In my last post I said that I would talk a little more about some of the problems we are seeing from
dermal filler treatments performed elsewhere.
I think this is a sensitive issue to take on. First of all I don’t want to give the impression that I believe us to be infallible or that we always get every treatment exactly right. We are all human. Having worked in Cosmetic Medicine for almost twenty years I know I have made mistakes, and also seen some of my patients have issues with their treatments.
Sometimes products or treatments do not work as well as we would have liked, or do not give an ideal
result, or there can be a complication. These are essentially drugs that we are using, and no drug or treatment works exactly the same on every patient in any area of medicine. There can be many reasons
for this. Sometimes the product is simply not injected in exactly the right manner, sometimes a patient’s tissues don’t respond in the usual way, and sometimes there is just an unfortunate side effect such as an allergic reaction or swelling. Sometimes the patient has unreasonable expectations of what the treatment can achieve – which is one of the reasons that we like to spend plenty of time discussing treatments before we do them, and why we don’t charge for a consultation.
I would like to think that in every case where there has been a less than ideal result I have always tried my hardest to look after that patient to ensure that they get the best treatment possible to minimise any problem, and to achieve their expected result.
Slightly different, I feel, are the errors made in the aesthetic application of treatments such as dermal fillers. Too often we all see the results of this around the Gold Coast. Cheeks that have been overly enhanced, or lips that have been plumped too much, look unnatural and just plain “done”. These errors are amplified on a more aged face, where they sit in contrast to other areas of volume depletion. I like to feel that our patients achieve results and look good without looking “done” – we want your friends and family to tell you how good you are looking, without noticing that you have actually had any treatment at all. The secret of this is in balance and subtleness, using a holistic approach that looks at the face in its entirety, concentrating on the areas that need volume the most.
Look at this gentleman’s pictures
He has lost a lot of volume from the temple region, and some from the cheek and under the eye. He had
filler placed to the sides of his mouth at another clinic recently. In the TOP photo you can see the thick roll of dermal filler to the side of the mouth. Why would an injector do this? I can only think that it is inexperience, a lack of a basic aesthetic sense, and over-enthusiasm.
He came to us to correct this which can be seen in the BOTTOM photo.
I think this teaches us that, before having any treatment, we should ensure that we are seeing a practitioner with the proper qualifications and experience, and that we have had time to discuss the treatment and understand exactly what is going to be done. Experience and training matter, far more than the cheapest price on the coast.
