Collagen is a natural protein that provides structural support. It is found throughout the body - in skin, muscles, tendons, and bones. Collagen provides texture, resiliency, and shape in the skin. Over time, this collagen cushion wears down and lines appear in various areas.

When injecting Collagen Replacement Therapy directly into areas where the body's own collagen has weakened, depressions can be raised to the level of the surrounding skin. It is most often injected into the lips, nasolabial folds (lines from the outer corner of the nose down), and mandibulolabial folds (lines from the corner of the mouth down).

The Collagen injection itself is a non-surgical procedure. If treated with bovine collagen, one must have a skin test requiring a 30-day wait period. A small amount injected into the forearm determines if any allergic reaction might occur. During this 30-day wait period, the patient will monitor any unusual responses, such as swelling, redness, or hardening of the injected Collagen. After an uneventful wait period, the purified Collagen can be injected just below the surface of the skin with a needle where the body readily accepts it as its own. Newly released Human Collagen requires no prior skin testing, offering one immediate treatment and results.

As with the body's own natural collagen, wearing down does occur with both bovine and human derived collagen. Therefore, periodic treatments must be done to continue with the desired effect, in most cases, on an average of three to four month intervals.

Other dermal fillers are pending FDA approval, and permanent implants are another option, offering one long lasting results with high patient satisfaction and reliability.

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