ABSTRACT
The practice of using injectable fillers for soft tissue augmentation has a long and well described history. In the 1980s, the use of bovine collagen for cosmetic purposes started a new era of soft tissue augmentation. Bovine collagen was the first US Food and Drug Administration-approved facial filler in 1981 and was harvested from an isolated US herd. One major disadvantage of bovine collagens is their potential for immunogenicity and mandatory skin testing. Improving on the issue of allergic reactions are human and porcine collagens. Rapid degradation is not necessarily a drawback to collagen products; indeed, it is an asset under some aesthetic requirements. Rapid polymerizing collagen is a new iteration of collagen that has been evaluated in US and European clinical trials. Although injectable fillers can offer an efficacious alternative to surgery, they also have their limitations. The field of aesthetic volumization has grown considerably from the humble beginnings of bovine collagen over 20 years ago.
