Perlane
Are you troubled by deep wrinkles around your nose or mouth? Are you looking for a safe way to enhance the size or shape of your lips? Perlane is an FDA-approved dermal filler that can reduce the appearance of facial scars, augment the lips, and fill in deep wrinkles and lines. Perlane will not offer the same results as surgery, although it can give you a fuller and more youthful appearance by treating lines around the nose, mouth, eyes, and neck.
Dr. Robert Walton is a Board Certified plastic surgeon specializing in cosmetic facial procedures. Dr. Walton has years of experience performing Perlane injections to restore a naturally youthful appearance to the face.
What is Perlane?
Perlane is a dermal filler made from a clear gel formulation of hyaluronic acid, a naturally occurring substance found in your connective tissue, joints, and eyes. Perlane is used to add fullness and volume to deep scars and wrinkles or enhance the lips.
Why Have Perlane?
Perlane has the highest concentration of hyaluronic acid (HA) on the market to effectively treat even deep or severe wrinkles. This FDA-approved wrinkle corrector has been proven safe and effective and it has been used safely since 2000.
Perlane is essentially the same as Restylane, another popular dermal filler, but Perlane has a higher concentration of HA and larger particles that makes it better suited to larger or deeper wrinkles and folds. Unlike thinner formulations of hyaluronic acid, Perlane is effective at treating deep wrinkles, folds, and facial scarring. Because Perlane is natural and biodegradable, the effects are not permanent. If you are not happy with your results, they will fade with time. You can choose to continue Perlane treatments to maintain your results.
Perlane has one of the highest patient satisfaction rates among all dermal fillers. In clinical studies, about three-quarters of patients maintained results for six months after a single Perlane treatment. It can safely be combined with other fillers like Restylane as well as Botox to enhance and prolong the effects without resorting to surgery. Perlane is a flexible filler that can be used for many purposes such as:
- Softening and filling nasolabial folds
- Enhancing lips
- Chin augmentation
- Filling hollowed cheeks and temples
- Reducing the appearance of smile lines, crow’s feet, marionette lines, smoker’s lines, and worry lines
- Redefining the borders of the lips
- Reducing acne and facial scars
- Correcting depressions from fat loss
Perlane Treatment
Because Perlane is made from a non-animal form of a hyaluronic acid gel, it contains no animal products and does not require a skin allergy test before use. Dr. Walton will advise you to avoid aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories like Ibuprofen, Vitamin E supplements, and St. John’s Wort for at least 7-10 days prior to treatment.
The Perlane treatment process is not painful. Dr. Walton will inject Perlane under the skin with a trained eye to carefully enhance the contours of your face and fill wrinkles. The procedure itself typically takes 30-45 minutes as an in-office procedure. While most patients are comfortable with an ice pack applied before the injections, Dr. Walton can also use an anesthetic block to make the procedure painless.
You will see the results of your procedure immediately, although you may experience some minor side effects during the first two days. As with any injection procedure, Perlane can cause minor redness, swelling, discomfort, tenderness, and itching at the injection sites. There may also be bruising. These side effects will resolve within two or three days. Patients are encouraged to use an ice pack on the treated area for 15 minutes to reduce swelling and minimize bruising.
Perlane results last between 6 months to one year. If you are happy with your results, you can schedule follow-up Perlane injections with Dr. Walton to maintain your results. There is no downtime following Perlane treatments. You can resume normal activities and work immediately after your procedure, although it is important to take some precautions, such as avoiding NSAIDs and aspirin immediately after the procedure and for the next 48 hours.
Are You a Candidate?
Perlane is a very effective treatment for all types of deep wrinkles, folds, and facial scars. If you are troubled by nasolabial folds, smile lines, smoker’s lines, marionette lines, crow’s feet, or acne scars, you may be a good candidate for Perlane treatment. Individuals who want non-permanent lip or chin augmentation may also be a good candidate as Perlane can be used to naturally augment or enhance the lips and chin. Many people choose Perlane prior to permanent augmentation surgery to test the results. Ideal candidates for Perlane injections are healthy non-smokers. Perlane is suitable for adults of all ages.
Perlane FAQs
How long will the procedure take?
The procedure, performed in-office, will take between 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on how many injections you will require to achieve your desired results and if you will have other complementary procedures such as Botox performed at the same time.
What can I expect after Perlane injections?
After the procedure, you can expect some tenderness, redness, and mild swelling at the injection sites. This will resolve within a day or two. Your results will be immediately visible.
Are there risks?
Perlane is a very safe and natural cosmetic filler that has been used safely for more than fifteen years. While safe, there are some common side effects that are similar to any injection. You may experience mild redness, swelling, discomfort, and tenderness at the injection sites. There is minimal risk of an allergic reaction to Perlane as it is made with natural non-animal hyaluronic acid.
Perlane may cause hyperpigmentation or darkening skin in African-American patients. If this does occur, it typically clears within weeks. In some rare cases, patients experience pimple-like papules after treatment. Perlane injections may also cause a new occurrence of cold sores. If you have ever had a cold sore, discuss it before treatment as some medications can reduce the chance of a recurrence.
How soon can I return to work?
Perlane treatments have no downtime. You can resume normal activities immediately, including returning to work. In fact, many people choose to receive dermal fillers during a lunch break before returning to work!
Next Steps
For an appointment, please call Chicago Plastic Surgery, LLC office at 312-337-7795, or contact Dr. Walton by filling out our online form. We look forward to meeting you and helping you with your Perlane procedure here in Chicago.