Your face is the first thing people see about you, so most people want to keep it looking fresh, young, and inviting, but natural symptoms of aging like fine lines and wrinkles, skin laxity or losseness, and loss of facial volume or facial deflation, can make you look tired, angry, old. Fortunately, many of these concerns can be improved with fillers like Artefill, leaving you feeling better about your younger, fresher, naturally improved face.
What can be treated
Artefill is unlike other traditional filler that are made with hyaluronic acid (HA). Artefill is versatile, meaning it can be used in all skin types and various areas of the face and body, and is extremely long-lasting. In studies Artefill has shown improvement for up to or beyond 5 years for wrinkles and folds as well as acne scars. Artefill can be used throughout the face, particularly in deeper wrinkles and folds to give natural lift, plump, and contour. In most cases, it is reserved for areas of the face such as the nasolabial folds or cheeks, rather than thin-skinned areas such as the lips or under eyes. It is a popular choice for filling in areas of the face such as the deep creases running from your nose to the corners of your mouth, lip lines, furrows between the eyebrows, and horizontal forehead creases and wrinkles. It also corrects loss of volume and can add plumpness and lift to gaunt or deflated cheeks, temples, forehead, and jawline. It may even be used to fill the deep hollows beneath the eyes that make so many patients appear older and more tired than they are. As mentioned earlier, may patients have success with Artefill as a longer-term filler for deeply indented scars. In addition to its facial uses, Artefill is sometimes used on the body as well and can even be used to plump up aging, bony-looking hands, chest wrinkles and crepeness, or irregularities from trauma or surgery.
The Procedure
After you’ve had your consultation to determine if Artefill is an appropriate treatment for your individual needs, you’ll be able to have the injections performed right in the office. In most cases, it takes no more than a few minutes, which means that many patients are able to return to normal activity immediately after the treatment.
Before your injections, a topical anesthetic may be applied depending on the patient’s preferences and the sensitivity of the treatment area. Since Artefill contains the numbing agent lidocaine, though, this is often unnecessary.
After any anesthetic is applied, Artefill will be carefully placed into the designated area with a syringe and either a needle or cannula to plump and subtly recontour the area discussed. The number of injections or cannula passes needed will depend on the treatment plan that you’ll discuss during the pre-treatment consultation.
Once the treatment is done, you’ll be free to leave immediately. Side effects like redness, swelling, or bruising are normally minimal and can be treated with cold compresses before they disappear in a day or two. Cannula use minimizes the risk of bruising and swelling. We also offer holistic, natural, neutraceutical supplementation that can be taken prior to and after treatment to minimize the risk even further.
Results to Expect
Artefill provides a noticeable and long-lasting augmentation of the wrinkles and lines that age your face. It can also provide a young-looking, natural lift that provides contour and volume, making you look better, but still like yourself. Most patients report a soft, natural, fresh look immediately after treatment, and continued improvement for months to years afterwards.
Artefill FAQ
Artefill is a permanent hybrid-gel filler, unlike the other traditional fillers on the market that are made of hyaluronic acid (HA). Artefill is made up primarily of purified collagen to provide natural strength and structure to your skin, as well as a suspension of synthetic microspheres that interact with your skin to promte collagen growth that gives long-lasting lift, volume and contour. It also contains lidocaine to give instant pain relief at the time of the injection to prevent any discomfort.
Unlike popular hyaluronic acid fillers, Artefill’s synthetic microspheres will not be absorbed by your body, so it can provide extremely long-lasting fullness. In many cases, the results can last five years or more.
Artefill is safe. It’s been approved by the FDA since 2006 and has been used since then without problem. Minimal risks are aesthetic and include lumpiness or visibility if not used properly. These reactions are extremely uncommon and can be treated with massage or surgical removal depending on their extent. This is very rarely a concern.
It depends on how deep your wrinkles are or how much lift or contour you are trying to achieve. If you treat your lines and wrinkles or volume loss early in the aging process, most patients are very happy with the results after just one or two treatments. And this improvement can last for up to or beyond 5 years. In more severe cases, though, it can take multiple treatments, which are performed roughly two months apart to allow each injection to be properly integrated into your skin.
The long-term benefit of Artefill comes from the new collagen that will form around the microspheres that make up the filler. This is a process your body does automatically and is variable between each person. You can help to encourage new collagen formation after your treatment by avoiding corticosteroids like prednisone, not smoking, and keeping pressure off of the treatment area. As well, combining Artefill with other external skin treatments such as radiofrequency or laser may help give a more significant improvement in collagen formation.
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