Tweak of the Week: Improving older hands with filler

When we get older, our hands start to look thinner and bonier as the muscle bulk in them starts to fall away. What you might not know is that top tweakment practitioners can inject a little filler into the backs of the hands, to improve how they look.

I went to see Dr David Jack, to see how he works with a collagen-stimulating filler called Ellanse. What are the results like? Watch the video to see.

This week’s tweakment is having injectable filler in the backs of my hands, using a collagen-stimulating injectable product called Ellanse. I’m having this done with Dr David Jack in Harley Street.

AHD: David, now when it comes to injecting the hands, this is one of those icing-on-the-cake procedures really, isn’t it? But when hands are getting older like mine are, and they lost volume, and they start looking a bit bony, it’s worth trying isn’t it?

Dr David Jack: We start to see the veins popping through, and some of the tendons. It is quite ageing so its quite nice to be able to do something about that. The hands are a giveaway area.  I guess.

AHD: I know you’ve told me before, it’s not so much fat that we lose in the hands, but it’s the muscle bulk.

DJ: So you do lose a bit of fat, but it’s primarily the muscle volume between the bones that gets lost. Over time this just wastes away  with age. So replacing the volume between the bones does give an appearance of youthful hands.

AHD: Fab, and what product do you like to use for hand injections?

DJ: For hand filler, I tend to use a different filler than I would use for the face. I like one called Ellansé which is a collagen-stimulating filler rather than hyaluronic acid filler, which draws water to itself. Ellansé actually stimulates your body’s own collagen deposition, so the results last for quite a period of time. The filler that we will use today would last for about four years.

AHD: Fantastic, four years is a long-lasting result. And Ellansé is made from polycaprolactone,  isn’t it?

DJ: Yes, it’s collagen-stimulating.

AHD: Right let’s get my hands on that table.

The Procedure

DDJ: So we start with a little bit of local anaesthetic, just little blebs where I am going to be injecting.

AHD: And this is the filler?

DJ: This is the filler. It has this kind of white-ish appearance which is different from hyaluronic acid filler. I inject and create a bleb like that, and then just massage that down. Does that feel ok?

AHD: That feels fine, thank you. When you were doing your plastic surgery training, you did a certain amount of hand reconstruction didn’t you, which give me great confidence that you are a good person to have burrowing around in the backs of my hands.

AHD: So it’s really tiny amounts isn’t it?

DJ: very tiny blebs.

AHD: How much filler will you use altogether, roughly?

DJ: I use 1 ml on each side.

AHD: I think I can see it looking smoother already, even these tiny amounts just padding it out.  Then it needs a bit of compression, which is why I’m sitting on my hands. Ok, and does that help smooth everything out?

DJ: Yes, it smooths everything out and stops bleeding as well.

Aftercare

AHD: Now, for aftercare, do I just take it easy for a bit?

DDJ: Take it easy for 24 hours.

AHD: So that means no gym, no standing on my hands…

DDJ: No products on the hands either, I wouldn’t use any hand creams.

AHD: How long is it malleable for?

DDJ: About an hour after injecting, so I wouldn’t worry if you have any bumpy bits they generally will just settle down.

AHD: I won’t run off and start redoing your handiwork!

The Results

DJ: It will be good to a get a photograph of that in a couple of days time.

AHD: Yes, when it’s softened up. This shows very much where the product is.

DJ: It shows where the product is and where the anaesthetic is as well. There is a bit of adrenaline in the anaesthetic.

AHD: Ok so that blanches it?

DJ: Yes

AHD: It doesn’t feel too bad, it still works!

DJ: Still works yes, it’s only the superficial nerves.

AHD: Lovely, so i will be very gentle with them for a few days and then see how they are looking and do some after pictures then. Thank you!

DJ: You’re very welcome.

Post Treatment

Ok, so, that was remarkably quick and easy. It took about three minutes on each side to do the injections, even with the anaesthetic. My hands are feeling really peculiar, it’s a kind of fizzy tingling from the anaesthetic. I think you can see there are some little needle marks in there, the filler is already blended in, it looks a bit smoother already. Once the needle marks have faded and the collagen stimulation has kicked in, I should have results for about four years because that was Ellansé L which is the longest lasting form of filler. I’m going to be really careful with these. I am not going to the gym, I am not going to stand on my hands for at least a couple of days and see how they go!

www.drdavidjack.com

This video is sponsored by Ellanse Global.