Beauty Byte: Filler Injections Can Cause Permanent Damage

BellaSugar — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 08:00:29 -0800

Here's another reason to stay away from the needle: Some British and European doctors are raising concerns about facial fillers. A handful of plastic surgeons is worried that these injectables could permanently damage skin over time. Dr. Daniel Marchac, a prominent French plastic surgeon, said he had been contacted by at least 25 patients who developed untreatable fibrous tissue and other changes after being injected.

"We will see in the future patients of 50 who have had 15 years of fillers with fibrous, tough tissue we wouldn't be able to do anything with," he said. "The serious things are the permanent fillers, and the second is abuse of resolvable fillers." Abuse, in his view, involves using temporary fillers such as Juvederm and Restylane twice a year for four years. (Botox, which isn't a filler, isn't a worry, the doctors say.)

This story makes a good point: Some technologies are so new that we don't yet know the long-term effects. (Remember what happened to this woman?) Plus, if plastic surgeons are raising concerns-and they have every financial reason to encourage cosmetic procedures-I think it's worth paying attention to them when they say it's dangerous stuff.

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