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History

History of dermal filler

From paraffin in the late 1800s to the first FDA-approved collagen in 1981 and hyaluronic acid since 2003: the steps that made the treatment.

Timeline

Dermal Fillers timeline

Late 1800s

Paraffin injections

Shortly after the syringe was invented, paraffin became the first injectable filling agent. It was abandoned after migration, embolization and granulomas were described.[1]

1977

Injectable collagen reported

Knapp, Kaplan and Daniels treated 28 patients with human or bovine collagen injections and followed them for 3 to 18 months.[1]

1981

First FDA-approved filler

Zyderm Collagen Implant, made from bovine collagen, was approved on July 22, 1981. Bovine collagen was the first agent FDA approved for cosmetic injection.[1][2]

1995

PMMA microspheres

Lemperle reported Artecoll, PMMA microspheres in collagen, from more than 600 patients and a prospective study of 118 patients, with results holding for 5 years.[1]

1998

Hyaluronic acid gel studied

Duranti and colleagues treated 158 patients with Restylane. At 8 months, physicians rated 78.5% moderately or markedly improved.[1]

2003

Restylane approved

FDA approved Restylane on December 12, 2003. Its randomized trial against bovine collagen enrolled 138 patients.[1][2]

2004

Sculptra approved for HIV

Sculptra was approved on August 3, 2004 for facial fat loss in people with HIV.[1]

2006

Juvederm, ArteFill and Radiesse approved

Juvederm was approved on June 2, ArteFill on October 27 and Radiesse on December 22, 2006.[1][2][3]

2009-2011

Sculptra Aesthetic, lips and Belotero

Sculptra Aesthetic was approved on July 28, 2009. Restylane was approved for lip augmentation on October 11, 2011, and Belotero Balance on November 14, 2011.[1][2][3]

2013

Cheek filler approved

Juvederm Voluma XC was approved on October 22, 2013 for cheek augmentation by deep injection.[1]

2015

Blindness review and hand approval

Beleznay and colleagues collected 98 cases of vision changes from filler in the world literature. Radiesse was approved for the back of the hands on June 4, 2015.[1][2]

2017

RHA approved

RHA 2, RHA 3 and RHA 4 were approved on October 19, 2017 for dynamic facial wrinkles.[1]

2021

Needle-free pen warning

On October 8, 2021, FDA warned against needle-free devices such as hyaluron pens for lip and facial fillers, citing serious injuries and permanent harm.[1]

2022-2023

Jawline, under-eye and temple approvals

Juvederm Volux XC was approved for the jawline on July 29, 2022. Restylane Eyelight was approved for under-eye hollows on May 8, 2023, and Voluma XC for temples on October 6, 2023.[1][2][3]

People

The people behind the treatment

Their published work led to the products and safety practices in use today.

1977

Terry R. Knapp

First author of the 1977 report of injectable collagen in 28 patients.[1]

1977

Eugene N. Kaplan

Co-author of the 1977 injectable collagen report.[1]

1995

Gottfried Lemperle

Published clinical results of PMMA microsphere filler (Artecoll) from more than 600 patients.[1]

1998

Fulvio Duranti

Published a clinical and histological study of Restylane in 158 patients.[1]

2003

Rhoda S. Narins

First author of the randomized trial of Restylane against Zyplast collagen in 138 patients.[1]

2007

Steven R. Cohen

First author of the 5-year follow-up of PMMA filler in nasolabial folds in 119 subjects.[1]

2010

Lawrence S. Bass

First author of the 3-year follow-up of Radiesse in nasolabial folds in 102 patients.[1]

2015-2024

Katie Beleznay

First or senior author of the world-literature reviews of blindness from filler: 98 cases in 2015, 48 in 2019 and 365 in 2024.[1][2][3]

2015-2024

Jean Carruthers

Co-author of the three world-literature reviews of blindness from filler.[1][2][3]

2021

Murad Alam

First author of the study of 1.7 million syringes comparing vascular occlusion with needles and cannulas.[1]

2009

Theda C. Kontis

First author of a history of injectable facial fillers from paraffin to FDA-approved products.[1]