FACE FORWARD: A PAINLESS TECHNIQUE FOR INJECTABLE FILLERS

Words by Megan Bartholomay

The old adage “No pain, no gain” isn’t always true, especially when you’re talking about dermal fillers. After Botox, injectable dermal fillers are the second most common minimally invasive facial procedure, and while both procedures require the use of sharp needles, dermal fillers can be more painful. Dr. Aileen Luz, of The Fountain of Youth MD in Fargo, practices a method called microcannula, and said the process is as close to painless as it can get. “Dermal fillers can be more painful due to the much larger volume of filler that is needed to cover large areas such as cheeks, nasolabial folds, and even sensitive areas like the lips,” Dr. Luz said.

Many skin clinics use various strategies to reduce the discomfort of injectable fillers such as cooling the skin with ice, topical numbing creams, or dental block injections, but Dr. Luz said, “While these are all helpful, none completely reduced the pain or potential bruising from the fine sharp needle typically used for injections like microcannul a does.”

So, just what is a microcannula? It’s a very thin, flexible hollow tube similar to the cannulas used in IVs. Sure, it’s still a needle, but the tip is blunt and not sharp, and it has a port on the side allowing the filler to be dispensed more evenly.

This revolutionary procedure was first developed in France and Dr. Luz said, “The most obvious result is safety and greatly reduced pain. A needle is sharp so it can easily enter the skin, but can also nick tiny vessels and nerves as it moves through the tissue. Repeated needle sticks cause pain, increase bruising potential, and leave marks on the skin. With microcannula, only two to four entry points are needed for full facial correction.”

And according to Dr. Luz, it’s much safer than using a traditional sharp needle because it does not cut through blood vessels and tissue, but rather navigates smoothly around them. With microcannula, the sensations are basically that of slight pressure and movement as the cannula moves from one area to another, not the sharp pain of a needle.

She also said the microcannula technique can be safely utilized with a variety of cosmetic procedures and fillers of any type and viscosity such as lip volumizing, soft augmentation of the face, wrinkle reduction, cheeks and temple plumping, and softening saggy skin and bags under the eyes.

There are other advantages to the microcannula technique as well. Dr. Luz asserted there are strong reasons to believe that when employing skin sculpting technique (SST), the back and forth movement of the microcannula actually stimulates fibroblast and produces new collagen. This result is also seen by cannulas during liposuction surgery when skin begins to tighten by initiating internal growth factors.

Using the flexible microcannula is an exciting advance and allows for much safer injections, significantly fewer side effects, such as reduced pain and bruising, and allows for detailed facial sculpting.

However, Dr. Luz sited the risks of the inexperienced performing microcannula. “Microcannula is a tool. Its proper use depends on the meticulous knowledge of anatomy, art form and dexterity of the injector.” Find out more about microcannula or schedule your free consultation with Dr. Luz at www.thefoymd.com or by calling 701-540-9030. [AWM]