Aesthetic practitioners have augmented the body for more than 100 years. Before the development of dermal fillers that we recognise today, surgeons used the body’s own fat (known as autologous fat) and for the first 20 years of the 20th century, foreign substances such as paraffin to enhance both the face and body.1 Hyaluronic acid (HA) was the first ingredient used contemporaneously which we still harness in our practice today.2 They were first used for breast augmentation, as well as correcting small body irregularities, particularly post-liposuction.2 In my experience, these fillers required large quantities to achieve satisfactory results and the results were often short-lived, which was costly for the patient, meaning they could become disillusioned with the outlay required.
In more recent times, we have been using fillers to meet the demand for curvier figures, which I have found is often influenced by reality television stars. I find that it is younger patients driving…
