Hands of Time

Posted: Sunday 23 May 2010 11:56am

Your hands are one of the most exposed parts of your body, and as a result, they are subjected to a daily gamut of abuse from the sun and wind, to general wear and tear.
While the backs of young hands are smooth, unblemished, and plump, older hands by contrast tend to look thin and bony, with loose, wrinkled skin and visible veins. Worse still, when it comes to guessing your age, they will often give the game away.

The good news, however, is that there are plenty of things you can do to improve them. In my case, what had started to bother me the most about my hands was a loss of volume. They are a bit too skinny, and the skin looks slack as a result. So I consulted with the cosmetic physician, Dr. Peter Bakaric, at the Collagen Face Centre in Bondi Junction to see if he could improve how they look.

He recommended using two different fillers. “One is Mesolis-plus, which contains hyaluronic acid and glycerol and rejuvenates skin through extreme hydration,” Dr. Bakaric explained. “We inject it using micro-injections very superficially into the skin to treat wrinkles caused by dehydration, sun-damage and premature ageing.”

Dr. Bakaric also recommended Esthelis Soft, a super-soft dermal filler commonly used to improve under-eye crepeiness and shadows. “It is good for rejuvenating hands which have lost volume, and is particularly suited to hands which appear bony or thin,” he told me.

Mesolis-plus was used in my first treatment. After applying an anesthetic cream to my hands, and leaving it for about 20 minutes, the injections began. It was a quick and virtually painless procedure, and the “ouch” factor only kicked in a couple of times when the injections were close to my knuckles. Afterwards my hands were slightly puffy and sported a few tiny red puncture marks, but next day they looked subtly plumper.

Dr. Bakaric used Esthelis Soft in my second treatment, injecting it into the wider gaps between the bones of my hands. The procedure was exactly the same as the first, and there was only minimal bruising afterwards (mainly because I had forgotten to stop taking my daily dose of omega-3 fish oil capsules, which thins the blood). Immediately, however, my hands looked plumper and decidedly more youthful.

These types of dermal fillers are not one-off treatments, and they do require maintenance. Typically one millilitre is injected into each hand per session at a cost of around $500 per millilitre. “You can expect the Esthelis to last around four-to-five months, although you can top up any time around four months for maintenance,” says Dr. Bakaric. “Mesolis-plus requires three initial treatments, however, usually six weeks apart to obtain optimal results, then once every six months to maintain.”

FURTHER READING:
> Goodbye to Spotty Hands
> A Guide to Fillers

by Joanna Hall

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