What is Belotero?
Belotero is a brand of non-animal hyaluronic acid fillers designed and manufactured by Merz Pharmaceuticals. The hyaluronic acid molecules are extracted and purified using biotechnology from fermenting bacterial cultures. The molecules are also cross-linked using 2 proprietary technologies in order to ensure a filler gel with a good balance of cohesiveness, elasticity and plasticity: Cohesive Polydensified Matrix (CPM) and Dynamic Cross-Linking Technology (DCLT). There are 5 different fillers in this collection to treat a wide variety of skin imperfections:
- Hydro
- Soft
- Balance
- Intense
- Volume
Except for Hydro, all of the fillers have versions with pain-relieving lidocaine as well. The filler gel is monophasic, colourless, and clear, and is packaged in a 1mL syringe. Each box of filler comes with a prefilled syringe, fine needles, and a product information pamphlet.
What is Belotero used for?
The fillers can be used for correcting numerous skin imperfections.
- Hydro: Rejuvenate dull and dehydrated skin especially on the face, neck, decolletage and hands.
- Soft: Correct fine lines, like crow’s feet.
- Balance: Correct moderate lines, like perioral wrinkles.
- Intense: Correct deep lines, like pronounced marionette lines.
- Volume: Restore fullness and volume in sunken areas, like the cheeks.
How to inject this dermal filler
Belotero injections should be done following strict aseptic methods, and after a thorough medical and facial assessment. The depth and method of the injections depend on the severity of the patients’ skin issues and type of filler used.
- Hydro: Administer into the superficial dermis layer via the micropapular technique.
- Soft: Administer into the superficial dermis layer using the blanching or micropapular technique.
- Balance: Administer into the superficial to mid dermis layers using the blanching technique.
- Intense: Administer into the mid to deep dermis layers.
- Volume: Administer into the deep dermis or subcutaneous layer.
Side Effects
Patients might experience some side effects like, inflammatory responses, such as:
- Temporary redness;
- Pain;
- Swelling.
Nevertheless, those reactions are common and mild in nature; they should abate within a few days. However, injections in the lips could take up to a week to recover. Improper injection procedures can also lead to serious aftereffects, like:
- Hardness at injection sites;
- Infections;
- Allergic reactions.
Patients must obtain quick medical treatment if any of these symptoms do not subside within a few days.