NEW ORLEANS — There are now at-home versions of procedures you get at the dermatologist's office, and you may be tempted to try them, to save time and money.
So, do they work? and are they safe?
For years, people have turned to board-certified dermatologists for injected fillers. They temporarily fill in wrinkles and plump the lips with hyaluronic acid. That's something our bodies naturally make to keep the skin lubricated.
"This is like pressure blasting into your skin. I don't know. We'll see," said a woman in a YouTube video trying an at-home injector.
Fillers in the hands of trained dermatologists and plastic surgeons are safe, but now, ads on Instagram and YouTube are popping up for DIY pressure injectors.
"Doesn't hurt. It's just more scary," said the tester as the device makes a loud popping sound.
"As a dermatologist, I can absolutely not condone home injection of fillers," said Dr. Mara Haseltine, a board-certified dermatologist at Pure Dermatology in Metairie. She is also on the faculty of Tulane and LSUHSC.
We asked dermatologists to explain their concerns about at-home fillers, in general, not one specific brand.
"It sounds to me, in what I'm reading about it and seeing, to be very unsafe — highly unsafe, and risk of infection, risk of permanent scarring, risk of skin necrosis," said Dr. Hooper, a board-certified dermatologist in New Orleans at Audubon Dermatology who is also on the faculty of Tulane and LSUHSC.
Necrosis means the tissue dies, especially if you block a blood vessel.
And is the hyaluronic acid filler even going in?
"I think the only thing they were achieving was damage to the skin, and a little bit of bleeding and absolutely no penetration of the hyaluronic acid," said Dr. Sarah Jackson, a board-certified dermatologist in New Orleans at Audubon Dermatology who is a clinical assistant professor at LSUHSC.
They say there is no FDA testing or clearance on those they saw from foreign countries. They are not sterile like injections by a doctor, and are you sure the filler is real hyaluronic acid?
"We've seen a tremendous amount of counterfeit black market products in the cosmetics industry," said Dr. Haseltine.
"I feel like there's more hyaluronic acid gel on the outside of my lips than inside of them," said the YouTube tester.
And in the end, the bloody-lipped YouTube tester has one conclusion.
"My opinion so far, is that this is just a gimmick."
People who commented on that YouTube page say the home products have worked well for them, but physicians still have safety concerns.
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