The Bellafill® “Dip”
Posted: 9:54 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014
By Anita Mandal, M.D.
Question: I had Bellafill® placed into my hollow temples two months ago. At first, the results looked good and I was really pleased. Six weeks after my treatment, my hollows began to show again. My surgeon told me that Bellafill® would last at least five?years or longer. Why did the Bellafill® go away so quickly?
Answer: No need to fret so soon. It is not uncommon to see a “dip” in facial volume many weeks to months after an Bellafill® treatment. This is a known occurrence in some patients and does not mean that you’ve wasted your time or money.
It is important to understand that Bellafill® consists of both the Bellafill® crystals and bovine collagen. The crystals, which are inert, stimulate your own body’s mount a collagen response over 4 to 8 weeks. If the Bellafill® crystals alone were injected, there would be no immediate results after injection. The bovine collagen is what gives the an immediate volume filling.
Over a 4 to 6 week period, this bovine collagen, which is of temporary duration, gets resorbed by the body. In most patients, by the time their bovine collagen disappears, the Bellafill® crystals have already begun to stimulate your body’s own collagen response. However, in some patients, there is a delay between the resorption of bovine collagen and stimulation of new collagen by your body. Its because of this delay that patients may see that temporary “Bellafill® dip” months after their treatment.
Once the Bellafill® crystals elicit a sufficient collagen response from your body, you should see volume restoration. Oftentimes, with Bellafill®, volume replenishment is even greater than what one immediately gets from the bovine collagen alone. It’s for this reason that six months down the road, many patients feel they look better than immediately after treatment.
Careful consultation with a Board Certified Facial Plastic Surgeon to assess you collagen needs is the first step.
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