You are born with collagen in your body, but once you reach a certain age, your body stops producing it entirely (when collagen injections or fillers can come into play.) Instead, your skin's natural collagen is replenished. In addition to smoothing out fine lines, collagen can fill out skin depressions and even significantly reduce the appearance of scars.

What are the benefits of collagen injections?

Collagen is the skin's most common protein in your bones, cartilage, skin, and tendons. Collagen injections (known as Bellafill) are a cosmetic procedure made up of bovine (cow) collagen under your skin. Benefits:

Replaces your skin's natural collagen

Collagen injections replace your body's original supply of collagen as it breaks down with age. As collagen is mainly responsible for the skin's elasticity, this leaves the skin with a more youthful appearance. In addition, collagen injections reduce fine lines in other specific facial areas as well, including the following:

• nose
• eyes
• mouth
• forehead

Reduces the appearance of scars

Soft-tissue fillers such as collagen are perfect for improving the appearance of sunken tissue or hollow scars. Bovine collagen can be injected under the scar to stimulate collagen growth and elevate the skin depth caused by the scar.

Plumps lips

Collagen lip fillers plump up the lips and add fullness. These were some of the most commonly used fillers for lips, but fillers that contain hyaluronic acid have become more popular. Hyaluronic acid is a natural molecule in the body that keeps your skin hydrated. Similar to collagen, it plumps and can be used to smooth out lines above the lips. However, unlike collagen, hyaluronic acid is temporary and becomes broken down in the body.

Bellafill vs. Sculptra

Bellafill

• the only collagen filler available in the United States
• the only filler that the Food and Drug Administration approves to treat scars
• made of bovine collagen, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) beads, or microspheres
• formulated with lidocaine to help make the procedure as painless as possible
• the PMMA microspheres remain, and your body uses them to create a structure onto which your collagen can develop

Sculptra

• Sculptra is not a collagen filler; its main ingredient is a collagen stimulator with poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA)
• PLLA microparticles work to stimulate collagen production after they have been absorbed
• the rebuilt collagen gradually results in younger-looking skin
• people usually require three injections over three to four months
• sculptra aesthetic lasts up to two years or until the synthetic material from the PLLA is broken down

Where can collagen be injected?

Collagen injections are not always a one-time thing. In addition to smoothing out areas of the face, they can add plumpness to many areas of the body, including:

• lips
• cheeks
• acne scars
• stretch marks

Collagen has more to do with stretch marks than you might think. Stretch marks happen when the skin stretches or shrinks quickly. Imperfections could be caused by many things, such as pregnancy, growth spurts, sudden weight gain or loss, or muscle training. When stretch marks happen, the collagen in the skin ruptures, leading to uneven scars on the skin. Injecting collagen into stretch marks allows the skin to heal and appear more smooth.

How long do collagen injections last?

Collagen injections are intended to be permanent, although results are reported to last up to five years compared to HA fillers, which are temporary and only last around three to six months.

It May last longer the more you have

In some cases, results may last longer with more collagen injections.

For example, this found that the positive results lasted about nine months after the first injection and 18 months after the third injection.

The location of injection may affect how long results last

Many other factors can help predict how long the results will last, such as the injection site's location and the type of injection material. Some examples are:

• when smoothing out wrinkles on the face, you may need to get touch-ups several times
• if you need scar reductions, you may only have to make one to two visits a year, depending on the scar
• lip enhancements should be done about every three months

The effects of collagen injections are instant, although it may take up to a week or even months for full results. You will walk out of your surgeon's or dermatologist's office with more plump and younger-looking skin.

Are there side effects of collagen injections?

A skin test is administered by a healthcare professional and monitored for a week before injecting collagen; severe reactions are rare. To avoid aggravating any allergies, you must do a skin test if you're using bovine collagen. However, there could be possible side effects:

• skin redness
• skin discomfort, including swelling, bleeding and bruising
• infection at the injection site
• skin rash with itching
• possible scarring
• lumps
• a wound on the face of the injection penetrates too deeply (rare)
• blindness if the injection is too close to the eyes (periodic)

Asking many questions beforehand and bringing in an image of your desired results may be helpful.

How Much Collagen Should You Take Daily?

Learn more about how much Collagen You Should take per Day here:  https://www.skin-beauty.com/blog/how-much-collagen-should-you-take-per-day/

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