Radiesse Vs. Restylane for Sagging Areas Around Mouth?

Restylane and Radiesse are fillers used for softening the appearance of wrinkles and adding back lost volume in the ares around the mouth. Each has distinct advantages:

1. Restylane works very well for wrinkles and small concavities around the mouth. You can also stiffen the areas which are sagging slightly. I like the fact that in the unusual circumstance that a patient gets a lump, I can easily dissolve it with one injection of hyaluronidase.

2. Radiesse has the advantage of lasting longer, but must be injected more deeply to avoid visibility, so it is not as useful for fine wrinkles. It does work well for adding volume and for the nasolabial folds. The safety margin is less because it can't be dissolved once injected, but lumps are unlikely because of its smooth consistency.

3. Sculptra is excellent for adding volume to the face and camouflaging mild sagging. It helps refill the skin envelope of the face and replace what the missing volume. Adding volume to the cheeks almost always improves facial aging because so often this youthful volume is missing.

4. Cheeklift - Sometimes if you have loose skin around the mouth, you would be best served by a procedure to tighten this skin. A cheeklift is a medium-small procedure that will give you 7-10 years of improvement and probably cost less in the long run than repeated injections of the fillers. If you were to add up the amount of time you will be bruised after injections over the next 7 - 10 years the downtime is probably similar also. So don't exclude surgery just because of cost or down time. With a cheeklift both downtime and costs may be less overall.

See a board certified Plastic Surgeon who can offer all of the options to find out what you really need. I see patients frequently who need only fillers to correct mild sagging around the mouth. Unfortunately, I also see patients who were given tons of fillers by other doctors and are unhappy, because they really always needed a cheeklift or facelift. Remember, if you go to a doctor who only offers fillers, thats what you are probably going to get whether it is the best procedure for you or not.

Both fillers are excellent when used appropriately.  I find that Radiesse is a better foundational filler and that finesse results can be later achieved with Restylane or another HA product  when used more superficially.

Obviously, there is much skill required in making a mouth look younger and sensuous rather than too lippy or chipmunky.  

Both are very good fillers. The thing I like about Radiesse is that it really goes a long way and does last longer than the other fillers out there. If it is your first time you may want to start with restylane so that it does not last as long so if you are not happy with the result it will go away sooner than later.
But if you have used fillers before and now what to expect then I would recommend radiesse.
Good luck.

Sculptra would be my first choice to build up the cheeks and the area below cheeks which then pulls up the sagging areas around your mouth. You can also fill in the depressions between the jowl and chin area and it will make the sagging tissues around the mouth less prominent.
Radiesse would be my second choice and Restylane the third choice.
Regards

Dear Ramona
Both of these products can be safely used for this purpose. Radiesse is a calcium based paste product that is slowly absorbed by the body. It has a relatively low incidents of problems when it is used deep to the skin, essentially in the fat or deeper. However, when placed too superficially, it can become inflammed. It is not a product for the actual lip and it should not be under in the ultrathin eyelid area. The company has been substantially discounting this filler to the doctors who use it making it less expensive than Restylane or Juvederm. However, the cost of the product seems to track the cost of these other fillers and higher profit might be a motivation in recommending this particular filler.

The downside of Radiesse is that it can't be adjusted like Perlane or Restylane. So if there is a lump or a bump, only time will resolve the problem. This is not the case with Perlane and Restylane; these products can be adjusted even long after a treatment with an enzyme called hyaluronidase. As a result, I personally do not feel that there is a need to use Radiesse and the profit motive should not be a reason to use a product that can't be adjusted.