Collagen is a protein. It is found in connective tissue such as is found in the skin, bone, cartilage and blood vessels.  In fact, collagen makes up about eighty percent of the skin.  The main job of collagen is to keep the skin looking supple and smooth, however with age collagen tends to begin breaking down. When collagen breaks down, such as when a person ages, wrinkles start to appear, and the skin looses its elasticity and begins to droop in places.  That is where the idea of replenishing the collagen naturally found in skin via injections came from.

There are a variety of collagen fillers currently available for use.  Some of these fillers, such as CosmoDerm and Cosmoplast actually contain human collagen.  Bovine collagen, that is made from cows, is also fairly common.  There is also an artificial collagen filler, ArteFill, that is actually a gel filler that is suspended in purified bovine collagen.

Not everyone is suited for collagen injections. Anyone who is either pregnant or nursing should not have them. Nor should anyone who is allergic to cow products have them.  There are also contraindications for people suffering from specific medical conditions such as autoimmune diseases.  Before being injected with Bovine collagen, the patient should have a skin test first.

These injections are usually performed by doctors, at their clinic. There is no real need for anesthetic to be administered, although usually the filler does contain some local anesthetic.  It is injected into skin depressions using a tiny needle.  Normally it requires more than one injection to smooth out a wrinkle, especially a deep one.

The procedure itself is fairly simple. The doctor will mark where the injections are to be made, and once he has assessed the area he will then decide precisely how much collagen needs to be injected.  When he is ready to begin he will cleanse the area with an antiseptic, and then insert the needle under the skin and give the injections.

However before going in for the Juvederm injections make sure that you have talked to the dermatologist or the cosmetic surgeon and ask for any specials advice that he may have .

In a lot of cases you may require more than one syringe for filling up the wrinkles. The examples being the deep wrinkles called the parentheses or for plumping up the lips.

Before the Juvederm procedure

Avoid having any aspirin or any other medication which can cause blood to not clot and therefore the bleeding does not stop.

No allergy test is required

Procedure

The injections are administered at the areas where the wrinkle filling is needed. The entire procedure will take about 15 minutes and then you will generally be given post treatments consultation regarding some do’s and don’ts.

After the procedure

There will be redness on the area where the injection was made.

There can be swelling which can happen

In some cases there may be some lumps that can form however you need not fear and in case these lumps do not go away then you can very easily talk to the doctor and get an enzyme injection to dissolve the lumps.

You need to be careful about a few things and these are

Do not for any exercise for the first two three days.

Avoid any direct exposure of the sun on the area.

Avoid going for any tanning lotions and stuff so that it can effect the targeted area.

Do not go for any steam or sauna baths as that can cause a lot of itchiness.

Hopefully these will help you recover fast after the Juvederm injection and it will also help avoid any unnecessary complications.

The Juvederm treatment and procedure is not very tough and that is its main benefit as compared to a lot of other surgical treatments.

Juvederm injections in general cost you about $300 – $1000 depending on the area where you live. For example if you went to a healthcare professional in New York or LA then the cost would be much much higher than the other smaller cities. However I must say that you need to select your dermatologist with utmost care. The reason being that if the health care professional is not good then chances are that the results may not be that good or even skin may get damaged irrevocably. So it is better that you make sure that you select the correct city or area as well as the treatment facility.

How much does the overall Juvederm treatment cost?

Well it all depends on the number of syringes that are used or in plain speak the number of injections that are needed to make sure that wrinkles are no longer there.

In general you may need two syringes for the nasolabial areas and that will mean the cost will be double than what I have mentioned above.

So it is always do two things before you calculate the total cost of the Juvederm dermal filler treatment and that is that you need to ask the surgeon as to how many syringes you will need before you see the real effects of the Juvederm and also if they give any discounts if you go in for multiple syringes in one sitting thereby reducing the overall costs.

This restoration helps in making sure that the smile lines and the parenthesis or the nasolabial folds are not there any more. It can also cure the marionette lines.

Hyaluronic acid is the natural complex sugar which is present in the body which gives our skin the required elasticity as well as the desired smooth appearance. The hyaluronic acid injected with the Juvederm adds to the hyaluronic acid which should be present in the body.

Now the injection process is lasts for only 15 minutes and the best part is that while the creams generally do the fine lines and wrinkles but the Juvederm injection can be used easily for the moderate to severe wrinkles and deep creases on the face.

Before you decide on the Juvederm treatment you will have to make sure that check in with your dermatologist as to what kind of wrinkles so you have. This will in turn dictate the treatment that you need to have. You will have to make sure that you do not take any aspirins and any other medication which can prolong the bleeding after the injection is done.

Proper care is needed after the injection so that the gel inserted does not cause any redness or itchiness. So make sure that you take adequate rest as well as make sure that you do not do go out so as to avoid sun exposure.

How long does the Juvederm injection last ?

The Juvederm is supposed to last for one year after you have taken the injections.

Now if you are not happy with these you can also go in for the topical wrinkle fillers which are just topical and can be applied like a cream

These methods are known by a variety of names and are broadly classified as invasive procedures. Invasive means that either a needle or syringe is inserted into the human body to remove the wrinkles or to correct the appearance.

Now there are minimally invasive procedures that are mostly done with laser such that there is less of recovery time and patient does not have to take a longer time off from work.

Some of the examples are the mini face lift or the weekend face lift which help get you a younger look.

The other is quick and fast methods which are more temporary in nature like the wrinkle fillers such as Botox, Radiesse and Juvederm etc.

Then comes the thoroughly invasive procedures which are pure surgeries like the cosmetic surgery or the plastic surgery. In this there is the eyelid surgery called the blepharoplasty or the nose surgery called the Rhinoplasty.

With advancement in science there are literally hundreds of surgeries available ranging from abdominoplasty to liposculpture to breast augmentation and hip augmentation.

In this blog I am now trying to include the surgical as well as non surgical treatments which can help you get younger with. I hope to write a lot on all such treatments and procedures and aspire to provide you with true and accurate information such that it helps you to make an intelligent and an informed decision.