A new Juvederm formula was recently introduced to the market, Juvederm Ultra XC, which will be advertised as a more comfortable, yet equally effective alternative to other wrinkle filler treatments. Containing 0.3% lidocaine makes the treatment area numb very quickly, possibly decreasing the need for topical anesthetic.

Other wrinkle fillers such as Prevelle Silk have been introduced with lidocaine, but not every cosmetic surgeon has embraced these new age fillers. When Prevelle first received FDA approval in 2008, the response was lukewarm. “The issue with a hyaluronic acid filler with lidocaine is that it doesn’t work until you actually start injecting patients, and these injections are so quick, by the time the lidocaine takes effect, you’re almost finished” said Dr. Joe Niamtu to Cosmetic Surgery Times.

The introduction of lidocaine or Juvederm XC won’t allow surgeons to abandon traditional methods of pain control, but the results cited for Juvederm XC do sound positive.

FDA approval was based on data from a multicenter, double-blind, randomized clinical trial in which 72 patients received 1 of the 2 formulations in each nasolabial fold. Results showed that more than 9o% of participants reported less procedural pain when treated with Ultra XC when compared to non-lidocaine Juvederm.