Juvederm vs. Restylane – Results and Costs

We value youth more than we should sometimes, I suppose. And the reality of the world is that we all want to look and feel a little bit younger than we do, a little bit younger than the number of candles on the birthday cake indicate that we should feel. So, we turn towards beauty products that ca help to give us that youthful feeling and appearance. Juvederm and Restylane are two of those products. They are both products which are said to add volume and smoothness to your skin, giving you improved skin tone, reducing wrinkles and helping you to look younger. But do they work? And if they do, at what cost to you?

Let's take a look at both Juvederm and Restylane to see what they say:

JUVEDERM:

Juvederm is the name brand of an injectable gel which provides filler for your skin, increasing the volume that it contains and smoothing out wrinkles and folds in the face. It is most commonly used to get rid of "laugh lines" and "parenthesis", those lines which are located between your nose and mouth, extending out towards your cheeks. Juvederm is made from hyaluronic acid which is found naturally in the skin, can be used by people of all ethnic backgrounds and is approved by the FDA.

RESTYLANE

Restylane is a product which is very similar to Juvederm, also using hyaluronic acid to add volume to the skin and reduce wrinkles. In fact, Restylane is basically the same as Juvederm except that it is not as concentrated as Juvederm is. The lower levels of hyaluronic acid in Restylane may mean that it is less effective but safer than its counterpart.

So, now that we now the basics about them, what we really want to know is whether or not they work and what effect they may have on your body. The fact is that these products do work to enhance your skin volume and reduce wrinkles on your face. However, the extent to which they work varies depending upon individual characteristics in your skin and body. The treatments are long-lasting but are not permanent and therefore need to be repeated to achieve the same effects over time.

On the plus side, there are reported to be very few side effects or lasting health problems associated with the injection of either of these products. Temporary tenderness, some swelling and redness of the skin are all common immediately following the injection but go away quickly. Neither product has common allergies and in fact, an allergy test is not necessary for people planning to try either injection. However, there is one serious side effect which has been known to occur and which you should be aware of in case you are planning to consider this treatments, and that side effect is granulomas. These are small bumps under the surface of the skin which form as a result of immune problems caused by the injections. They aren't common, but they do occur and can't be easily treated.

So, in terms of the benefits and costs of Juvederm and Restylane, most people do feel that it's something worth trying for achieving the look of younger skin. It's certainly safer than other injections, such as Botox, and tends to have less side effects and risks associated with it. However, you should keep in mind that we grow up for a reason. Laugh lines are on our faces to show that we have had a laugh worth some laughter. And perhaps your natural look may be better than any sort of synthetic look you can achieve, no matter how risk-free it may be.