Home/Injectables/Dermal filler
Hyaluronic acidHyaluronic acid filler restores structure where structure is missing — cheeks, lips, chin and jawline. It works the day it is placed, it can be adjusted, and it can be dissolved if the result is not right.
Two faces can look similarly aged for entirely different reasons. One has lost support — fat pads have deflated, bone has remodelled, and the overlying tissue has nothing to sit on. The other has thinning, slackening skin over a structure that is more or less intact.
Filler answers the first. It occupies space immediately, in a plane and a quantity chosen for the area. It does comparatively little for the second, which is where Sculptra or hyperdilute Radiesse come in. Distinguishing between them is most of what the assessment is for.
Hyaluronic acid is one molecule, but how it is cross-linked decides how the gel behaves — how firm it is, how far it spreads, how it moves when you speak. That is why a clinic carries more than one brand rather than one product in several sizes.
Allergan's range, cross-linked with VYCROSS. It spans firm, structural gels for the chin and jawline through to very soft ones for lips and fine lines, and it is the most widely used filler family in the world — which means the largest body of evidence behind it.
Galderma's range, built on two different technologies. NASHA gels are firmer and hold their shape, which suits definition. The flexible gels are designed to move with expression, which matters most in areas that are constantly in motion — lips and the lower face.
Merz's range, made with cohesive polydensified matrix cross-linking, which integrates unusually evenly into the dermis rather than sitting as a discrete bolus. That is why it is chosen for superficial, delicate work — fine lines and the tear trough — where a firmer gel can show through thin skin as a bluish shadow. It is known in Chinese as 水无痕玻尿酸 or 仿生玻尿酸 for that reason.
The brand follows the area, not the reverse. A face may be treated with two of these in one appointment because the chin and the under-eye need different gels.
Hyaluronic acid can be broken down on demand with hyaluronidase. That is useful when a result is not what was wanted, and it is important for safety: in the rare event of vascular compromise, having an immediate way to dissolve the product changes the outcome.
Reversibility is also the reason hyaluronic acid is the default in the lips and other mobile, visible areas, rather than firmer products that cannot be undone.
Topical anaesthetic is used, and most products contain lidocaine. Swelling is normal for a few days and is most pronounced in the lips. Bruising is possible anywhere there is an injection. Results are visible immediately, though the final shape is best judged at about two weeks, once swelling has fully resolved.
A review appointment is ordinary practice, because small adjustments after settling are easier than trying to be perfect on the day.
Questions
Typically six to eighteen months. It varies with the product's thickness, the area treated and how much movement that area sees — lips metabolise filler faster than cheeks.
Yes. Hyaluronidase breaks down hyaluronic acid, so the result can be reduced or removed. This is one of the main reasons hyaluronic acid is used in visible, mobile areas like the lips.
It depends on whether the problem is missing structure or lost collagen. Filler replaces structure immediately. Sculptra stimulates your own collagen over months and adds no shape. Many faces need both, for different areas.
Juvederm (乔雅登), Restylane (瑞兰) and Belotero (宝柔缇). All three are hyaluronic acid, cross-linked in different ways, so each behaves differently in the tissue. The area being treated decides which one is used.
How the hyaluronic acid is cross-linked, which changes how the gel behaves. Juvederm's range spans firm structural gels to very soft ones. Restylane offers both firm gels that hold their shape and flexible gels designed to move with expression. Belotero integrates especially evenly into the dermis, which suits superficial work like fine lines and the tear trough, where a firmer gel can show through thin skin.
That is a function of quantity, plane and which areas are treated rather than of the product itself. Conservative dosing with a review at two weeks, once swelling has settled, is the way it is avoided.
Bring your concern rather than a treatment name. The assessment decides what is actually indicated, and what is not.
