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“Needle-free injection devices for aesthetic purposes do not provide enough control over where the injected product is placed.
Illustration by Bella Geraci / Getty Images
Lip and facial filler products sold directly to consumers online may be contaminated with chemicals or infectious organisms.”
When masks were scarce, wemade our ownfrom retired denim and unworn scarves.
We baked our own bread.Paintedour own walls.
What exactly are hyaluron pens?
Available across the internet, these needle-free devices use pneumatic pressure to push hyaluronic acid into the skin.
And there’s a lot of variability between brands.
Others garnered reviews warning of their intensity and advising shoppers against using them on any area of the face.
Yet, the majority of these devices somehow promise apainlessexperience.
“I was introduced to these [types of] devices probably almost 20 years ago,” saysL.
No dermal filler product is approved for use by the patient or at home."
Leading the charge was theAmerican Society for Dermatologic Surgery(ASDS).
And oftentimes the “wrong area” can be difficult to distinguish from the right area.
Dr. Taher has seen first-hand a vascular occlusion resulting from DIY injection with a hyaluron pen.
“The case that I had she was a true vascular crisis,” he says.
“I saw a picture and said, ‘You must come in immediately.'”
Several critical facial arteries course only a few millimeters below the skin’s surface.
In the samestudy, the artery nourishing the upper lip ranged in depth from 3.1 to 5.1 millimeters.
“A pressurized injection literally has zero place on the face,” says Mariwalla.
Hyaluron pens, however, rely on high force and velocity to deliver filler into the skin.
“An experienced injector never depots product, especially in the lips.”
Bolus-style injections can also heighten the risk of “vascular compromise or tissue injury,” notes Dr. Sunder.
The hazards here spring from two sources the iffy substances being injected and the hyaluron pens themselves.
But this being performed in a persons home is a set-up for an infection."
Then there’s the issue of DIY sterilization.
With soap and water and dried on the dish rack?
Does not seem safe to me."
What steps are being taken to regulate hyaluron pens?
More on FDA-approved injectables:
Now check out 100 years of illegal beauty products:
