The search for ways to preserve youthful beauty has probably been going on for far longer than recorded history. It is known that more than 100 years ago women were receiving facial implants to reduce wrinkles from such unlikely things as gold, aluminum, ivory and porcelain. Injections of liquid paraffin were among methods to reduce wrinkles and preserve youth. As with current methods of facial repair they did not always work and left the recipients of the treatment ill, or as the implants followed the course of gravity and slid, looking worse than they did to begin with.
Today "dermal fillers" are much sought after to reduce wrinkles and restore a youthful appearance. Dermal fillers and their manufacturers include: Restylane made by Medici, Juvederm, a product from Allergan, and Radiesse from Bio Form Medical. According to a report just released by the Food and Drug Administration reports have been received of serious and unexpected problems in people treated with the wrinkle-fighting injections.
A total of 930 reports of health problems have been received over the past six years. Reported side effects include facial palsy and disfigurement and rare, but life-threatening problems such as severe allergic reactions and anaphylactic shock. Reports of minor swelling also occurred, but that is an expected reaction to the injections.
The FDA will ask an outside panel of experts if the labels for the products should be changed. The agency also said that the report is incomplete because they did not know when the problems started, whether the results were from single or multiple injections, if more than one product was used and how long after the injection the symptoms arose. They also did not indicate which company’s products had the most reactions reported. The report did include the information that some of the injections may have been performed by untrained personnel outside of medical offices or clinics.
