At Salas Plastic Surgery in Miami, FL, we strongly believe that men and women of all ages should feel confident and attractive in their own skin. That is why we are proud to offer several anti-aging treatments to help our clients boost their self-esteem. Today, we discuss one of our most popular treatments, Restylane. Read on to discover everything you need to know.
How Will Restylane Smooth My Facial Wrinkles?
Restylane is a special type of dermal filler that features the active ingredient known as hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid is a chemical compound found naturally in the foundational layers of your skin. It immediately adds volume to the injection site, smoothing out fine lines, moderate wrinkles, and deep folds caused by volume loss.
But the results don’t stop there. Eventually, your body will process the hyaluronic acid, but that doesn’t mean you will stop seeing results. Immediately upon injection, your body starts to produce new collagen. This takes several months. But by the time your body processes the hyaluronic acid injection, plenty of collagen keeps your skin plump and smooth.
This treatment does far more than just smooth out facial wrinkles. It can also be used to re-contour the cheeks and jawline. Depending on the formulation you choose, this hyaluronic acid-based dermal filler can even be used to plump up the lips.
How Long Does Treatment Take?
This incredibly convenient treatment does not usually take longer than an hour. Most formulations include lidocaine, which is an injectable local anesthetic. This ensures that the treatment site is numb and you will feel no pain or discomfort. If you are allergic to lidocaine, please let us know during your initial consultation and we can accommodate your allergy.
Some clients choose to not receive lidocaine. Because the needle used to inject the dermal filler is so fine, you will feel no pain or discomfort. However, some people don’t like feeling the needle penetrate their skin. Such people are more than welcome to have the treatment site anesthetized so they won’t feel anything. However, this will take 15 minutes to take effect.
What Can I Expect During Treatment?
Before your treatment starts, we will cleanse the treatment areas with an alcohol-based antiseptic. If you’d like, we can apply a local anesthetic. We will clearly mark the injection points. Then, we will fill the syringe with the appropriate dose of filler. After that, we will inject the filler into the marked injection points at the most effective depths.
We identify the appropriate dose of filler during your initial consultation. It only takes a few minutes when you come in to fill the syringe with the appropriate dose. If you are treating a smaller area, like your tear troughs (dark under-eye circles), the injections will only take a few minutes. If you are treating several areas, your treatment will take longer.
How Long Does Treatment Take to Work?
The initial results of treatment can be seen immediately. However, the results of treatment continue to improve over the course of six to eight weeks depending on how quickly your body generates new collagen.
Which Formulation Is Right for Me?
During your initial consultation, we will assess your current aesthetic and desired aesthetic to determine which formulations are right for you. Silk is the first FDA-approved dermal filler designed to augment the lips and treat lines and wrinkles around the corners of your mouth, known as smile lines or marionette lines.
The Lyft formulation is designed for non-invasive cheek augmentation, lifting the skin around the middle face, re-contouring the middle face, and treating laugh lines. The original formulation was designed to treat facial wrinkles and folds, augment the lips subtly, and treat your tear troughs. The Defyne and Refyne formulations are for nasolabial folds.
Am I a Good Candidate for Treatment?
The only way to determine if you are the ideal candidate for this dermal filler treatment is to come in for your initial consultation. Besides assessing your current aesthetic and reviewing your desired aesthetic, we will also review your medical history and assess your current health. With all of this information, we will be able to tell you if this is the right treatment for you.
Generally, you are a good candidate for this treatment if you are at least 21 years of age, do not take blood thinners (or can stop taking blood thinners), are not immunocompromised, are not allergic to bacterial protein, and are not pregnant or breastfeeding. We also look for potential candidates who want to smooth facial wrinkles, erase dark under-eye circles or augment their lips.
How to Prepare for Treatment
During your initial consultation, we will provide you with a comprehensive list of what to do and avoid leading up to your treatment. For instance, if you have thin blood, you should take arnica supplements in the two weeks leading up to your treatment. You should also stop taking pharmaceuticals and nutritional supplements that can thin your blood.
What to Expect After Treatment
After treatment, you are free to return to work or any leisure activities or errands you had scheduled. However, if you received several injections, you may want to take the rest of the day off of work to relax. As was stated previously, the initial results are seen immediately. They continue to improve over the course of several weeks as the injectable attracts water.
The final results are seen within six to eight weeks as your body produces strong, healthy collagen. From there, you can enjoy the full results of treatment for six to 18 months. However, you may not need to come in for a follow-up treatment for as long as two to three years, depending on your skin health and biological factors.
How to Make the Results of Treatment Last Longer
While the results of this dermal filler are astoundingly durable, there are still steps you can take to extend the durability even further. Depending on how well you care for your skin and overall health, you can extend the results of your treatment for several months. Again, some of our clients only need to come in once every two or three years.
Eat Right
Eating healthy foods is one of the best things you can do for the health of your skin. To keep your new collagen strong and healthy, eat foods that are high in collagen. Such foods include tuna, almonds, trout, swordfish, walnuts, lean cuts of poultry, and game meat. If you can’t get your RDA of nutrients in your diet, take a multi-purpose nutritional supplement.
To avoid undue stress on your body, we strongly encourage our clients to minimize their consumption of processed foods. If you can’t imagine dinner without pasta or bread, make your own with whole-wheat flour. It will taste even better with tomatoes from your garden and homemade cheese.
Relax
Stress ages you prematurely. It may not turn your hair grey or make your hair fall out, but it will accelerate the aging process and make your skin wrinkle faster than that of your peers. Avoiding undue stress to your body by eating right is great. But you shouldn’t forget about your mental health, either.
We strongly encourage you to make time for a relaxing hobby. For instance, take an online yoga or tai chi class. Get a massage from a certified masseuse with lavender essential oil to help you relax and unwind after a long day. Download a guided meditation app on your phone and turn your air-conditioned shed into a meditation room.
Take It Easy for 24 Hours
There aren’t any strict restrictions in the first 24 hours after your treatment. However, we strongly encourage our clients to avoid strenuous exercise in the first 24 hours after treatment. This ensures your blood pressure stays within a normal range. It also ensures that the filler does not migrate to an unintended region of the face.
We also encourage our clients to stay as cool as possible. We know that as soon as you walk outside in Miami you start to sweat and your glasses fog up! But you can avoid saunas and steam rooms for 24 hours. If possible, go for a walk around an indoor track or put off your walk until the sun has gone down. Biking is fine, too. Just remember to keep it moderate.
Be Mindful When You Exercise
Exercise keeps you happy and healthy. It keeps your mind, body, and spirit young. But it can prematurely age your skin if you’re not careful. Some of us can only work out during the workweek before the sun is up or long after it has set. But when we hear the call of the weekend warrior, we are often out running in the middle of the day.
Unfortunately, this means lots of scrunching up our faces and squinting due to the bright sun. This squinting and scrunching cause lines and wrinkles to develop much faster. To mitigate this, wear your favorite ball cap or shades.
Soak Up the Sunscreen
In Florida, it can feel like you have to be tanned to be attractive. Men and women alike flock to the beaches to sunbathe, and some even regularly use tanning beds. Unfortunately, both the sun and tanning beds emit harmful UVA and UVB rays.
You may feel like the most attractive person on the beach if your skin is bronze and sun-kissed, but you will pay for this handsomely in the future. Swap out the suntan lotion for sunscreen and your skin and wallet will thank you in 10 years. Excessive exposure to UV rays results in sunspots, premature lines and wrinkles, melanoma, and much more. Apply a broad-spectrum SPF 30+ sunscreen every four hours and try to stay inside between 10 AM and 4 PM.
Stay Hydrated
It may feel so humid leading up to hurricane season that you think your skin is absorbing all the water from the atmosphere. Unfortunately, this feeling doesn’t match reality. To keep your skin hydrated, you need to drink between 64 and 128 ounces of non-alcoholic liquids a day.
Freshly squeezed orange juice with pulp is fine. Soda and store-bought juices should be avoided as they are loaded with added sugar and chemicals. Caffeinated tea and coffee also count.
Discover How to Enhance Your Aesthetic Today
Can you look in the mirror and spot at least one wrinkle? Do you suffer from other signs of volume loss? Do you wish you could add volume to your skin to boost your self-esteem?
If so, we strongly believe that you are a good candidate for Restylane. To learn more about this revolutionary anti-aging treatment, contact us today at Salas Plastic Surgery in Miami, FL to schedule your initial consultation. We can’t wait to meet you and help you achieve your ideal aesthetic.
