What You Need to Know About Fillers

Hey, Dr. Greg Ratliff here. I’m gonna talk to you a little bit about fillers. Either you’re here for the first time and you’re gonna visit with Marissa about doing fillers or you’ve had fillers before and you are here for a refill, so to speak. But I wanted to at least a basic overview of fillers as we use them here and as they work.

Most fillers today, most of the fillers are what are called hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid is a sugar molecule, just a bunch of little sugars strung together. And when you get it strung together so that it’s solid, it’s actually cartilage. Cartilage is hyaluronic acid in a long-chain molecule.

There are 50 different kinds of filler, all hyaluronic acid based. There’s different brands. But more importantly, within each filler brand family, there are long-chain, short-chain, different cross-link, multiple cross-link, few cross-link. There’s all kinds of variations, which give you different thicknesses, different effects. Some fillers are really good at volumizing, actually adding volume to a tissue. Others are really good at support. Basically, being a bridge under a depressed area where you can pump it up and hold it up, help support.

The right filler for the right problem is what you are going to talk about with Marissa. She’ll sit down, talk to you about what your goals are, what you don’t like, what you do like. And then she’s going to recommend specific fillers for specific problems.

If you’ve been somewhere before and they go, “Oh, we only use this.” That’s the mistake. Different fillers for different problems. And that’s what you’re going to find out today talking to Marissa and that’s what we’re going to plan for you.

So, these fillers, just so you know, also because there’s different physical qualities to the fillers, they last different amounts of time. Some of the volumizing fillers can last 18 months to 2 years. While some of the short-chain fillers and few cross-link are very soft, and they work great to create nice soft lips, but they don’t last as long because your body can break them down better. Again. The right filler for the right problem, for the right duration. That’s what you’re here to get and that’s what we’re gonna plan for you and that’s where we’ll go.

There is also something, just so you know. Not everybody gets the result that they want. You know, they go, “Oh my God, my lips are way bigger than I thought.” OK. There are solutions. Hyaluronic acid can be dissolved by something called, “hyaluronidase”. It’s an enzyme that’s naturally occurring in the body and it will eat the filler up and make it disappear. If you have a result that you are not happy with, it is reversible. Now, once it is reversed, it’s gone. There is no half reversing, half doing. So, be very cautious in the first couple of weeks, while you are getting used to the change, that you don’t freak out over something that really is going to be OK. So, be careful. Just know in the back of the back of your mind, that there is a way to back up if you don’t like the result.

So, fillers have been a tremendous addition. I started with collagen way back in the 1980s, 1990s. You had a skin test to make sure you weren’t allergic to it. What we’ve got now is light-years ahead of that and it’s very effective. Very nice.

So, have fun with your filler. Enjoy it. I hope it gets you the result that you want. Thanks for coming.