Injectable fillers are right behind Botox injections as a leading non-surgical facial rejuvenation procedure. While both require needles to be inserted, injectable fillers are deemed by patients and providers alike to be the more painful to receive. This is for two main reasons, a much larger volume of filler is needed for each treatment area and sensitive areas like the lips are frequently injected.
Numerous strategies to reduce injectable filler discomfort are used from ice skin cooling, topical numbing creams to dental block injections. While these are all helpful, none completely reduce the pain or potential bruising from the fine sharp needle used for the injection. (except for dental blocks which have the trade-off of having the lips numb for hours) In the end, the sharp bevel of the injection needle induces discomfort by cutting into tissue and risks some bruising by similarly cutting across small blood vessels.
That is about to change. The Food and Drug Administration has recently approved what is being called the ‘Ouchless Needle’. In reality, that moniker is a misnomer because it is not a needle at all. Produced by the Cosmofrance company, this new injection device for injectable fillers is a flexible blunt-tip microcannula. (Dermasculpt) While it is similar to needle in that it has a hollow bore, the difference is that the tip does not have a beveled sharp tip but a blunt rounded end. There is a side port where the filler material can be extruded. Like a needle, it has a luer lock attachment to any syringe.
The size of the Dermasculpt microcannula has the same diameter as a 27 gauge needle.
The value of the blunt tip is that is causes virtually no pain and the risk of bruising is very minimal. This is more than just a theoretical or marketing statement, it is absolutely true. I have used the Dermasculpt cannula for my last ten injectable filler treatments, including the nasolabial folds and lips, and patients have experienced no pain. Admittedly I was skeptical in the beginning but my own patient experience has confirmed that it is certainly true. This is definitely a much improved method for injectable filler treatments.
Because the tip of the cannula is blunt, it can not pierce the skin. I simply make an entrance point with a 25 gauge needle so the microcannula can easily pass below the skin. I will inject a tiny drop of local anesthetic at the desired entrance point with a 30 gauge needle first. Once under the skin the flexibility of the microcannula allows it to bend and be maneuvered unlike a rigid straight needle.
While this is a real improvement in injectable filler therapy, one of the company’s product claims is suspect. Using what is called a Skin Sculpting Technique (SST), the microcannula’s back-and-forth movement (mechanical stimulation) is purported to stimulate fibroblast and produce new collagen formation.
While the collagen creation claim is going to be difficult to prove, no injectable filler patient is going to doubt the pain-free use of the new Dermasculpt micro-cannula.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana