FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The look of your skin depends, amongst other things, on the substance hyaluronic acid, which gives your skin its volume. Ageing, diseases and injuries are some of the factors that weaken the amount and quality of hyaluronic acid. Until now, it has not been possible to use hyaluronic acid in the skin without using a product of animal origin. Now, Q-MED Aesthetics, a line of three products Restylane, Restylane Fine Lines and Perlane are available for treatment of lips, wrinkles and folds. All products are non-animal based.

HOW DOES RESTYLANE, RESTYLANE FINE LINES AND PERLANE WORK?
All products are based on a hyaluronic acid gel that is injected into the skin in order to lift up wrinkles or add volume to the lips.

WHAT IS HYALURONIC ACID?
Hyaluronic acid is a natural substance that is found throughout the body. It gives, for example, volume to the skin lubricates the joints and gives the eye its shape.

HOW WERE Q-MED AESTHETICS' PRODUCTS DEVELOPED?
In 1994, after more than 20 years of research, the company Q-MED in Sweden, managed to develop a way of using a non-animal hyluronic acid to replace lost skin tissue. Before this, collagen made from cow skin and hyaluronic acid made from rooster combs had been used.

WHAT KINDS OF WRINKLES CAN BE TREATED?
Common areas are the glabellar lines (between the eyebrows), the nasolabial folds (from the wing of the nose to the angle of the mouth) and the wrinkles around the lips and around the eyes, but other sites can also be treated.

WHAT RESULTS CAN BE OBTAINED FROM LIP TREATMENT?
The vermilion border can be accentuated and the lips can be given more volume.

WHAT IS THE TREATMENT LIKE?
The treatment is a very easy and quick process. Since no pre-test is needed, the treatment can be carried out immediately and takes about 30 minutes. The result is instant.

IS IT PAINFUL?
This is very individual depending on how sensitive to pain you are. The injections may prick a little but normally no anaesthesia is needed for the treatment of wrinkles. Lip treatment can be quite uncomfortable and therefore a nerve block or similar anaesthetic is normally used.

HOW LONG DOES THE EFFECT LAST?
Since Restylane, Restylane Fine Lines and Perlane are made of a substance very similar to your own skin, the same ongoing processes (such as ageing) that change the structure of your skin will also after the implant. Eventually the implant totally disappears from the body. How long the effect of the treatment lasts is very individual. It depends on many factors, such as the structure of the skin, lifestyle and age as well as on the degree of perfection demanded by the individual. Most patients choose to have touch-up treatment done within 6-12 months of the original treatment. For lip augmentation, new treatment is normally needed after about 4-8 months.

IS IT SAFE?
The hyalluronic acid in the Restylane products is almost identical to that already present in the body and therefore the skin does not react to the material but stays calm and healthy. Also, since the hyaluronic acid in the Restylane products is not made from animals, there is no risk of transmitting diseases from animals or eliciting allergic reactions to common foodstuffs such as eggs, meat or chicken. More than 300,000 treatments have so far been carried out with Restylane and only a very small number of adverse events have been reported (approximately 1 in 3000 patients). These have mostly been described as mild to moderate swelling, redness and tenderness at the implant site. These symptoms usually subside in 1-2 weeks without any further problems for the patient.

HOW WILL MY SKIN LOOK AFTER THE TREATMENT?
Immediately after the treatment, there may be a slight redness, swelling, tenderness and an itching sensation at the treated area. This is a normal result of the injection and the inconvenience is temporary. It generally goes away in a day or two.
After lip treatment, the lips may become swollen and look somewhat uneven. This can persist for a couple of days (up to a week). If the inconvenience continues, please contact your physician.

IS THERE ANY OTHER TYPE OF REACTIONS THAT MAY OCCUR?
If you have previously suffered from facial cold sores, there is a risk that the needle punctures could contribute to another cold sore eruption. If you are using aspirin or any similar medication, you should be aware that these might increase the bruising and bleeding at the injection site.

WHAT WILL MY SKIN LOOK LIKE WITHOUT TOUCH-UP TREATMENT?
The correction will gradually disappear until your skin looks just as it did before the treatment. Touch-up injections will help you maintain your correction.

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