A few years ago, there was an FDA-approved injectable filler product called Isolagen. The company, however, couldn’t get their financing together, and went bankrupt in 2009. But now, rising from the ashes, the product is back, under a new name, laViv. The product just received FDA approval last week. But, to my review, it’s basically […]
While it seems hard to imagine today, back before the early 1980’s, plastic surgeons didn’t really have any reliable injectable products to use for wrinkle correction or lip enhancement. When Zyplast and Zyderm arrived in the early 80’s, a new generation of of non-surgical corrections via injectable fillers became possible. These bovine-collagen fillers weren’t by any means perfect – […]
Answer: Maybe. Lithera, Inc. – a privately held pharmaceutical research group, recently presented some exciting results of a randomized, double-blinded study of their new injectable lipolysis drug, called “LIPO102″ at the ASDS meeting. In the study, volunteers were injected weekly in 22 locations in the abdomen and flanks with the drug, over 8 weeks. On average, the study […]
According to multiple reports, the FDA today approved the use of Botox, the wrinkle fighter from Allergan, for chronic migraine headaches. (link) “Chronic migraines” are those that occur more than 14 days out of each month. Botox has not been shown to work for the treatment of episodic migraine headaches, or for other forms of headache. The Botox […]
At the Toronto meeting, we heard about two new hyaluronic gel fillers that are edging ever closer to FDA approval. These are called “Belotero” and “Prevelle Lift”. Like Juvederm and Restylane, they are made from the same basic molecule, the ever-popular hyaluronic acid gel. These new formulations, however, are manufactured differently, with the result being […]
Here’s a neat little trick, courtesy of Dr. Laurie Casas, which was presented at the “hot topics” part of the ASPS meeting in Toronto: Sculptra users can get a better result if they combine the injectable treatment with the use of Retin-A cream. Dr. Casas explained that, since both products work by stimulating collagen, it made sense […]
With the availability of two great wrinkle-fighting products in Botox and Dysport, the inevitable question of “which one is better?” comes up. Here’s one study, from the recent Facial Plastic Surgery meeting in Boston, that suggests Dysport works better on “crow’s feet” than Botox (link here). I think, though, there may be a problem with […]
I saw a press release earlier this week (link) which claimed that a proprietary dietary supplement made Botox injections more effective. Naturally, I was curious, and began to investigate. According to a study done by ophthalmologist Dr. Charles Sopakar at Methodist Hospital in Houston, giving a tablet of either zinc or zinc together with an […]
Selphyl is a new facial filler that’s getting a lot of buzz. It’s made on site at the doctor’s office, using a few vials of your own blood. Twenty minutes later, after processing, an amber-colored liquid is ready to inject into facial wrinkles. While it’s not a filler itself, the liquid contains platelets and platelet-derived growth […]
While our surgical operations for the upper and lower eyelid can yield some pretty impressive improvements, not everybody wants to jump directly to surgery right away. Many patients want to know, “Doctor, what can you do for me without getting invasive?” the answer: quite a lot, actually. The secret is to combine several non-invasive techniques in […]
