What factors affect your body's metabolization of fillers? (Ex. - exercise, Adderall or other medications, etc.)

Question

Are there any known factors that affect the rate at which your body metabolizes fillers such as Juvederm, Restylane, or Radiesse? Thank you!

George Yang, MD · Answer

Hi virginiabeach90,Excellent question.  I have encountered a hand full of patients who seem to "eat up" or use up their filler rapidly, and much faster than the FDA labeling.  If you are building up your body, your body is in an anabolic state where it is growing, as opposed to a catabolic state, where your body is breaking itself down, through exercise or decreased nutrition.  If a person is trying to lose weight, but is not exercising enough and eating too much, then it will be hard for them to "break down" the fat that they accumulated.  If the person is too thin and exercising too much and not eating enough nutritionally, then it will be hard for them to gain weight (anabolic).  How does this relate to fillers?Here is a cut and paste from another post which summarizes my thoughts well:"It is possible that you may be a hypermetabolizer.  Some patients seem to used up their filler much faster than the majority of the patients.  Common characteristics of hypermetabolizers of filler are that they exercise ... a lot and are very careful with their diet.  Some are vegetarians or on a Raw diet or some calorie restriction.  I suspect their bodies are in a constant catabolic state, which means it is constantly breaking down it's own tissue.  I don't know how that also breaks down the filler, unless the filler is still there, but the patient ends up breaking down their own tissue, so it appears the filler is also gone, too.  For these hypermetabolizers, Restylane and Juvederm only last a couple of months where other patients seem to last 6-12 months and for Radiesse 4 months sounds about right where others it is lasting 12-15 months.  Since Juvederm Voluma is new to the U.S. I'm not sure how it will react for a hypermetabolizer like yourself.  Fat grafting may not work on these patients, or it could backfire, if so much fat is added and it doesn't seem to work and more is added.  If the patient gets sick or changes their lifestyle, they may have overpopulated their cheeks with fat and all of those fat cells may start holding fat.  I think this risk may be even more dangerous, even though fat is a natural filler.  The patient must maintain their weight very strictly to prevent this from happening.  At least with fillers, it naturally dissipates with time, like an hour glass, and not dissimilar to natural aging.  Also if the patient gains weight, the filler will not grow with the patient.  Instead, the patient may opt not to do a refill or wait longer so their face does not become too full. "As far as adderal, I don't know, since these patients were not on it.  If the Adderal causes to you not sit still and increase your activity as a stimulant, then it may be the side effect of increased body activity causing the catabolic state.  As far as medications, there are some medications which cause lipoatrophy.  The most prominent culprit is the HIV anti-retroviral meds which cause HIV lipoatrophy.  This causes the natural body fat to breakdown.  In general, these patients don't do well with temporary fillers, so they tend to use FDA approved products such as Sculptra to stimulate collagen growth, or permanent fillers which are used off-label for adding volume to the face.I hope this helps.Best,Dr. Yang P.S. There is a new feature on Realself, which is the "Follow" button.  It is similar to the "Like" button on Facebook.  If you like my response or any of the doctor responses while you research on Realself, you should "Follow" them.  You will get email updates, when the doctors you follow post any new answers to questions, post new photos, or have any new reviews.

What factors affect your body's metabolization of fillers? (Ex. - exercise, Adderall or other medications, etc.)

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What factors affect your body's metabolization of fillers? (Ex. - exercise, Adderall or other medications, etc.)

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Everything you need to know about Dermal Fillers

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.