Fat is often portrayed as the enemy by the media. But it can also be your friend. Patients who were teased for having a “baby face” when they were younger get the last laugh when they are older. This is due to the fact that loss of fat or volume in the mid-face and cheeks is one of the primary drivers of facial aging. A full face is a youthful looking face. Furthermore, the mid-face takes up a lot of real estate, and provides balance between your forehead and your jaw. Since rejuvenation of the face or body is really all about restoring proper proportion, even a slight decrease in volume in the cheek area can have an adverse effect on how you look and feel. Dermal fillers can be a great option for facial rejuvenation, but with so many different choices, how do you know which is the right filler for mid-face volume loss?
In-Person Consultation
I sometimes feel like a broken record with my insistence on an in-person consultation, but it is truly the best way to ensure an excellent result. Assessing your:
- Skin texture
- Degree and severity of skin laxity
- Baseline anatomy
This allows me to customize your injectables procedure to your unique:
- Anatomy
- Needs
- Lifestyle
The latter includes both cost and tolerance for downtime. I take all of these things into consideration when coming up with the right plan for each juvederm voluma Boston patient.
Fillers for Mid-Face
In my Boston area offices, we have several excellent filler options for the mid-face. These include:
The latter is the newest filler to hit the market for this area of the face. Recently approved by the FDA for cheek augmentation and correction of mid-face contour deficiencies, Restylane® Contour is made with Galderma’s proprietary XpresHAn technology.
Benefits of Restylane® Contour
XpresHAn combines hyaluronic acid (HA), which is a naturally occurring sugar in the body, and crosslinks it in a specific manner and pattern to create a smooth, injectable gel that increases volume without stifling your tissue’s ability to form expression. Like Restylane® KYSSE for the lips, the HA in this filler actually binds to itself. This is what allows it to stretch out with your facial expressions and then retract back into its former space. Bottom line, I can restore volume while still allowing for dynamic movement. The end result is a softer, more natural look that lasts for up to a year or more. For mid-face volume correction, I find it best to combine Restylane® Contour with one of the the more robust fillers such as Restylane® Lyft or Juvéderm Voluma®.
Juvéderm Voluma®
Juvéderm Voluma® was the first HA filler on the market specifically designed to address mid-face/cheek volume loss. Made with a heavier-weight HA molecule than any of the other fillers in the Juvéderm line, it can be an ideal option for this area of the face in the right patient.
As with any aesthetic procedure, an exemplary result is all about matching the right product or procedure with the right patient. Injectables, which includes both neurotoxins like Botox® as well as dermal fillers, is one of my areas of expertise. I have a lot of experience with all of the different fillers on the market so I understand their subtle differences.This is why you want to see a Board-Certified plastic surgeon or a Board-Certified dermatologist with a lot of experience with dermal fillers. It is a procedure that is often presented as simple on social media yet delivering a safe, exemplary result involves technical skill, deep knowledge and a keen artistic eye. This is a procedure where even a little bit of filler, placed incorrectly, can look disturbing.
Sculptra® Aesthetic Not an HA Filler
The last option for restoring volume loss in the cheeks and mid-face is Sculptra® Aesthetic. It works in an entirely different way than Restylane® Contour, Restylane® Lyft and Juvéderm Voluma which are all HA based fillers. Sculptra® Aesthetic, on the other hand, is a bio-stimulant that increases volume by promoting your own body to produce more collagen. In general, it will take a series of treatments to achieve your desired result. And though this result will not last forever, it is more “permanent” than what can be achieved with an HA filler. This can be good news, bad news as one of the advantages of HA fillers is that if you do not like your results, the filler can be dissolved. This is not the case with Sculptra® Aesthetic which is another reason to be really careful when choosing your injector.
Ideal Candidate for Mid-Face Fillers
The ideal candidate for a filler procedure to the mid-face is any man or woman in good overall health who is bothered by:
- Sagging skin around the lower face, mouth
- Hollow area beneath the cheekbone
- Visible transition between under eye area and upper cheek
My mid-face filler patients often come in complaining that they just look tired and “grey” all the time, even after a full night’s sleep. So, if you are feeling like you need a pick-me-up, come in to see me to discuss whether a mid-face filler might be right for you.
To find out more about a filler procedure for the mid-face with Restylane® Contour, Restylane Lyft Boston, Juvéderm Voluma®, Sculptra® Aesthetic, or any other surgical or non-surgical procedure with Dr. Sean Doherty at his Boston or Brookline office, contact us today or call (617) 450.0070 to schedule a consultation.