A data point for reflection. “Up to 30% of new patients who come to aesthetic medicine consultations reject getting hyaluronic acid injections as a first option. When hyaluronic acid is fundamental, it is the wheels of the car; it is one of the great weapons we have as doctors,” laments the aesthetic physician Javier Anido. The aesthetic-medical landscape has changed.
On one hand, now “patients associate the use of hyaluronic acid with exaggerated and artificial results, fearing thus to lose the naturalness of their appearance and the alteration of their facial movements,” says Marta Garay, aesthetic physician at Grupo Pedro Jaén. Undoubtedly, the ‘overfilled faces’, achieved with hyaluronic acid, have done a lot of damage in recent years. “Bad products have been used and aesthetic medicine has been trivialized,” laments Dr. Anido.
A pity if we consider that hyaluronic acid is precisely a product that is a priori safe and, in fact, the only one that has an antidote: the hyaluronidase, a natural enzyme that turns it into liquid so that the body can reabsorb it quickly. “It is the safest material if used correctly. After its infiltration, hyaluronidase allows us to dissolve it and remove it 100%. The laboratories know this and continue to bet on this great product,” notes Dr. Garay.
Bad product or misuse?
Despite this: if we look back, we see that for years it has been used incorrectly: large quantities in inappropriate places. “Its bad reputation precedes it and it is our responsibility as doctors to use it correctly,” acknowledges Dr. Garay. And on the other hand, naturalness, personalization and the ‘less is more’ principle have become the new demands of patients.
“The most important thing is the facial assessment to know, at all times, what that person needs,” emphasizes the physician Javier Anido. For her part, for Marta Garay the key also lies in the product and the technique: “It is about using a quality material that, used correctly, guarantees the success of the process. For that, study and learning must be constant throughout a doctor’s career.”
Towards a hyaluronic acid with no touch-ups
The laboratories continue to work against the clock to find more biocompatible and natural formulas: “The new hyaluronic acids aim to be as close as possible to what the human body naturally contains. The difference of these new products lies in the technology used, since it manages to obtain a long-chain hyaluronic acid similar to that of our organism for natural assimilation and without inflammation,” describes Dr. Marta Garay.
To put it in a nutshell, the new hyaluronic acids are safer, more adaptable and sustainable: “Research advances every year. The hyaluronic acid of the future will be increasingly safer, will have a greater capacity to integrate into the anatomy and the skin of patients, will modify its cross-linking and will use cross-linkers that reabsorb completely, and will have a stable and lasting duration over time so that you don’t have to inject it permanently,” predicts Dr. Javier Anido.
Let it look more natural
With these new perspectives and ambitions, the Estyme range from Evolus has just arrived in Spain. What good and new does this hyaluronic acid bring? “The way hyaluronic acid is cross-linked to make it more natural, stable and predictable in the tissue has been modified. For this, a process of cold cross-linking (Cold-X Technology) is used, which reduces chemical aggression and preserves the original structure of hyaluronic acid,” explains Pilar Sarasa, Medical Affairs Clinician for Spain of Evolus.
Instead of heat (as most laboratories do), it uses a cold cross-linking process (the chemical process by which molecules of hyaluronic acid bond to form a dense, stable and resistant gel) that reduces chemical aggression and preserves the original structure of hyaluronic acid. “This new technology is based on a key concept: modifying how hyaluronic acid is cross-linked to make it more natural, stable and predictable in the tissue,” explains Dr. Garay.
Less inflammation, more longevity for the skin
Within this technology, each service has a different function, more aimed at achieving lifting and support, correcting wrinkles and dynamic folds, providing volume or restoring support in different parts of the body. From this laboratory they assure that this new range does not inflame and achieves results with 20% less product. “Being cross-linked at low temperature, less product is needed and the effect is much more natural and integrative. A lower inflammatory capacity is also achieved. After all, inflammation also contributes to tissue degeneration,” explains Dr. Anido.
With less inflammation, fewer chances that it does not reabsorb correctly or leaves a negative aesthetic imprint. “It achieves the expected, natural results, respects the individuality of each patient and has the ability to prevent the signs of aging,” details the aesthetic physician from Grupo Pedro Jaén. That said, the future of hyaluronic acid with this new range is promising “as long as it is used correctly,” concludes the expert.
