Lips & Lines,
2. Rejuvenating The Face Without Surgery
With age and environmental damage the face develops lines and wrinkles that can give it a tired appearance. There are injection techniques that will help smooth these lines and rejuvenate the face, with little to no down time. The procedure takes less than thirty minutes and the results are evident within four to seven days. As there are two types of lines that appear on the face dynamic and static using a combination approach to treat them is most beneficial.
Wrinkle Relaxing Injections
A minor procedure such as wrinkle relaxing injections will help smooth dynamic lines by treating the cause. Dynamic lines are formed by facial expressions so are com m only seen around the eyes, on the forehead and on the nose. After m any years of moving the facial muscles, these lines can become perm anent even when the face isnt in an expressive state (eg the crows feet wrinkles around the eyes). " Wrinkle relaxing injections are very effective in improving or eliminating dynamic lines and it actually helps prevent these lines from becoming perm anent later," said Sydney cosmetic surgeon Dr Anoop Rastogi. "It is a muscle relaxant injection that works by preventing the nerves from signalling the muscles producing the wrinkles to contract." Once injected locally at the site of the wrinkles, it takes another four to seven days for the results to become evident. The wrinkles are smoothed for up to five months at which tim e the muscles will start to create the lines again. The treatment is repeated about three times a year to start. Interestingly however, the wrinkle relaxing injection starts to permanently prevent the lines from forming, resulting in the need for less treatments. "As with all cosmetic surgery there is an art to injecting muscle relaxants," said Dr Rastogi. "With careful placement, lines and wrinkles can be softened while at the same time all natural facial expression is maintained."
Dermal Fillers
For lines that are present even when there is no expression on the face a different treatment is needed. These lines are the called static lines and can be seen in smokers lines around the lips and the deep folds that can form from the nose down to the corners of the lips (nasolabial folds). To soften these lines they need to be filled with dermal filler. When injected it attracts fluid which plumps out the lines and wrinkles. As with wrinkle relaxing injections, dermal Fillers are non-perm anent and will slowly be resorbed by the body. Being non-perm anent allows the treatment to change with the changing nature of the face. "U sing a non-perm anent treatment allows you to treat lines and wrinkles as they occur," said Dr Rastogi. The site of injection m ay be slightly swollen for about an hour but usually requires negligible down tim e and holds very little risk. Using a com bination of both products will effectively treat m any of the lines and wrinkles of the face giving a subtle, fresher appearance.
LIPS
The lips can also be effectively filled with dermal fillers. One of the greatest benefits of dermal fillers is it’s ability to be injected in the pulpy part of the lip as well as the border. This allows the surgeon the versatility of plum ping the lip up as well as carefully shaping the outline.