About Soft Tissue Fillers

Soft tissue fillers can be used to create balanced facial proportions, enhance facial harmony, improve skin quality, and restore volume to areas where it is lacking. There are a wide variety of FDA approved soft tissue fillers—hyaluronic acid based fillers provide instant volumization, while biostimulatory products promote natural synthesis of your skin’s own collagen and elastin. These products are injected into the skin by our team of highly skilled, board-certified dermatologists to create results that appear natural and attractive. At the Gateway Aesthetic Institute and Laser Center, we offer a wide array of safe, high quality products, including:

Biostimulatory Fillers

Sculptra
Radiesse

How can these products help to address age-related changes that I am seeing on my face?

With time, our skin, facial skeleton, and associated supportive structures undergo a number of changes. Beginning in our early 20’s, our skin begins to lose about 1% of its collagen per year, and in women, this rate accelerates around the time of menopause. Lifestyle factors such as excessive sun exposure, smoking, and alcohol consumption, genetic factors, physical stressors, and activity levels (endurance athletes) can accelerate these changes. Skin that is lacking in collagen and elastin – which are substances which imbue our skin with its thickness and quality – can appear loose, creased, thin, and dull. In addition, there are changes in our facial bone density and structure, that bear upon the position of ligaments and fat pads, that also contribute to the appearance of facial aging.

At Gateway Aesthetic Institute and Laser Center, our expert, board-certified dermatologists can guide you through ways to restore appropriate volume and balance to your face, so that you can feel confident about looking like the most natural and attractive version of yourself. By carefully selecting from our comprehensive range of hyaluronic acid and biostimulatory soft tissue fillers, our dermatologists can address your following areas of concern:

• • • Cheeks
    • Chin
    • Eyebrows
    • Jawline
    • Laugh Lines
    • Lips
    • Temples 
    • Undereyes (tear troughs)
    • Other wrinkles and folds

What other areas can I treat with soft tissue fillers?

Because the products that we offer at Gateway Aesthetic Institute and Laser Center provide both instant revolumization, as well as enhancements in skin quality, it is possible to treat a wide variety of anatomic locations and aesthetic concerns with them. Some of the more common, non-facial areas that can be treated with soft tissue fillers include:

• • • Buttocks/Thighs
    • Hands
    • Neck
    • Scars
    • Stretch Marks

How do I know which products are right for me?

At Gateway Aesthetic Institute and Laser Center, our board-certified dermatologists will work with you to understand your aesthetic goals and devise an individualized treatment plan to help you attain them. Because we offer a comprehensive selection of soft tissue fillers, each with its own unique set of properties, our dermatologists will help guide you through product selection, and the rationale behind each decision that is made, to ensure that each step along your aesthetic journey is well-informed and collaborative.

Are these products safe? What are some common risks associated with these treatments?

The products that we offer at Gateway Aesthetic Institute and Laser Center have all undergone rigorous clinical trials to earn FDA approval. Furthermore, our expert team of board-certified dermatologists possess a comprehensive and detailed understanding of facial anatomy and are meticulous in ensuring safe and proper injection placement and techniques to minimize the risk of adverse outcomes. Over the span of decades, we have safely treated thousands of patients in our clinic with these products.

The more common risks associated with soft tissue fillers are injection site bruising and swelling, which can last for a few days to around a week. We can guide you through the use of aftercare strategies and high-quality skin care products to minimize the duration of these issues, and makeup can be applied soon after your treatment to assist with camouflage.

Because soft tissue fillers are delivered via injection or cannula, slight discomfort during treatment is possible. We have a number of options available to ensure that your experience is virtually painless, including topical numbing cream, regional nerve blocks, nitrous oxide gas, and in some cases, prescription strength oral anxiolytic and analgesic medications. Our wonderful team of medical assistants are also highly skilled in using additional techniques during your treatment to help minimize discomfort.

During your consultation and treatment sessions, our board-certified dermatologists will cover the risks and benefits of treatment in detail, so that you can be assured that you are making well-informed decisions about your care.

How long does treatment with soft tissue fillers take? Will I need to take time off from work to be treated?

The duration of your treatment will depend on the extent of the areas that you are looking to have addressed. For example, lip augmentation with one syringe of filler can be performed in as little as 15 minutes, while those desiring a more comprehensive, pan-facial treatment session will require more time to ensure that treatment is performed carefully and safely.

The vast majority of patients do not find it necessary to take any significant time away from work to either incorporate these treatments into their schedule, or to recover from them. Mild bruising or swelling, if there is any, is generally not noticeable to others, can be camouflaged with makeup, and does not preclude a normal return to social situations. If you are on blood thinning medication, have a history of bruising with treatment, and/or are desiring extensive treatment with soft tissue fillers, our board-certified dermatologists will counsel you on what to anticipate in the post-procedural period, so that you can make appropriate arrangements for downtime.

Why Gateway Aesthetic Institute and Laser Center?

Artistic skill combined with sound medical and aesthetic judgment is the key to natural, attractive, and well-balanced results. At Gateway Aesthetic Institute & Laser Center, our board-certified, fellowship-trained dermatologists have over 30 years of experience as pioneers in aesthetic treatments. They take a holistic approach to facial assessment, and take great joy in creating comprehensive, individualized treatment plans that combine a variety of treatment modalities to help patients feel confident and refreshed. When you place your care in the hands of highly experienced, specialty-trained physicians, you can feel confident that your safety, well-being, and beautiful aesthetic outcomes will be meticulously handled.