What treatments are offered at this clinic?

What This Page Covers

This page is not a list of services; it is an article describing the scope of the methods used at the clinic. Its aim is to help you see which topic is relevant to you before you come for a consultation.

How each method is carried out, what is done in which area and who should not have it are explained on each method’s own page. This page links to those pages rather than repeating their content.

Two families of fillers come first: those that replace volume directly and those that prompt the tissue to produce its own collagen. Then come thread lifting, botulinum toxin, mesotherapy and filler dissolving. Each section first explains what the method does in the tissue, then where its limits begin.

At the end of the page you will find the site’s own editorial rules: what is published, what is not, and why. The reason for including these rules here is simple: what a clinic chooses not to explain is as informative as what it does explain.

What Hyaluronic Acid Fillers Address

Hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers take up space in the layer they are injected into and support the tissue above. The question they answer is about volume: is there an area where fullness has decreased, a contour has sunk inwards or support has weakened? The effect is visible as soon as the filler is placed.

The second feature that sets these fillers apart is that they are reversible. According to research, hyaluronic acid fillers, which provide immediate volume, remain the first choice in many areas of use. Today, these fillers are not used only for wrinkles; they are used with structural support, volume loss and skin quality considered together.

The need for volume is not the same in every area. In one area, the fullness under the skin has decreased; in another, what is really missing is the structural support underneath. Products also differ in their mechanism of action, their rheology (the mechanical properties of the gel, such as how fluid and how elastic it is), how long they last and their safety profile; the product is chosen for each person individually.

Where the filler is placed determines the result more than the product does. Injections based on anatomy and planned layer by layer have been reported to both improve the aesthetic result and reduce complications. Most side effects are mild and temporary. Vascular occlusion (a blocked blood vessel) occurs rarely, but it must be recognised and treated quickly. For this reason, what is done in which area and in which layer is decided at a consultation, not by reading an article.

Fillers Beyond the Face

Filler treatments are not limited to the face. The hyaluronic acid gels used for body contouring differ in their mechanical behaviour: their elasticity, their fluidity (viscosity) and the viscoelastic behaviour that these two properties produce together are not the same. According to a study that measured these properties of the gels, this difference directly affects the choice of product, and the choice should be based on the needs of the specific area.

Using collagen stimulators on the body is a separate matter. Poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA), developed for the face, has also been used on areas of the body for concerns such as volume loss, skin laxity, cellulite and stretch marks, and the side effects reported have mostly been mild. However, published data on this are still limited.

Fillers used on the neck, décolletage and hands are also assessed individually in terms of how they are prepared, the volume needed per area, the injection technique, how long they last and their side effects. In other words, the plan is not copied from the face; it is drawn up separately for each area.

What Collagen-Stimulating Fillers Address

The second family of fillers does not replace volume directly; it prompts the tissue to produce its own collagen. Calcium hydroxylapatite (CaHA), poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) and polycaprolactone (PCL) belong to this group.

These substances trigger a controlled inflammatory response in the tissue. Macrophages, a type of immune cell, move into the area; in some cases, foreign-body giant cells form, and the macrophages’ response shifts from inflammation towards repair. As a result, the production of type I and type III collagen and of elastin (the fibre that gives tissue its elasticity) increases. Calcium hydroxylapatite also stimulates the activity of fibroblasts, the connective tissue cells, and the production of the extracellular matrix that holds tissue together; the inflammatory response it causes in the early phase is also more pronounced than the one caused by poly-L-lactic acid.

What this family has in common is that the effect appears gradually, not immediately. In practice, this means that hyaluronic acid replaces missing volume, whereas collagen stimulators aim to change the tissue’s own structure. The two do not target the same problem and are not interchangeable.

Thread Lifting with Dissolvable Threads

A thread lift works not through heat or by adding volume, but through where the thread sits in the tissue. Barbed threads are placed along specific lines; they lift the layer of connective tissue that envelops the facial muscles (the superficial musculoaponeurotic system) and reposition tissue that has moved downwards. In other words, the target is the position of the tissue, not the colour or texture of the skin.

The threads used are not all the same. They differ from conventional surgical sutures, and they also differ from one another in composition, intended use and performance. Dissolvable and permanent (non-absorbable) threads behave differently in terms of effectiveness and how long they last. So when a thread is chosen, it is not enough to look only at how long it lasts; several factors need to be considered together.

You also need to know the limits of this method. High rates of corrective procedures (revisions) and complications have been reported with early treatments using permanent barbed threads. Adverse events occur less often with newer techniques using dissolvable threads, but the long-term effectiveness of these techniques is not yet clear. Sources in this field state clearly that further studies are needed to assess the method’s safety and long-term effectiveness.

At the clinic, thread lifts are performed with dissolvable threads. Which thread is used, in which direction (vector) and in which situation is decided at a consultation; details are on the French Thread Lift page.

What Botulinum Toxin Addresses

Botulinum toxin targets the junction where a nerve passes signals to a muscle. The heavy chain of the molecule binds to the nerve ending that releases acetylcholine; the light chain enters the cell and cuts the SNARE proteins that the tiny sacs (vesicles) carrying acetylcholine need in order to fuse with the membrane of the nerve ending. As a result, the acetylcholine the muscle needs to contract cannot be released, and the muscle relaxes. Treatment uses a low dose that produces this effect without causing poisoning.

In aesthetic treatment, there is only one question: is the visible line caused by muscle movement? According to sources on forehead lines, the result depends on the dose given at each injection point, the depth of injection and how the points are distributed; these need to be adjusted to each person’s own muscle anatomy. The shape and position of the brows are also part of this assessment; the balance between the forehead muscle and the muscles that pull the brow down directly affects the result.

Botulinum toxin is used for two different purposes: treatment to reduce muscle movement and superficial treatment for skin quality are not the same thing. Which of these applies to you is decided at a consultation.

Mesotherapy: Skin and Hair

Mesotherapy is the delivery of small amounts of an active ingredient into the dermal layer of the skin. Unlike filler, it does not aim to create volume; its focus is the quality of the tissue. In sources that review injectable treatments in areas other than the face, mesotherapy is listed among the methods used for skin quality in these areas.

Hair mesotherapy is a separate matter. In studies of injected treatments for hair loss with inherited and hormonal causes (androgenetic alopecia), the substances studied most often are mixtures of multivitamins and peptides. Reported results range from increased hair density and thicker hair strands to slower hair loss. Side effects have generally been reported as mild. Even so, this does not mean the treatment is safe in every circumstance: cases of paradoxical hair loss (where the treatment causes hair loss, the opposite of what is expected), scarring and acute dermatitis (sudden inflammation of the skin) have also been reported.

The limits of the evidence in this area are also clear: the studies have small numbers of participants, their treatment schedules differ from one another, and their follow-up periods are short. Sources state that until standardised randomised trials (trials in which participants are randomly assigned to groups) are carried out, these injected treatments cannot be recommended as a routine option. For this reason, hair mesotherapy is discussed at the clinic not as a promise but as an option your doctor raises after assessing your situation.

What Filler Dissolving Solves

An enzyme called hyaluronidase is what makes it possible to reverse hyaluronic acid fillers. This enzyme breaks down the hyaluronic acid molecule and is regarded as the method of choice for managing unwanted filler-related problems.

Filler dissolving covers two extremes. At one end are unwanted aesthetic results: an overfilled area, filler sitting in the wrong layer, or an irregularity that has become more noticeable over time. At the other end is an emergency such as vascular occlusion (a blocked blood vessel), where treatment is a race against time.

The limits of the method should also be understood: in many countries, using the enzyme for aesthetic complications is off-label, meaning it falls outside the enzyme’s officially approved uses. Doses and treatment schedules have not been standardised, and recommendations differ. For this reason, no single dose or schedule is given here; the doctor who sees your situation in person decides how much enzyme to use in each case.

Which Findings Point to Which Treatment

The choice starts not with the method but with what your doctor finds at the examination. Facial ageing is a process in which many factors play a part together: skin quality, volume loss, structural support, downward movement of tissue and muscle movement are separate issues, and in any one person they are not all present to the same degree. That is why it matters that the method is chosen according to each person’s own findings.

If volume loss is the main issue, meaning that fullness has decreased and contours have sunk inwards, fillers that replace the missing volume or stimulate the person’s own collagen production are considered.

If a line is caused by muscle movement, meaning that it disappears when the face is still and becomes visible with movement, botulinum toxin is discussed.

If the main concern is the quality of the skin itself (its radiance, hydration and texture), mesotherapy and collagen stimulator treatments are considered.

If tissue has moved downwards and there is a noticeable mass of sagging tissue, a thread lift, which repositions the tissue, is discussed. If the problem comes from a previous filler treatment, the relevant topic is filler dissolving.

In most faces, these conditions do not occur on their own but overlap. Which one is dominant can only be seen at a consultation. This article cannot tell you which one applies to you; it only explains how these conditions differ from one another.

When Surgery Is Needed

In some situations, the structural solution is surgery. When advanced sagging occurs together with significant excess skin, a non-surgical treatment on its own is not expected to give the same result as surgery.

Studies that examine surgical and non-surgical methods together emphasise that facial ageing is a process involving many factors and that the options are determined by each person’s own needs and state of health. Sources on thread lifting also state that the method’s long-term effectiveness is not yet clear and that further studies are needed. In other words, a non-surgical treatment does not have the evidence needed to replace a decision for surgery.

These situations are a surgeon’s field. If this is what is seen at your consultation, it will be explained to you clearly, and you will be told that you need to see a specialist in this field; you will not be told that a non-surgical treatment will give the same result.

This Site’s Own Rules

The five rules below apply to the whole site, and each has a reason. The reasons are written out too, to show that these rules are a deliberate decision, not a matter of style.

No prices are published on this site. What is done in a treatment varies from person to person. A figure given without a consultation means nothing, and it turns a medical decision into a shopping comparison.

No before-and-after photos are published. A photo shows how one person’s tissue responded, in one light and from one angle; it cannot be evidence for another face. When it is presented as if it were, it creates expectations rather than information.

No result is guaranteed. The result depends as much on the biology of the tissue as on the treatment itself; the same treatment does not give the same result in two people. Making a promise that cannot be kept also devalues the promises that can be kept.

No figure is given without a source. Figures such as longevity, duration and the number of sessions are inconsistent across scientific sources. Not giving a figure at all when its source cannot be shown is more honest than giving a round number.

No patient reviews are published. Someone else’s satisfaction tells you nothing about your own situation, and reviews by their nature try to persuade. The aim of these pages is to inform, not to persuade.

Scope and Decision

The clinic offers hyaluronic acid fillers (face and body), collagen-stimulating fillers, thread lifts with dissolvable threads, botulinum toxin, skin and hair mesotherapy, and filler dissolving. This is the clinic’s scope.

If what you need falls outside this scope, you will be told so clearly at the consultation and referred to the right place. Discussing something outside the scope as if it were within it distorts both expectations and the decision.

This page cannot tell you which situation applies to you; it only shows which concern belongs under which heading. Everything else is discussed at the consultation, and the final decision is yours.