What is Restylane?  It is a dermal filler.  What is a dermal filler?  It is an injectable product whose sole purpose is to help provide filling or plumping within the foundational layers of our skin known as dermis which makes up eighty to ninety percent of the skin's thickness.  Why is that necessary?  With each decade of life lived, the foundational layers of our skin lose approxiamately 6% of its thickness.  As age, sun exposure, genetics and life style choices slow down the skin's ability to renew itself, we begin to see and feel our skin's thickness diminish. This loss initially becomes obvious in the areas around the eyes, the mouth and the hands but its effects are ongoing in other areas as well.  As the skin thins with age, wrinkling and the formation of facial lines of expression are not far behind.

Restylane is one of the newer products that is found in our dermis naturally.  As a hyaluronic acid, it is ubiquitous throughout our skin and is considered a part of what are known as ground substances that are responsible for our skin's plumpness and youthfulness.  This and other substances known as glycoaminoglycans and proteoglycans can imbibe and attract up to 1000-10,000 times their molecular weight in water.  Since sixty percent of our body is water in some form or another, molecules that can attract and hold water within our skin is not only necessarry but desirous.  Although Dr. English offers several fillers in his office, this is one of the more popular ones because of its ease of use, its safety record and its longevity of results as measured in several months.

The most common areas of interest among our patients pertain to the face, especially around the mouth and eye areas although it can be injected in other areas as well.  Since its installation requires a needle placed through the epidermis (the outer layer of skin) and into the middle of the dermis (the inner layer of skin), a topical numbing agent can be applied to the skin's surface to lessen the discomfort of the injection.  If anxiety is an issue, our highly trained staff can administer nitrous oxide which is known as laughing gas that you may have recieved at your dentist's office to allay your concerns. The treatment process is brief and so is the recovery time.   

One other note of interest is that my injectionist is also my sister.  She has been with  me for over a decade and has recieved awards for her abilities to achieve excellent results with this and other injectable products.  She has been asked and does train other physicains and nurses in her art of dermal filling.  Her professional demeanor and experience will set you at ease with your initial consultation.  If you have facial line(s) or wrinkles that are static in nature (present without facial movement) and you would like to find out more about your nonsurgical options, please let us know by contacting our office at your convenience.