Just as with any other part of the body, the earlobe will go through the natural ageing process. The earlobe is also constantly exposed to the sun and there are few people who will remember to apply sunscreen to their ears when applying it to the rest of their body!

Earlobes often become elongated over time thanks to a reduction in collagen meaning the elasticity in the skin is reduced. The skin also tends to become elongated, thin and saggy and surface wrinkles may appear. Women who like to wear dangly earrings are particularly at risk as the weight of the earrings may help to pull the earlobe down, accentuating the elongation and sagginess of the lobe.

Given that ear lobes are now known to be a sign to look for as a clue to a woman’s real age, it comes as no surprise that there is a cosmetic surgery procedure to help. The ‘earlobe rejuvenation’, sometimes also known as the ‘ear lobe lift’, is already popular in the US.

Costing around $2,000 for both ears, the cosmetic surgery takes around 40 minutes and uses local anaesthetic therefore can be done during a lunch break.

The earlobe lift involves the cosmetic surgeon making an incision close to where the ear connects to the side of the face. A small amount of tissue and skin is then removed. The incision is precisely made so that it is virtually impossible to see once the wounds have healed. Two internal stitches, which dissolve over time, are then applied and ten stitches are made on the outside of the ear. These are removed after about a week. Invisible surgical tape is then applied rather than standard bandages so that the cosmetic surgery signs are well hidden. The earlobe rejuvenation surgery makes the earlobe look plumper, more rounded and smaller – making the earlobe look ‘younger’.

For those who don’t fancy the idea of cosmetic surgery, facial fillers can also help. Injectable fillers such as Restylane, Juvederm, Radiesse and Sculptra can all be injected into the earlobe to smoothen the skin, plump the ear lobe up and make it look younger. For women who wear earrings and whose earring hole has stretched, it is claimed that dermal filler injections can help make the hole smaller. Because the ear doesn’t move much, dermal fillers in the earlobe will tend to last longer than those injected into the face – sometimes up to twice as long.

It is also possible to have a chemical peel on the ear lobe to help improve the skin’s appearance.

So whether you are happy having cosmetic surgery or not, there is now no excuse for having aged earlobes!

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The makers of Hydrelle claim that the dermal filler injection is around half the size of a typcial filler injection. This means that fewer injections will be needed around a wrinkle site. Hydrelle is also the first dermal filler that combines hyaluronic acid with lidocaine anaesthetic meaning the injections are made less painful and the overall procedure is more comfortable for the patient.

The price tag for Hydrelle is also cheaper than other dermal filler alternatives therefore may be a good option for those looking for a cheaper alternative to fillers such as Juvederm or Restylane with results that last just as long, if not longer.

As with many other fillers, Hydrelle’s side effects can include swelling, redness, tenderness and bruising around the injection site.

Editor’s Note: Since publishing this article, there appears to be a lot of evidence that many women are experiencing severe side effects from their Hydrelle injections. We strongly recommend that anyone thinking of using this dermal filler does their research thoroughly before choosing what dermal filler to have.

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“Yeah, it’s Simon’s fault,” Ramsay explained in an interview with British newspaper The Daily Mail. “I had lunch with him and he leaned over and started prodding my chin saying, ‘Mate, you’ve got to do something about this’. I was like, ‘F*** off!’

“I mean, I know I’ve always had a face like Freddy Krueger, but more and more people were commenting on my chin. A make-up artist actually said to me, ‘God, what happened to you? Did you have an accident when you were little? Did you fly through the windscreen with no seatbelt on?’ I mean, f***!

“Anyway, I was getting a complex for the first time in my life, so I did it. Botox. A jab here and one here. And no one has f****** noticed.

“When I was talking to my mum about all the c*** that’s been going on, and telling her I was going to do this interview, she said, ‘Keep your chin up’. I said, ‘Yeah, well at least I’ve got a new one of those’, but it went over her head.”

The cynical amongst us here at SimplyCosmeticSurgery.com are not that surprised that many people haven’t noticed changes to his chin. Botox, when used in aesthetic procedures, is usually used to freeze muscles and not to plump out wrinkles or smooth the skin. To help smooth the appearance of the chin, Ramsay might have been better off looking for a dermal filler such as Restylane or Juvederm.

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Naturally there are downsides to this form of cosmetic procedure. There can be swelling after the dermal filler injections, there is the possibility of allergic reaction to the filler itself and the dermal fillers need to be topped up as they wear off.

Restylane

Restylane is made of hyaluronic acid, a naturally occurring substance in the skin. Restylane was the first dermal filler to use non-animal hyaluronic acid. Before Restylane, facial fillers were made of animal products such as bovine collagen, silicone or body fat. Hyaluronic acid is a good choice for dermal filler because it is a substance that occurs naturally in the body therefore the incidence of allergic reaction is very low.

Restylane is approved by the FDA for lasting up to 18 months. It is currently the world’s leading dermal filler having been used over 10 million times since it’s inception in 2004. Restylane is most commonly used for the hollows under the eyes, lines around the nose and mouth, and in the lips.

Perlane

Perlane is made by the same company who manufacture Restylane and is also made of hyaluronic acid. However it is only FDA approved to last for up to 6 months. A relative newcomer to the dermal filler market, Perlane has only been in use since 2007.

Juvederm

Juvederm is made of hyaluronic acid and is from the same manufacturers who make Botox. Juvederm is very popular for deeper wrinkles such as for plumping out crows feet and the lines between the nose and the mouth.

Prevelle Silk

Prevelle Silk is made of hyaluronic acid and also incorporates lidocaine, a local anaesthetic to help numb the injection site. This makes it a good filler for use in sensitive areas such as the lips, however it should be noted that some discomfort will still be experienced from the injection despite the numbing sensation.

Radiesse

Radiesse is made of calcium-based microspheres and claims to promote collage reproduction which helps plump the skin out, however this claim is probably not as good as it sounds. The body will naturally produce collagen to wall of foreign substances therefore all dermal fillers will actually see the body producing collagen.

Evolence

Evolence is another relative newcomer to the dermal filler market having been around since 2008. Evolence is made from porcine collagen (from pigs). Porcine collagen is very similar to human collagen hence it’s usage. There is no risk of catching pig diseases from having these dermal filler injections.

Dysport

Touted as a safer and better alternative to Botox, Dysport has only recently been released into the cosmetic market. Dysport uses the same active ingredient as Botox however it is claimed to act more quickly than Botox and also has a much lower risk of the toxin spreading to other areas of the body. Dysport is also priced lower than Botox.

However Botox has 20 years of research and use behind it whilst Dysport is very new therefore little is known about long-term effects ofusing Dysport.

So which filler is best? The answer is there is no one best filler. If you are planning on getting facial fillers it is best to talk through the options with your cosmetic practitioner to discuss what the best dermal filler for you is.

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Many celebrities have realised that Botox alone can often lead to a false, stretched look which isn’t always particularly pleasant. To help soften the face dermal fillers are now all the rage to help plump out the face.

The ageing process sees most people lose volume from the face – first from around the eyes, then the upper cheeks, cheekbones, sides of the mouth, nose-to-mouth lines, and then the forehead and sides of the face. To help negate this ageing look, many celebrities are turning to facial fillers to help plump out their faces and make them look younger.

And there are plenty of facial fillers to choose from – Restylane, Voluma and Juvederm are arguably the most well known. Most dermal fillers are made from hyaluronic acid which naturally is present in the skin.

Facial fillers, like Botox, are temporary and need to be topped up about once a year. There is little bruising and just a small amount of swelling so the injections are very easy to hide.

The one major downside of facial fillers are that if you use too much filler, the face can end up looking over-plumped and unnatural. Partly, this occurs when human fat is used. The human body tends to use up up to 70% of what is implanted, therefore some cosmetic surgeons will inject a large proportion of filler to make up for this.

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Patients who request lip enhancement usually fall into one of two categories. The first group is the younger patient who simply wants to enhance their natural pout and increasing the volume of their lips. The classic technique often practiced to achieve this involves injecting filler around the border of the lip, the so-called vermillion border augmentation. If you look at someone who has naturally attractive lips however, for example Angelina Jolie, she does not have a defined lip border and neither does any other person with attractive lips. In fact, the only people who have ‘defined’ vermillion borders are people who have had their lips injected and it can be a classical tell-tale sign of someone having the treatment done badly. For a good example of how lips should not look take a peak at Katie Price (a.k.a. Jordan) and see what you think. To create a more natural and attractive looking lip augmentation it is essential to inject the filler (Restylane / Teosyal / deJuvederm) into the red part of the lip, the part that is naturally larger in people with attractive lips.

The second group of patients who request lip enhancement are the older patients who want to restore the size and shape of lips they had when they were younger. As we get older the lips naturally become thinner, the cupid’s bow flattens, the corners of the mouth start to turn down the way creating at a sad appearance and vertical lines appear which radiate outwards from the mouth. In this group of patients there has to be accurate diagnosis of which features are contributing to their ageing appearance and tailoring of the dermal filler injection technique to address each problem individually. If you are going for this sort of treatment expect the doctor to be describing each of the features individually to you and telling you how he plans to correct it. If your doctors is not explaining these things to you be sure to ask. If the answers are still not forthcoming then maybe it is time to find another doctor!

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The first of the modern generation of fillers came on to the market in the early 1980s with the collagen fillers, Zyderm and Zyplast. Collagen was revolutionary at the time in that the products could be taken off a package on the shelf and (usually) safely injected into the face to fill out wrinkles, lips and facial contours. Collagen fillers however, revolutionary as they were, were far from perfect. The collagen was derived from Cow’s hide and consequently was associated with a 1 in 20 chance of an allergic reaction therefore everyone had to have a skin test carried out two weeks prior to having the treatment. Even that wasn’t full proof however and some patients who had a negative skin test still went on to have an allergic reaction when the full treatment dose was administered. Other problems with collagen included a limited duration of action, with the results generally lasting only 8-12 weeks at a time. There was also a theoretical possibility of the transmission of disease from cow’s to humans.

In the mid-1990s Swedish company Q-Med launched the first ever hyaluronic acid based dermal filler: Restylane. Hyaluronic acid is a glycoprotein present in normal skin and joints. It is manufactured by genetically engineering bacteria to produce it and because of the non-animal source there is a much lower risk of allergic reaction (approximately 1 in 2000) therefore it can be injected without the need for a skin test. Best of all it lasts longer than collagen, approximately 3-4 months between injections.

Since Q-Med introduced their hyaluronic acid filler to the market there have been many other companies who have jumped on the hyaluronic acid band wagon, producing more refined and technically advanced versions of the gel. New brands of hyaluronic acid such as Teosyal and Juvederm Ultra which are manufactured to give a smoother result and have increased cross linking between molecules. The increased cross linking means that the molecules are more stable making them more difficult for the body to break down and therefore causing the results to last longer. Treatments with Teosyal or Juvederm ultra typically last in the 8-12 month range – a vast improvement from previous products.

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Made from a mixture of hyularonic acid and collagen, the new biodegradable wrinkle fillers are said to have a reduced risk of allergic reactions because their component parts are absorbed by the body at a slower rate. For some patients, the results from these biodegradable wrinkle fillers may be significantly better than the results they could achieve with the more conventional fillers.

There are plenty of ways that the new fillers can be used – from filling out hollow cheekbones, to augmenting the cheeks and lips, or helping to tighten up sagging skin around the eyes and jaw.

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