the results you’re looking for.
Other Dermal Fillers
We offer other dermal fillers to meet other needs our clients have. We’re happy to discuss all our filler options with you to match the right injectable to your area of concern. We offer:
- Belotero
- Juvederm
- Radiesse
- Restylane
- Sculptra
We’ve carefully chosen each filler to address the most common needs of our clients. Juvederm is one of the most popular fillers in the world and offers several types of fillers to address almost any need our clients have. Juvederm is formulated with hyaluronic acid while some of our other fillers use different active ingredients to extend the life of results or achieve different things. Because of our diverse line of fillers, we’re able to address:
- Nasolabial folds
- Marionette lines
- Chin dimpling and wrinkles
- Jowls
- Thin lips
- Areas of volume loss
- Fine lines
- Downturned corners of the mouth
- Lip lines
- Crow’s feet
- Volume loss in hands
Call for Results
If you’re unhappy with the signs of aging you see and are ready to take control of your appearance, call Rejuvené MD in El Paso, TX to book your consultation. We are dedicated to helping our clients live their best life by looking and feeling their best. We take a comprehensive approach to nurture optimal skin and whole-body health, beauty, and vitality. We want to help you find you’re WOW!
