Botulinum toxin and hyaluronic acid are the most requested aesthetic medicine treatments in Spain when it comes to rejuvenating the face or adding volume to areas such as the lips. However, in recent months there has been a lot of talk about polylactic acidboth to treat the face and the body. The doctor Marta Garaydoctor in medicine and aesthetic surgery at the Pedro Jaén Group, defines it as “the fashionable injectable in aesthetic medicine whose main objective is to combat sagging and remodel both facial and body contours».
What is polylactic acid?
The doctor Ernesto Perez Hernandezaesthetic doctor at FEMM Clinic, explains to us that “polylactic acid is a resorbable polymer with collagen-stimulating effectapproved as a biostimulator for more than 20 years for use in aesthetic medicine. It is a long-lasting resorbable material, and its mode of action is multifactorial; It is an inducer of the formation of new collagen and reduces the destruction of collagen already present in the skin. But, in addition, clinical studies have shown that it affects the vascularization of tissues, the formation of elastin, it has a role antioxidant and modulates the differentiation of stem cells derived from adipose tissue.
What are its main uses?
Dr. Marta Garay assures that “polylactic acid is a long-lasting product, which has shown in multiple studies a high efficacy and a fairly high safety profile. Provides benefits in the treatment of acne scars, lipodystrophy and skin rejuvenation in general. It is considered not only as a filler, but as a bioimplant. It is indicated for facial and body use and has gained ground over hyaluronic acid, with its duration being much longer. “It serves to recover the volume of depressed areas such as folds, wrinkles or scars.”
In the body, in addition to increasing the volume of areas such as the buttocks, it is also used to treat cellulite. The doctor Beatriz Beltrana specialist in aesthetic medicine, explains that “polylactic acid is the most powerful collagen stimulator we have in medicine and is supported by many scientific studies that guarantee its effectiveness and safety. The key in the treatment of cellulite is that what it does is generate collagen in the areas where collagen fibers have been lost, which are the dimples and depressions in the skin that are noticeable. Without being a filler, polylactic acid manages to smooth and even out the padded effect of the skin in addition to contouring the gluteal area.
How is polylactic acid treatment performed?
Polylactic acid infiltrates, just like hyaluronic acid or Botox. Dr. Marta Garay comments that “it is a practically painless treatment since minimal amounts of anesthesia infiltrated in the area to be treated in order to avoid the typical discomfort that the patient may suffer during the process. The product must reconstitute with serumthe number of incidents being lower the greater the volume in which it is reconstituted. Once infiltrated, it is recommended to massage the area to disperse the product.
Dr. Ernesto Pérez Hernández, from the FEMM Clinic, points out that “as it is a powerful collagen inducer, it is important that it be applied by a injector trained specifically on this product». Putting yourself in the hands of a professional with experience in its application is the main recommendation of the experts consulted by ABC to avoid complications and side effects.
How is it different from hyaluronic acid?
Hyaluronic acid and polylactic acid are different products, with some common points and others different. Doctors assure that it is not about choosing one or the other, but about knowing combine them and choose each one according to the patient’s needs. Dr. Garay, from the Pedro Jaén Group, points out that “the main difference lies in the ability of polylactic acid to stimulate neocollagenesis (collagen synthesis) over a long period of time. Both products provide hydration to the tissue and serve as volumizing products, but only polylactic acid manages to combat the much-feared flaccidity». For his part, Dr. Ernesto Pérez Hernández adds that “the polylactic has longer duration (some can last up to 25 months, but it depends on the type) and leaves less aesthetic impact, making it a good option for ‘filler-phobic’ patients. Against him, It does not have the immediate volumizing effect that hyaluronic hasit is more difficult to predict the extent and speed of volumization (which in part will depend on the response of the patient’s tissues), it is less useful in correcting asymmetries and does not have an ‘antidote’ as accessible as hyaluronidase in the case of hyaluronic acid.
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