Dear dr Oates,

I’m considering HA, but wat to do a lot of research before hand regarding HA. I’m a scientist myself.

Different properties regarding HA are presented: particle size (nm, daltons), amount of HA molecules per ml (usually a number between 10.000 to 100.000) and ratio between crosslinked and non-crosslinked (eg 0.25:0,75) and concentration (usually around 20 mg/ml)

Which of these parameters are important when choosing a HA giving both volume and and long lasting results ?

I’m asking since a lot of clinics use different types: voluma, Restylane, juvederm, overage etc.

Thank you for your dedication and time

Hi HungDane9,

Sorry to take so long to answer. Good question and i wish I had a good answer. Ever company is s bit reticent to share real details about their product. Some things are always given like mg/ml ie 20 - 24. Is 24 mg 20% better than 20mg? Increasing cross linkage seems to increase 'stiffness' of a product and slows its degradation but comparing the numbers across companies and different manufacturing is not consistent. Properties like cohesiveness and G' are important but again getting numbers and comparing is not easy.

It comes dow to experience and gradually comparing products. It would be great to get 200 guys, do a bunch of treatments using different product and follow them for a few years and see what works best but hard to get that done in this field of practice.