General information injectable human collagen and other commonly used dermal fillers.
WARNING!
The following is general information on injectable collagen.
It is not medical advice nor authored by a medical professional.
Injectable Collagen
As we age, we lose that fresh, dewy skin that is associated with youth. Collagen injections may help to somewhat rejuvenate aging, sun-damaged skin.
Human skin is made up of multiple layers, as you know. The outer layer is called the epidermis. The second layer is named the dermis. This second layer is comprised of nerves, blood vessels, hair follicles and, most of all, protein called collagen.
Collagen is vital to the structure of your skin. Collagen is also found in teeth, bones and cartilage.
Use of collagen as a dermal filler is very useful reducing the signs of aging. It can be used to restore facial volume, smooth wrinkles and folds, and mitigate scars. Collagen is also injected into lips to add fullness.
Collagen fillers may be extracted from either human skin or from animals, including pigs (porcine) and cows (bovine).
Injectable Collagen: Human Sources
- Cosmoderm® and Cosmoplast®
Injectable Collagen: Bovine Sources
- Zyderm® and Zyplast®
- allergy testing is required for collagen derived from cows/bovine.
Injectable Collagen: Porcine Sources
Evolence® - dermal collagen filler made derived from pig/porcine collagen.
- This product was removed from the market in 2009 by its manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson.
Injectable Collagen: Hybrid
- Artefill® is made by combining cow (bovine) collagen and homogeneous polymethylmethacrylate microspheres (tiny plastic balls).
The balls, or spheres, may help to stimulate natural collagen production.
Artefill is known as Artecoll in Europe.
Injectable Collagen: Your Body
Collagen may also be harvested from your own skin. If you have had surgery which required the removal of skin, the collagen, or autologen, is harvested and processed into a liquid form. It is then purified and prepared to be re-injected into your body.
Injectable Collagen: Cloned from Your Skin
Collagen which is derived from your own skin, but then copied/cloned in a laboratory and processed into an injectable liquid, is called Isolagen. A tiny piece of skin of less than an inch is all that is needed to begin this process. A series of injections is required with this type of collagen. Live cells are present in the re-injection. This means that improvement will becontinual for several months after the last injections.
Injectable Collagen: Cadaver Source
Collagen derived from a human cadaver skin is sterilized, purified and processed into liquid form. The process requires two or three injections spread out over intervals of one or two months for best results.
For more information about the reported adverse effects and general safety of injectable collagen dermal fillers:
http://www.FDA.gov
Type in "injectable collagen".
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