When it comes to cosmetic injections, what technique is better? One dermatologist is about to find out.

The World Health Organization estimates that 16 billion injections are given per year. Determining which injection technique is most comfortable for the patient, however, has always been a matter of opinion. Dermatologist and associate professor at United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), Hassan Galadari, hopes to add some clarity to the debate with his latest clinical trial.

“When you are injecting you can either go intergrade – meaning you inject as you go on – or you can inject as you come out,” explains the dermatologist. “Some people say there are benefits to both. If you are injecting as you are going in, then you are pushing away the blood vessel so you are not going to be in a blood vessel in terms of causing any bruising. But other people say if you inject as you come out you actually avoid hitting any blood vessels as you are withdrawing it. What we are doing is seeing which one is better – so whether you push in or pull out ­– and by not using your hands but by using the automated injector. 

Galadari’s test site is the lips, “because the lips are the most sensitive part of the face”, and his procedure is hyaluronic acid fillers – otherwise known as lip augmentation.

The objective of the clinical trial, which received approval from an institutional review board (IRB) last week, is twofold, says Galadari. “There’s two outcomes here. Hopefully we’re going to get a clear cut result for whether this type of injection is better than the other type of injection – so whether you go in or out. It has always been a matter of opinion. This research will clearly tell us which type of injection is better. The other outcome is whether the automated injector helps decrease the pain, the bruising and so forth. The other nice thing about the injector it takes away the human factor. I inject different to other practioners. But now, if you use an automated injector the injection flow becomes more standardized.” 

More important than the result, says Galadri, is the patient outcome. “Patients want to be injected in a very safe environment and at the same time in a way that doesn’t cause any issue for them – especially bruising or pain. So if we are able to tell which injection technique is better then we are able to minimize the effect of bruising and pain for our patients. At the end of the day it is about better care them.”

The latest trial comes after Galadari developed a filler that stimulates collagen that lasts twice as long as existing products. The associate professor’s filler, polycaprolactone, is based on a molecule that enhances the formulation of collagen, ultimately stimulating the body to create more natural collagen of its own.