What is the difference between dermal fillers?

The first dermal fillers used were based on collagen, which is one of the main constituents of skin. These dermal fillers such as Zyplast and Zyderm were very popular in the 1980s.

The main problem, however, with them was that the collagen needed to be sourced from either an animal or a human form as it was not possible to make artificially in the laboratory.

With the advent of diseases such as HIV and hepatitis B, there were concerns about the safety of these substances and the Swedish company, Q-Med, developed an alternative to the collagen fillers based on hyaluronic acid.

These hyaluronic acid fillers which come in various thicknesses became extremely popular throughout the United Kingdom in the 1990s and remain popular to this day.

The main advantage in hyaluronic acid-based fillers such as Restylane and Perlane is that they can be made in the laboratory and do not come from either human or animal sources.

Collagen-based fillers which come from animal or human sources have the potential of causing an allergic reaction, and a skin test in which a small amount of the filler was injected prior to full treatment was required.

The hyaluronic acid fillers such as Q-Med and Perlane do not require a prior skin test as they are very unlikely to cause any allergies as they are not derived from human or animal sources.

The hyaluronic acid fillers rapidly became the predominant dermal fillers used during the 1990s and remain the main type of dermal fillers used around the world today.