Skin Fillers

Wrinkles and creases on the face are usually the result of age, but genetic factors and sun exposure also play a large role. Our office offers the newest in Skin Fillers, which can dramatically soften and minimize visible fine lines and wrinkles on the face. Dr. Mowbray has used many types of skin fillers over the years, beginning with Zyderm Collagen in the 1980's.

With time comes progress and the current skin fillers give us many benefits over the early products. They now give the patient a longer lasting improvement without the need to perform a test dose before your scheduled day of treatment.

Dr. Mowbray likes to use a combination of Restylane or Juvederm Ultra, both of which are made of a natural skin protein called Hyaluronic Acid, or HA. It has an incredible ability to absorb many times its weight in water, thereby allowing a better correction of the treated wrinkle or crease.

The most common area for correction are the folds that run between the nose and lip, otherwise known as the nasolabial folds. Dr. Mowbray makes the procedure very comfortable by first performing a gentle nerve block to this area. For those patients who would rather forego this option, he can use the Juvederm XC that contains a local anesthetic mixed right in with the product.

For those patients who are looking for fuller and more appealing lips, we can also use one of the HA fillers for lip augmentation. With age, our lips naturally become more thin and the HA products allow us to restore the fullness to your lips that we had as young adult. Although this application is not FDA approved, it has been used with success in many patients and you are probably aware of several Hollywood stars who have had their lips augmented. Dr. Mowbray can help you decide what shape of lip could improve your appearance, without making them look overdone.

Where does BOTOX fit into the picture? Many patients benefit from a combination of BOTOX and a Skin Filler. BOTOX works in a different way to improve the youthfulness of the skin, in that it temporarily removes the pulling action of the underlying muscle on the overlying skin, thereby allowing the skin to relax and the visible wrinkle or crease to gradually flatten.

BOTOX works exceptionally well for horizontal creases on the forehead and to remove the glabellar frown lines visible between the brows, for which it is FDA approved. BOTOX also can help soften the depth and visibility of crow’s feet. It has also been used in small doses along the margins of the lips to soften those unsightly lipstick lines. BOTOX is not effective for the deeper creases and wrinkles on the face which are best managed by using the skin fillers described above. Dr. Mowbray uses an extremely fine needle and ice packs during the BOTOX treatments so any discomfort is usually very mild.

If you are interested in one or more of our cosmetic procedures, please give our office a call so that we can set up an appointment for you to meet Dr. Mowbray and have him evaluate your specific needs. We offer many skin rejuvenation techniques which can go a long way to reverse the impact of aging.

SKIN FILLERS