Family Encyclopedia >> Beauty & Style

Questions (not silly) about aesthetic medicine#4

I'm afraid to look like a balloon with an injection. Am I paranoid or are failures not so frequent?

No, it's not (that) frequent. But the paranoid of beginners is justified because the "missed" are (very) visible. While a successful injection, on the contrary, is both risk-free and undetectable. There are two types of failures:1/ that linked to the technical fault or (the most visible) to the patient who always wants more and the doctor who always says yes. In both cases, the way the product was injected caused the face to lose its naturalness:a frozen forehead, eyebrows that were too low or too high, overly injected cheekbones, skin that looked like rubber, lips that were too luscious… Fortunately, all of this is resorbable. 2/ The other failure, heavier, is linked to “long-term absorbable” products whose effect exceeds two years. There, an injection error is much more penalizing and can even give rise to reactions years later. Health authorities therefore recommend avoiding this type of product. How do you know what you are injected with? Ask for it! Remember that, among all the brands that exist, the big players are Q-med, Galderma, Allergan, Glytone and Merz. And find out beforehand:all techniques and products that are not recognized by learned medical societies (SOFCPRE, society of plastic surgeons or the French Society of Dermato) are to be absolutely avoided.

How much does it cost?

The doctor must put his cards on the table and display his prices in the waiting room. Depending on the practitioner, count between 350 and 550 € for the toxin and between 300 and 400 € for Hyaluronic acid, per syringe. For example, when injecting a nasolabial fold, you may need half a syringe up to two syringes. Hence the importance of the quote. On the fractional laser side, count from 150€ for a small area to 500€ for a face, the session (it generally takes 5 to 6) and from 1000 to 2500 € for a C02 laser session. A superficial peel costs from 60 to 150 € (4 to 5 sessions) or from 150 to 450 € for a medium or deep peel.

At what age can injections be started? Is this good prevention?

There is no age... "Because it's not only about anti-aging but also about correction, reminds dermatologist Joëlle Sebaoun:at 20, for example, you can restore volume to a very fine mouth, or simply moisturize it (see box) or rebalance the lower lip (respecting the balance 1/3 upper lip 2/3 lower lip). If you have dry skin and if the frown line is already marked, you can do something light at 25. Twisted nose or small bump, we even have the possibility of acting slightly on the straightness of the nasal bridge. Even when it comes to wrinkles, we are not just in anti-aging:we can erase what makes you look sad, unsightly, tired”. It is work "to the millimeter" as doctors agree, which allows you to refresh a face, without affecting its beauty, nor (especially) its identity. Is there a preventive action? Yes, without hesitation, and this is particularly true around the eyes and the mouth, the two places that wrinkle the fastest, due to muscle activity. The toxin is the most preventive:by relaxing the muscle, it prevents it from working and therefore, from causing the "fracture" that is the wrinkle. “We have a perspective on patients treated with the toxin over the last fifteen years. We see that the eye area has not aged, that the tail of the eyebrow is still in place. Hyaluronic Acid also has a beneficial effect over time, but less so, because, unlike the toxin, it treats the consequence, not the cause,” emphasizes Dr. Niforos.

How long do the effects of injections, lasers and other peels last?

It is generally necessary to renew the injections of hyaluronic acid once a year, while the toxin is injected every six months. A light peeling requires 4 sessions and requires maintenance approximately every two years. A medium peel may possibly require another session far from the first (1 year). Regarding the C02 laser, a single session is enough for 4 to 5 years against 3 to 4 sessions for the fractional laser. What you need to know:a healthy lifestyle optimizes the lifespan of all these techniques. So, we gently cleanse our skin daily and hydrate ourselves, we drink 1.5 liters of water a day, we eat a balanced diet (- sugars, + good fats), we protect ourselves from the sun on a daily basis with a index 30 to 50, cigarettes are avoided and alcohol consumption is moderated. All that.

Is it true that you can have your own fat injected?

Less fat on the thighs and more in the breasts or on the cheekbones… Tempting, isn't it? This technique, called lipostructure, was created in the 90s by Sidney Coleman, an American surgeon. First applied to severe burns and then to breast reconstruction after cancer, this cell therapy is now practiced for aesthetic purposes. The principle:“we take fat from inside the knee or in the saddlebags, via a cannula and under local anesthesia. Then it is purified before reinjecting it into the face (dark circles, furrow, cheekbones, etc.) but also into the breasts where it replaces the prosthesis (=lipomodeling of the breasts). Fat is a very beautiful living tissue, rich in stem cells, which integrates perfectly into the skin and, even better, which contributes to its regeneration” emphasizes Dr. Niforos. It is a light act, which is only performed once (not like a classic injection) but which is performed in the operating room, under local anesthesia, by a surgeon (from 800 € to 1500 €). An ultra-promising state-of-the-art technique that needs to be perfectly mastered (also).