Soft Tissue Fillers

Soft tissue fillers can address wrinkles caused by excessive squinting, frowning, smiling and especially smoking by filling the skin or the tissue under the skin

There are many types of tissue fillers. Some are natural substances which provide a temporary fill such as collagen, hyaluronic acid or dermis. Others are synthetic materials such as polymethyl methacrylate or beads. These synthetic fillers are permanent.

Synthetic tissue fillers are usually permanent, but may occasionally be rejected by the body and results in granuloma or infection.

You may also have permanent filling by having your own fat transferred from one part of your body to another in a procedure known as fat grafting or autogenous lipofilling. Fat transfer is widely used because it is well tolerated as you cannot be allergic to substances taken from your own body. We can discuss with you the risks and benefits of all of the available tissue fillers.

In addition to filling out wrinkles, lipofilling can be used to recontour the face and provide fullness to cheeks, chin, lips and lower eyes. The fat used for fat transfer is liposuction from another part of your body such as the abdomen or thighs and injected into an area of the face that requires more volume.

Injected fat lasts longer in larger areas of non-movement, so while it is successful for the correction of grooves under the eyes and sunken cheeks, it is not as successful for creating fuller lips. Fat grafting can also improve atrophic aging of the hands.

Fat grafting is usually performed on an outpatient basis. Both the area from which the fat is taken and the treatment site are anaesthetised with a local anaesthetic. Using a small needle attached to a syringe, fat is removed from a donor site where you have spare fat such as your abdomen. Once removed, your fat is processed to remove excess fluids and then re-injected using another needle which is placed just under your skin beneath the wrinkle or deeper if contour change is desired.

The procedure may need to be repeated until the desired correction has been achieved

Swelling and bruising are expected after fat injection. Discomfort following the procedure can be easily controlled with medication. Although your body may absorb some of the fat of lipofilling, some of it remains with each treatment for a long-lasting result.