Fillers – Can They Halt Aging?

What happens when you look in the mirror? Do you like your current appearance or are you starting to notice signs of aging such as wrinkles and fine lines? If so, are you the type of person that simply embraces your appearance or do you want to find a way to stop visible signs of the aging process?

Fillers are often used by patients of all ages to add lost volume to the face and to give the skin a younger and smoother look. Can fillers halt signs of aging and how long do they last? We have the answers you want to know, and we start with a fact-filled fillers video from Cosmetic Town TV:

Fillers – What are They, How Do They Work and Who Gets Them?

Fillers are made of a variety of substances, and they are injected under the skin to add volume to the targeted area of the body or to give the treated section of the body a plumper look. They can also be added to the lips to enhance their size and shape.

If you like to use fillers in your face, you are not alone! The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) reported that around 3.4-million soft filler tissue procedures were performed in the United States in 2020.

There is a general misconception that patients who want fillers are all older people who want to turn back the clock. This is not accurate because many of the patients who decide to get fillers are also younger in age. For example, the ASPS reported that people between the ages of twenty and twenty-nine had 87,353 soft filler procedures in 2020. That same year, patients between the ages of thirty and thirty-nine had 348,180 soft filler procedures while 1,511,696 people between forty and fifty-four had soft filler procedures in 2020.

Fillers – Can It Prevent Aging?

When it comes to patients who want to have fillers injected into the face, some people are simply trying to reduce or eliminate signs of aging. There are also some people who want to have fillers because they think they can stop the aging process. Unfortunately, this is not true as aging is not able to be prevented or completely stopped by injectables such as fillers. Having said that, fillers can prevent signs of aging from being visible or apparent to others.

To put it simply, fillers do not work miracles and they are not a fountain of youth for the public. The aging process will happen to everyone, but some patients are able to use fillers as a preventative treatment to slow the aging of the skin and keep them looking younger for a longer period of time. Fillers are able to delay the forming of lines and wrinkles that can make a person look older as well as restore volume that was lost in the face.

The process of using fillers to try and prevent the aging process from being visible is referred to as “prejuvenation.” If a person has concerns or worries about certain sections of their face, a doctor will discuss the concerns with the patient to learn more about their motivations and also set realistic expectations about the type of results they can expect to see.

The prejuvenation process can help a person look younger by stimulating the production of collagen so the skin will have a tighter feel and look along with an improved tone and quality. Patients do need to know that once they start using fillers, they will need to keep using them on a regular basis to maintain the results. The changes that are provided by fillers are not permanent, which means follow-up treatments are needed to prevent the skin from returning to its pre-treatment condition.

Fillers – How Much Do They Cost and How Long Do They Last?

The cost of having fillers placed in the face depends on the type of filler as well as the amount of filler used by the doctor. In addition, the final price also depends on the area of the country where the treatment was performed, and any additional fees charged by the doctor or the medical facility. Hyaluronic acid fillers can run anywhere from $400-$500 while hydroxylapatite fillers can cost anywhere from $650-$950. The doctor can also use Poly-L-lactic fillers that cost between $1400-$2000.

As mentioned earlier, the results from fillers are not permanent which means follow-up treatments will be needed to maintain the results. Depending on the type of filler used, the amount of filler injected into the face, and the condition of the skin, the results from fillers can last anywhere from six to eighteen months.

The right time to start using fillers can be before signs of aging start to appear and even after visible signs of aging are on the face. The first step is talk to a doctor about your options and to make sure you are an ideal candidate for fillers.

- MA