When your face starts losing youthful volume, it’s such a slow and steady process that you tend not to notice at first, and then one day, you wake up and look in the mirror and realise how much your face has changed. Like many other aspects of ageing, this creeps up on you gradually as the fat pads that have been filling out your face start shrinking – usually in your early forties. Whether you’ve just begun to notice the first signs of ageing or are in your fifties and wish to look a little more refreshed, you may be considering dermal filler treatments and are wondering what they can do. The answer: a great deal, and it’s never too late to start.

What happens to your face as you age?

Everyone has around twenty fat pads in their cheeks, under their eyes, around the temples and down to the chin. As we age, these fat pads shrink and drop down the face. The fat pads under the eyes are the first to change, making them look a little hollow, then the cheeks look less full. It’s at this point that most people notice a change. Some of these fat pads, particularly those in the cheeks or around the jaw, may drift downwards, leading to a jowly jawline.

What do fillers do?

Hyaluronic acid fillers are used to replace lost volume in the cheeks and lips, the hollows under the eyes, and the temples (not an area that we tend to notice, but it becomes hollower with age). They sit where they are placed beneath the skin and attract water which helps hold their shape and, over the following weeks, integrate with your skin’s tissues to become part of your face.

Fillers can treat many concerns, and the areas that you will have treated depend on your own goals. They can be used to reshape a bumpy or droopy nose, lift the eyebrows, rejuvenate tired eyes, or add structure to a face by strengthening an ageing jawline.

They’re also helpful for balancing asymmetry, strengthening a weak chin or jawline, and slimming the face.

When treating an ageing face, dermal fillers can have an incredible immediate impact, but we will also look at how the skin is losing elasticity and consider skin-tightening treatments such as Morpheus8 to pull the face tighter, hold the filler better and make it more sculpted. We want to achieve a bespoke result that keeps you looking like you, but natural, more balanced, and beautifully refreshed.

How long do they last?

Fillers will last for between six months and eighteen months before they are broken down by the body, depending on the filler used. Exactly how long fillers last depends on how much was injected and on the patient’s metabolism, as some people’s bodies appear to break down fillers much faster than others.

Hyaluronic acid fillers come in different densities, depending on what they are designed to do – and this affects how long they last, too. A thin, runny gel that works well in the lips doesn’t have the same abilities as a thicker gel designed to build up the volume in the mid-face or strengthen the jawline.

If you’d like to find out more about Dermal fillers, click here to enquire or book a consultation with one of our expert practitioners.