“It has been stuffed”, “it looks like a hamster”. These and other niceties are common when prejudging someone who could have undergone a aesthetic medicine retouching with infiltration. However, associating infiltration with filling is not exact, because the former has more functions; and of course, neither associate swelling with infiltration: well placed, a filler material does not inflate, reposition or enhance. We asked Dr. Leo Cerrud, an expert in aesthetic medicine, about the different infiltration and filler materials and the most suitable uses for them.

Injectable does NOT equal filler

“When it comes to aesthetic medicine treatments and their consequences, we generally make value judgments based on bad results because these are the most striking. What is well done does not look strange. In addition, we insist on calling ‘fillers’ or filler products to everything that is pricked, and nothing could be further from the truth. Botulinum toxin does not fill and neither do tensor threads, for example. What’s more, we should stop calling them fillers and call them infiltration or injection materials”, explains Dr. Cerrud.

Not everything that pricks swellsNot even all the materials used as fillers do, it depends a lot on the type of product used and above all on the needs and the area to be treated. With syringe and depending on the material can befrom getting deep hydration (luminosity), until recovery or bulking up (furrows and wrinkles) going of course through the densification of the skin (sagging).

Types of infiltration materials

Moisturizing and volume: Basically hyaluronic acid in all its versions. It is a molecule with the ability to capture water wherever you put it, but it degrades very easily, so it is necessary to protect it in some way so that its effect lasts longer. That is why it coils (reticulates) on itself or associates with other molecules that make it more resistant to constant degradation. This is what we mean when we talk about more or less cross-linked hyaluronic acid, that is, more or less rolled up on itself, to define not only its duration, but also its ability to provide volume. The more reticulated, the more volume it provides, the longer it takes for the body to break it down, and the longer the effect lasts. The non-reticulated and slightly reticulated ones, applied superficially using the mesotherapy technique, provide hydration but not volume and usually do not last long. Acid concentration and molecular weight must also be taken into account.

Collagen inducers: There is another type of infiltration materials that do not hydrate but have the ability to stimulate collagen production and also provide volume depending on the chemical characteristics of the product. This is the case of Calcium Hydroxyapatite, Polylactic Acid or Polycaprolactone. They redensify the dermis and provide firmness, because collagen is a fundamental part of the skin’s structure.

Hybrid materials: It is the most innovative, these are products that combine both active compounds in the same vial or syringe.

For every problem, its solution

Photoaging: Non-crosslinked or slightly crosslinked hyaluronic acid to provide luminosity, deep hydration and hyaluronic-based mesotherapy enriched with vitamins, amino acids and peptides.

Furrows, wrinkles and volume loss: Conventional filler with highly cross-linked hyaluronic.

Flaccidity: Collagen inducers based on Calcium Hydroxyapatite, Polylactic Acid or Polycaprolactone.