A recent study helps back up the suggestion that using hyaluronic acid (HA) dermal fillers together with botulinum neurotoxin-A (BoNT-A) may help the fillers last longer.
In the study, which appears in the January issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Dr ?smael Küçüker and colleagues from the Ondokuz May?s University Faculty of Medicine in Samsun, Turkey, performed a study using rabbits in which a small amount of HA filler was injected under the skin in front of each ear. This area was chosen because it is similar to the forehead region in humans, explains a media release from Wolters Kluwer Health.
On one side, HA filler alone was used. On the other side, HA filler was combined with BoNT-A to paralyze the muscle in that area. After 3 months, MRI scans were performed to compare the amount of filler remaining on the two sides.
The follow-up scans confirmed that BoNT-A slowed degradation of the injected filler. At three months, chemodenervation with BoNT-A decreased the degradation rate of the HA fillers by 42%.
At the same time, the remaining volume of HA filler was 50% greater on the side where BoNT-A was used, the release continues.
“This study showed that HA filler application in combination with BoNT-A significantly decreases the degradation process and increases the remaining volume at the end of the paralyzed period,” Küçüker and colleagues conclude in the study, per the release.
[Source(s): Wolters Kluwer Health, Science Daily]
