Tissue Fillers

As we age, our faces begin to show the effects of gravity, sun exposure, and years of facial muscle movement, such as smiling, chewing and squinting. The underlying tissues that keep our skin looking youthful and plumped up begin to break down, often leaving laugh lines, smile lines, sunken cheeks, and facial creases over the areas where this muscle movement occurs such as around the sides of the mouth. Smoking, for example, also causes vertical wrinkles around the lips.

Soft-tissue fillers, most commonly injectable products such as Artefil, Juvederm, Restylane, or fat, can help fill in these lines and creases, restoring a smoother, more youthful-looking appearance. When injected beneath the skin, these fillers can help rectify deep facial wrinkles, fill in creases and furrows, plump up sunken cheeks, create fuller more sensuous lips, and correct skin depressions and some types of scars.

In your one-on-one consultation with Dr. Wittenberg, you can discuss your desired look. He will then recommend the procedure(s) that best meet your preferences. Dr Wittenberg is an expert in Facial Anatomy which is crucial to the proper use and placement of tissue Fillers. The fillers must be placed expertly in the right location, correct depth, and in the correct amounts in order to provide a natural appearance.

Artefil

Artefil is an injectable material used for the treatment of facial folds and wrinkles, lip augmentation, nasal irregularities and acne scars. The primary advantage of Artefil is that it is very long lasting and in many cases produces permanent results. Artefil is inert and therefore, compatible with your body. Artefil has a long and proven history of safety, and has been used successfully over the past ten years in tens of thousands of patients worldwide.

Juviderm/Restylane

Restylane and Juvederm treatments are part of a class of so-called ‘fillers’. Like collagen which was commonly utilized years ago, small amounts of a filler can be injected into the various layers of the skin to contour and add fullness, minimize static wrinkles and reduce folds.  Lip augmentation is a common use of tissue fillers and it is important to create natural fullness with good definition of the ‘outline’ of the lips; as well as increase the fullness of the lips. Balance between the upper and lower lips must be obtained in order to look natural.

Fillers can be used for correcting thin superficial lines (such as around the mouth), forehead lines and smile lines: or for shaping facial contours (such as in the cheeks and chin). One of the more innovative, simple and safe uses for tissue fillers such as Juvederm, is to reduce the look of ‘bags’ under the eyes. Simple but specific placement of filler in the proper tissue plane under the eye will greatly soften the tired look and rejuvenate the eyes significantly. The material will generally last about one year in the area underneath the eyes, and improvements in the product duration should lengthen that retention time in the near future.

So whether it is the ‘bags’ under the eyes, thinning lips, folds at the side of the nose, dips at the corners of the mouth or jawline help or cheekbone augmentation; the use of tissue fillers will greatly restore the volume and appearance of these areas naturally.

Fat Transfer

Fat Transfer, also known as Fat Injection, microlipoinjection or Fat Grafting is the technique of moving fat from one area of the body to another to improve contour, correct defects, or enhance features. Fat is often used to fill in sunken cheeks or laugh lines between the nose and mouth, to correct skin depressions or indentations, to minimize forehead wrinkles and occasionally to enhance the lips. Fat transfer tends to be more permanent when injected around the eyes or cheeks, and less so when injected for lip augmentation or around the chin or mouth. Repeat treatments may be necessary. The augmentation results from fat transplantation are extremely effective in filling depressions. However, it is important to select the proper material for your situation and we can help you reach your goal in that area.

For Before & After photos on this procedure, please view our Tissue Fillers Gallery.