Filling materials for wrinkles and aging skin have been used for many years. According to a report from the journal Medicina Cutanea Ibero-Latino-Americana, the ideal filling material should be safe and non-immunogenic, meaning it does not stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies.

A 2019 study followed a group of patients who presented between 2010 and 2011 with complications associated with filling material from an aesthetic procedure. The patients were followed for five years to determine if they had an increased risk of developing an autoimmune disorder, a medical condition in which the body produces antibodies against its own cells and tissues.

The researchers found that 29 percent of the patients had symptoms of an autoimmune disorder, including muscle aches and pains, muscle weakness, chronic fatigue, sleep disorders, and cognitive impairment or memory loss.

They wrote, “Systemic manifestation of… autoimmune disease was a frequent finding in about 30 percent of patients, alerting us about the possibility of ASIA (autoimmune syndrome induced by adjuvants) in patients with cosmetic fillers.”

Unfortunately, I’ve seen many patients who developed longterm problems — including pain, autoimmune disorders, cancer, and neurological problems — from cosmetic procedures. Adding fillers for typical aging signs is not a wise choice. Botox injections should be used only as a last resort.

We would all be better off as a society if we accepted aging as a normal part of life. Developing an autoimmune disorder from injecting a filler into a normal aging wrinkle is not worth it.