You’ve had collagen in your body since the day you were born. But once you reach a certain age, your body stops producing it entirely.
This is when collagen injections or fillers can come into play. They replenish your skin’s natural collagen. In addition to smoothing out wrinkles, collagen can fill out skin depressions and even significantly reduce the appearance of scars.
This article will explore the benefits (and side effects) of collagen injections, and how they compare to other cosmetic skin procedures. Keep reading to find out what you need to know before you plump.
Collagen is the skin’s most abundant protein. It’s found in your bones, cartilage, skin, and tendons.
Collagen injections (commercially known as Bellafill) are a cosmetic procedure that is done by injecting collagen — made up of bovine (cow) collagen — under your skin.
Possible benefits include the following:
They can replace your skin’s natural collagen
With the breakdown of collagen occurring in the body after a certain age, collagen injections can replace your body’s original supply of collagen.
As collagen is largely responsible for the skin’s elasticity, this leaves the skin with a more youthful appearance.
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Collagen injections reduce wrinkles in other specific facial areas as well, including the:
- nose
- eyes (crow’s feet)
- mouth (frown lines)
- forehead
They can reduce the appearance of scars
Soft-tissue fillers such as collagen are ideal for improving the appearance of depressed (sunken) or hollow scars.
Bovine collagen is injected under the scar to stimulate collagen growth and to elevate the skin depression caused by the scar.
They can plump the lips
Collagen lip fillers plump up the lips, adding fullness and volume.
While these were once some of the most commonly used fillers for lips, fillers that contain hyaluronic acid (HA) have since become more popular.
HA is a naturally occurring gel-like molecule in the body that keeps the skin moisturized. Like collagen, it plumps the lips and can be used to smooth out the vertical lines above the lips (nasolabial folds).
Unlike collagen, however, HA is temporary and is broken down by the body over time.