By Kelsey Casselbury
An injection of a filler at the dermatologist's office has long been a solution to stemming the signs of aging. However, the swelling that can accompany that injection can put a damper on an otherwise-fantastic option. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently gave the green light to Versa, a hyaluronic acid dermal filler manufactured by Revanesse that claims to result in significantly less swelling—and it has the research to back it up.
Versa has been around since 2011 and sold worldwide, but it wasn't until earlier this year that the Canadian company launched the product in the U.S. after winning FDA approval. It's a filler made of hyaluronic acid, a substance that occurs naturally in the body, most notably in the soft connective tissues and the fluid around the eyes. These types of fillers are the most popular in America, according to the American Society for Plastic Surgeons, possibly because the body is less likely to reject a naturally occurring substance.
But what was that about Versa and less swelling? The manufacturer of the filler says that Versa injections result in 24 percent less swelling than an unnamed (but comparative) competitor, reportedly because the particles are uniform shape and size, and it's a smoother solution. It bases that claim on a split-face study done between May 2015 and April 2016 on 163 patients who had a Versa injection on one side and another FDA-approved hyaluronic filler on the other side. The conclusion: The side filled with Versa experienced less swelling.
That doesn't mean there won't be side effects, and because everyone reacts differently, certain people will experience more puffiness than others. A 2016 review of studies published in the Journal of Dermatology & Dermatologic Surgery noted that dermal fillers are one of the most commonly performed procedures in cosmetic dermatology, but the most common side effects include uising, redness, pain, itching and, yes, swelling.
