Fillers or Fat?

Fillers such as Restylane, Juvederm, and Sculptra have been heavily advertised as ‘the’ answer for any concavities or wrinkles one may have.  Costs for injecting 1 cc start at $504 and this procedure may require more than one cc and needs to be repeated every 6-10 months to maintain the result. The only real benefit of these products is that you can purchase them off the shelf.

Fat grafting is the alternative to facial fillers.  Most people have some extra fat somewhere and this can be harvested (and produce an improved contour there) and injected into wrinkles and depressions similarly to fillers producing a permanent, lifelong result.  Costs for fat grafting are higher initially but over the course of several filler  sessions, will be more economical in the long run.  In addition, fat grafting may have the benefit of introducing stem cells into the skin, having a beneficial effect in that regard as well.  Finally, much more volume can be grafted producing significant results.

So if you’re looking for a long term result consider fat grafting over dermal and facial fillers.  The long term results and less cost make it well worth it.