Want to look young? The use dermal fillers!

New Delhi: Wrinkles and crow`s feet? Cosmetologists say dermal fillers may be a good idea and there is now even a painless option - a treatment that many Indian men and women are opting for.

Jamuna Pai, a Mumbai-based cosmetologist, says people nowadays are more conscious of their looks and the best quick fix for an ageing skin is the dermal filler, but the treatment is so painful that many avoid it. "Whenever I had patients coming to me for the process, the first question they asked was `How much painful is the process?` And this is where around 50 percent people used to step back. But there were still those 50 percent who used to bear pain to look good," Pai told reporters. Dermal fillers are made of hyaluronic acid (HA), a naturally occurring biodegradable complex sugar found in the human body and mammals. It hydrates the skin and adds volume, contributing to its overall appearance. The ability of cells to produce HA diminishes with age, which results in wrinkles and folds. The hyaluronic acid-based fillers that thronged the market were Revanesse, Radiesse and Juvederm, popular fillers that are injected into the skin for accentuating looks. The treatment was introduced in India in 2000 and became the most recommended procedure for a quick fix. But these treatments were painful. However, the recently launched Juvederm XC dermal filler is almost painless and experts are hoping more people will come forward and take the treatment. Pai said: "With this filler, where XC stands for extra comfort, there will be pain only when the needle is injected into the skin. It contains local anaesthetic lidocaine, which makes the area numb and hence the rest of the process is pain-free." "What used to happen earlier was that a person used to feel pain when the needle was injected, then while the material was transferred, deposited and injected out. In some cases, we used to rely on anaesthetic creams or injections," she added. Even men are lapping it up, buying treatments costing Rs.25,000-Rs.70,000 depending on the amount to be injected. After the treatment one may experience some discomfort like mild swelling, bruising, redness or temporary numbness, but the effect easily lasts a year. The most painful area to inject a dermal filler is the lips and Anup Dhir, senior cosmetic surgeon at Apollo Hospital, feels pain-free dermal fillers are a boon. "The most painful area to get these fillers injected is the lips. But with this new filler, the process has again become simple and what comes first for any doctor is to ensure the best outcomes for my patients, as well as their comfort level during the injection," he said. These fillers change almost everything on the face. It fills up temporal hollows and those under the eyes, they enhance the nose, give definition to the cheeks and pout up lips. "With age sagging starts and there is loss of volume. Dermal fillers are the best for anti-ageing and in making corrections. They give you immediate results that last for at least a year; you can go back to work immediately after the procedure," said Rajesh Khurana, president of Timpac Healthcare, known for offering clinical obesity management, cosmetology and anti-aging treatments. IANS