What causes wrinkles?
The way your skin looks is directly related to the way your skin is supported. Wrinkles form when the natural collagen and hyaluronic acid in your skin diminish during the course of aging. Other factors that cause wrinkles include exposure to the sun, disease, injury, heredity and lifestyle. Collagen provides structure to your skin while hyaluronic acid provides skin volume.

What is collagen?
Collagen is the most abundant natural protein found in the body and provides structural support to skin, muscle, tendons and bone. Fibers of collagen are woven together, like threads in fabric, to form a framework into which new cells can grow. In the skin, collagen provides texture, resiliency and shape.

What is Collagen Replacement Therapy?
Collagen Replacement Therapy is a safe, non-surgical wrinkle correction treatment in which highly purified collagen is injected into the skin to replenish the skin's lost collagen, restoring skin structure.

Is Collagen Replacement Therapy safe?
Yes. Collagen products from INAMED Aesthetics are approved by the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are tested for a variety of contaminants in accordance with strict FDA requirements. The end result of this stringent testing is a safe product, free from detectable viruses or contaminants.

How are collagen treatments different from Botox® Cosmetic (Botulinum Toxin Type A)?
Botulinum Toxin Type A is a protein that is injected into muscles to relax them, smoothing lines and wrinkles caused by repeated facial movements. In contrast, collagen is a dermal filler and is injected below a wrinkle, scar or depression in order to "fill" it in, smoothing the surface of the skin.

How long does the procedure take?
Treatment of collagen injections usually takes less than one hour.

Do I need to take time off from work to recuperate?
Collagen Replacement Therapy is a simple procedure with a quick recovery time. Most patients feel comfortable resuming their normal activities immediately following treatment. You are free to eat, drink, or wear makeup with sunblock shortly after treatment. There may be some temporary swelling and redness in the treated area, which should subside within an hour.

Are collagen injections painful?
Most people report that the injections are relatively painless. To minimize discomfort, a topical or local anesthetic can be applied to the area prior to treatment. Also, CosmoDerm and CosmoPlast contain an anesthetic, lidocaine, which helps to temporarily numb the treatment area.

What areas can be treated with Collagen?
The most common areas treated are the smile lines around your nose and mouth, frown lines between the eyes, acne scars, fine lines above the mouth, and the lip border to add definition.

Can I have more than one area treated at the same time?
Yes, more than one area can be injected at the same time.

How frequently will I need to have Collagen Replacement Therapy?
To maintain optimal correction, touch-up injections are usually needed two or three times a year. The amount of collagen used during follow-up treatments is usually less than that used in the initial treatment. Without ongoing treatments, the collagen is gradually absorbed by the body and your face returns to its original contours.

How do I know Collagen Replacement Therapy might be right for me?
If looking your best is important to you, Collagen Replacement Therapy is probably for you. Imagine smoothing out those wrinkles around your mouth, or filling in those annoying tiny lines above your lip. Now you can.

Perform a simple stretch test. Pull your skin tight on either side of the wrinkle you want to test, this will allow you to assess the potential for optimal treatment capability. If the line/wrinkle goes away when the skin is pulled tight, then full correction may be achieved. Keep in mind that if you can still see a line when you pull the skin, your practitioner will be able to smooth the area and fill in the wrinkle, but you may still see the line.

How much do the treatments cost?
Pricing varies depending on the number and types of areas being treated, the amount of filler material required to achieve the desired results and the practitioner administering the treatment.Typically treatments are priced competitively with other injectable wrinkle correction procedures.