Filler that lasts up to a year, has no side-effects on the body

Jan 7, 2009 10:25 GMT  ·  By
Injections with temporary filler Macrolane bound to reach the US in a couple of years
   Injections with temporary filler Macrolane bound to reach the US in a couple of years

Since beauty now represents standardized dimensions all women must meet, the rate of silicone implants has been soaring, not only in the US, but even in countries that are generally seen as less developed from this point of view, like Mexico and Brazil. With all this, there is a more convenient alternative, albeit more expensive, to silicone implants – Macrolane injections.

Of course, if female residents in the US are not familiar with it, it’s because it is not yet approved for use here. Actually, it has not even been submitted for authorization, since testing for it will not start for another couple of years. As of now, it has been tested in the UK and Japan, with Canada soon to follow this year, MarieClaire informs us. This filler was developed a few years back in Sweden, and is produced by the same company that sells Restylane, the top-selling wrinkle filler in the US, Q-Med.

Contrary to what we might be tempted to believe, Macrolane is not a drug, having a composition similar to the substances that are already found in the body. It is a NASHA (non-animal stabilized hyaluronic acid) that is used as a filler for a larger bust. Once injected under the skin, it stays in place for about twelve months, after which it breaks down and is naturally absorbed by the body. However, cases of women who “deflated” in nine months are known to have happened.

Being a filler, Macrolane is used both to correct asymmetry and to increase the bust size by a cup, but no more. The only inconvenient about it so far, as a MarieClaire editor got to attest on her own, is that, because it is not available in the US, it forces women to embark on what is called “cosmetic tourism.” “Forty-four percent of American women consider doing some augmentation, but London is a long way to go. Traveling predisposes you to blood clots, and if you come home and there’s a complication, what American doctor will want to inherit the liability?” American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) President Dr. Richard D'Amico tells MarieClaire.

On the upside, Macrolane requires less than half the healing time implants entail, with one week of wearing a support bra and two weeks of doing little to no physical activity. Risks are minimal, both for the health of the woman and for the way her body looks, in the sense that the gel injected can create lumps if certain conditions are not met, but this can be easily solved by gentle massage, or another set of injections with a solution meant to break the lumps down.

“My Macrolane patients don’t want the look of an implant,” Dr. Inglefield, UK specialist in Macrolane injections, reveals to MarieClaire. For the money they pay, we could add, it’s only understandable that they get the best of the best: one session, which lasts approximately one hour and is good for a year, is priced at almost $6,000, no other costs included (as opposed to $3,800 in 2007 for a pair of silicone implants). When the flight, hotel fee, and hospital bills are also added in the equation, the price of one session can easily go up to $10,000. Seeing how Inglefield brags of how he hasn’t “had anyone not come back yet,” it’s probably safe to assume that Macrolane injections are now a hit.