2024 - she tested hyaluronic acid injections

At just over 40, Laura got tempted by injections of hyaluronic acid into the face to erase some of the effects of aging skin. She tells us everything about her journey, from the reasons that prompted her to take action, to the results of this aesthetic medicine treatment.

Article written in collaboration with L'Oréal Paris

Wasn't I going to be disfigured? Could I find my expressions, find myself? How was it going to be? Is it painful? What are the side effects of the product? What if I don't like the result? Is there a way to go back? What is the price ? All these questions, and many more, we ask ourselves before taking the plunge into cosmetic surgery treatment. Fortunately today, for many acts, including injections of hyaluronic acid, cosmetic surgery has drifted towards cosmetic medicine, less radical and gentler.

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A personal decision

I smoked, I exposed my skin to the sun, often without paying attention, by taking long walks, or even jogging (because everyone thinks of spreading their face with cream at the edge of a swimming pool or at the beach, but not in town or walking in the countryside).

I am over 40 years old. Over time, the expression lines have given a sad accent to my face. Not really old, but sad and that’s what motivated me to choose this filling treatment. I wanted to gently and very naturally erase the nascent wrinkles around the mouth which, I later learned, are called bitterness lines.

In fact, I have always aged in fits and starts. At 14 I looked 19, and I was 19 until I was 16, my 30 remained … 10 years. In short, I've always been out of step. So my age has never been a concern for me, neither have the eyes of others. Touching her face is really a personal decision, which doesn't even really relate, as far as I'm concerned, with age or with the outside gaze. It's personal. You see nothing more than that. And yes old age is in the head, OK, but it's still better with no wrinkles and no sadness displayed.

It’s you who want it, who decides it. Besides, you won't necessarily tell your friends or relatives about it, maybe not even your husband. This was my approach to choosing the injection of hyaluronic acid to treat my expression lines.

> To find out more, discover Doctissimo's report on hyaluronic acid.

A well-considered passage to act

I could have perhaps waited before resorting to aesthetic medicine, of course, but from everything I have read on the Internet, it seemed important to me to prepare for the next 10 or 20 years and this, by light treatments with "natural" products, which are initially found in the human body and which are exhausted over time, such as hyaluronic acid (which is biodegradable, that is to say that it reabsorbs on its own over time and does not stay in the body like the silicone that was once injected into the lips for example).

I made inquiries, I consulted magazines, Internet sites, I saw reports… It is true that I was afraid to look like these well-known actresses who had, following acts of aesthetic medicine , a totally unsightly face or huge lips. It’s everyone’s fear, it seems to me.
Here is what the dictionaries on hyaluronic acid give: "Hyaluronic acid is a linear polymer formed from a unit (…) Its chemical structure is the same in all tissues of the human body." The case was heard.

It is therefore sufficient to fill in the wrinkles on the face using this acid, which diffuses to treat the "sunken" areas, the wrinkles targeted by the syringe, but also the collaterals, all fine. Unlike botulinum toxin (or Botox®), which paralyzes and fixes the gaze, this solution was ideal for me, who just wanted to fill the expression lines that are too accentuated and not those in the eyes like crow's feet.

Why deprive yourself of advances in medicine? I'm a bit of a go-getter, but not a kamikaze. I waited 15-20 years before having myopia surgery. Result? Awesome ! So you might as well not wait that long for aesthetic medicine. And as long as we do, we might as well take the best to take care of it. No tryout possible, I won't be guinea pig for my face. My research took me to Dr Sillam's clinic in Paris.

Consultation with the aesthetic doctor

So I got in touch with Dr. Bernard Sillam, who is also president of the French Federation of Medical Esthetism. At the consultation for treatment, Dr. Sillam took the time to identify my request and my limitations. He understood that I was not there to achieve a "total facelift", but only to reduce the imperfections that bothered me, those folds of bitterness. After questions about my motivations, he then turned to my allergies.

He suggested that I fill in the wrinkles in the nasolabial fold, as well as the hollows (which I had not seen) in the cheeks: the valleys of tears. I then learned of crucial information: the doctor has the antidote if I ever didn't like the results of these hyaluronic acid injections on my face.

The session * has started. Even though the syringes containing the treatment look very impressive, it doesn't hurt at all, especially as the injected product contains anesthetics like lidocaine. Hence the fact that I felt like I couldn't feel my lips during the procedure and a little after. But then it came back, like dental anesthesia.

I only experienced "shits" during the injections on different areas of my face, then a very slight feeling of discomfort in my cheekbones for a few more days, but nothing really alarming or impressive. I was able to get to my work, neither seen nor known, like after a session at the dentist. The result was instantly very natural, the nasolabial fold a little filled in, but the real result appeared 2 days later.

What results after the injections?

It’s amazing! I was very stressed at the idea that my face was radically different and transformed (I made sure on several occasions that the antidote existed), my husband and my children did not even notice it, that it was funny ! A few days later, a friend of mine found that I was not aging, that I still looked great, not at all tired.

I could not say anything, but I also wanted to testify in order to uninhibit the act. To say that aesthetic medicine is accessible and does not automatically create monsters on exit. This is definitely the kind of medicine I would recommend if you are bothered by the signs of the weather.

As for the price, it changes depending on the area of the face treated, from € 250-350 for the nasolabial fold to € 500 for the tear valleys (this requires more product). Maybe I should repeat the act in a year, so it will have cost me 70 € per month for these two areas. Maybe I'll have to do aesthetic medicine again. Maybe I will stop there, I don't know yet …

3 questions to the plastic surgeon Mauricio de Maio

Mauricio de Maio, plastic surgeon

1. How long does a hyaluronic acid injection session last?
"Very little time is enough to perform these filler injections. Generally, it can take between 10 and 30 minutes. Of course, it all depends on the area to be treated."

2. How long do the effects remain visible?
"The effects of hyaluronic acid injections are temporary since it is an absorbable molecule. They can last on average between 6 and 8 months. It depends on the patient, his metabolism, his age, his environment , its way of life (tobacco, alcohol, exposure to the sun, pollution, etc.), as well as its genetics ".

3. What are the contraindications?
"There are no real contraindications for receiving hyaluronic acid injections. On the other hand, it is not recommended to use them in the event of heavy treatments, autoimmune diseases, breastfeeding or pregnancy. . If in doubt, do not hesitate to consult a doctor directly ".

Alternatives to injections

Do you not yet feel ready to take the plunge into medicine or cosmetic surgery as Laura did? Be aware that there are also cosmetic alternatives that can help fill in fine lines and wrinkles on the surface of the face and neck with hyaluronic acid. This molecule is now present in many anti-wrinkle products such as L’Oréal Paris Revitalift Filler Anti-Wrinkle Serum. Its formula of 1.5% pure hyaluronic acid helps to rehydrate the skin, smooth it and fill in wrinkles in the upper layer of the epidermis.

Revitalift Filler anti-wrinkle serum 1.5% Pure Hyaluronic Acid, L'Oréal Paris