Injectables

Modern aesthetics has become less about conforming to specific beauty standards and more about looking like the best version of yourself. Today’s beauty icons seem to be effortlessly put together — rather than change the way they look, they use subtle cosmetic approaches to emphasize their best natural features and keep their skin looking younger and healthier even as they age. The focus is on caring for your appearance to maintain smooth skin texture, youthful facial volume and a fresh glow.

But skin care routines can only get you so far. Topical treatments cannot completely stop signs of aging, and everyone has small elements of their appearance that could be better defined, softer, fuller or more symmetrical. When it comes to enhancing your look in a way that keeps people wondering what your secret is, injectable treatments are one of the most popular options.

Wrinkle relaxers and dermal fillers are quick and convenient, don’t require any downtime and are easily customized, repeated and adjusted to give every client their fully personalized best results. Whether you have fine lines across your brow, sagging skin on your cheeks or wrinkles around your nose and mouth, there may be a simple injectable solution.

Dr. Franziska Huettner provides a full range of injectable options with her signature personalized touch. As a double board-certified plastic surgeon with years of experience providing injectables, she offers these treatments with world-class precision and a high-level understanding of how to get each client’s perfect results. Find out how injectables at Manhattan Plastic Surgery can help you achieve the sophisticated, subtly ageless or sculpted look you want — schedule your private consultation with Dr. Huettner by calling 646-906-9260 or reaching out online.

Injectables for Confidence Beauty

Botox

Perhaps the best-known injectable, Botox has been a household name in cosmetics for over 25 years. Botox is the non-invasive industry standard for treating dynamic wrinkles on the forehead and between the eyebrows, sometimes called worry lines or frown lines. These lines form when repeated movements like raising your eyebrows, furrowing your brow or squinting cause delicate facial muscles to become tense and leave visible creases in the skin. Dynamic wrinkles can age the appearance or result in a permanently worried, angry or tired expression. Erasing them is one of the best ways to get back to looking noticeably younger and healthier without altering your natural facial structure.

Botox effectively smooths these wrinkles using a protein called botulinum toxin that blocks specific muscular nerves. Injecting Botox into the affected muscles causes them to relax and prevents them from tensing up again. After a few months, the body naturally processes the botulinum toxin out of its system, and the protein’s effects fade. Adding more Botox before the previous treatment wears off is perfectly safe and ensures that you maintain a seamlessly ageless appearance.

In expert hands like Dr. Huettner’s, Botox injection placement is highly precise and maintains a natural brow mobility while restoring a relaxed, neutral and youthful look. Dr. Huettner meets with every client for a thorough consultation to map out injection sites and establish an appropriate treatment plan. After your initial appointment, typical Botox treatments take just a half-hour or less. Results appear in a few days, with maximum effects around the two-week mark. Depending on the client and their treatment plan, Botox can last between three and six months before a maintenance appointment is needed.

Dermal Fillers

Injectable fillers have quickly become popular in recent years as new formulas, better techniques and improved applications have emerged. Plastic surgeons, dermatologists and other cosmetics professionals now use fillers for a broad range of purposes, from reducing signs of aging like wrinkles and sagging skin to enhancing aspects of the appearance like the lips, eyes or cheekbones. Fillers add subtle yet impactful plumpness to various facial features, particularly in areas where a client naturally lacks volume or where the skin has lost volume over time. Fillers give clients the flexibility to play up their favorite features (for example, emphasizing lip volume and definition) or correct problems that detract from their appearance (such as dark hollows under the eyes).

Most fillers are made with a substance called hyaluronic acid (HA), which is a specialized molecule that occurs naturally in human skin as a structure to fill the spaces between skin cells. HA has also become a popular ingredient in skin care due to its impressive moisture retention properties: in the skin, hyaluronic attracts and binds to water molecules, holding up to 1,000 times its weight in water. This gives HA the unique ability to both volumize the skin by taking up space between tissues, and to provide deep-level hydration for a healthier glow.

Dr. Huettner uses two brands of hyaluronic acid fillers: Juvéderm, a popular option for clients with finer lines or detailed concerns, and Restylane, a filler brand well-known for its versatility and effectiveness in volumizing broader areas of the face.

Juvéderm

Juvéderm is an injectable hyaluronic acid gel made by Allergan, the same parent company as brand-name Botox. It comes in several different formulas, all of which are FDA-approved for treating different concerns. Most formulas are for patients over 21; the baseline formula, Juvéderm XC, may be appropriate for ages 18-20 as well. Dr. Huettner typically uses Juvéderm’s suite of three specialty formulas: Vollure, Volbella and Voluma. These formulas use a similar makeup with lidocaine for comfort during injection, but they have different sizes and concentrations of HA molecules to make them better suited for various concerns.

Vollure

Vollure is cleared to treat moderate to severe facial folds and wrinkles, particularly nasolabial folds (the lines between the nose and mouth, sometimes called “smile lines”). With a “mid-weight” hyaluronic acid formula, this option is best suited for areas of the face that require a moderate amount of volume. Vollure can last up to 18 months.

Volbella

Volbella is a lighter formula with smaller HA molecules, designed to address areas that need a highly detailed filling effect. Specifically, Volbella is for use around the lips, either for patients who want injectable lip augmentation or those who have feathered lines at the edges of the lip (perioral lines). Volbella lasts up to one year.

Voluma

The heaviest and longest-lasting of these three Juvéderm formulas, Voluma is intended to correct significant volume loss from aging such as hollowness in the cheeks. It may also be used to add volume in broader regions of the face where a client naturally lacks fullness. Results from Voluma can last up to two years.

Restylane

Restylane, a filler from aesthetics and dermatology research company Galderma, is likewise a hyaluronic gel formula. However, its basic formula uses a more textured gel than Juvéderm; the texture is designed to offer better filler cohesion. This makes it long-lasting — in clinical studies, 95% of patients showed results lasting 18 months or more — but may make it prone to forming bumps if administered by an inexperienced provider. It is best used for moderate to severe facial wrinkles such as nasolabial folds, for lip augmentation in patients over 21 and for reducing wrinkles or visible veins on aging hands.

Injectables may not be right for every client. They are ideal for individuals whose concerns do not require surgical approaches and for those who understand the temporary nature of these treatments. Injectables may have temporary side effects including redness, swelling or mild bruising at the injection site. Dr. Huettner will discuss all the possible side effects and limitations with you during your consultation, and will ask about your medical history to ensure you are not at a high risk of adverse reactions.

We are here to help

Dr. Huettner’s expertise and artistic eye ensure truly exceptional results from injectable treatments. She is uniquely talented in creating natural agelessness, subtle sculpting and one-of-a-kind facial rejuvenation with injectables like Botox, Juvéderm and Restylane. Schedule your consultation at Manhattan Plastic Surgery to find out if injectables will offer your best outcomes — call us at 212-495-9200 or contact us online.