Should of posted this a couple years ago. This Great doc tried to help after another doc slaughtered the original eyelid surgery. (ENT's should not do blethroplasty!?) Am I right? Dr Dal Canto spent hours and hours emailing me and talking to me outside of the office. I feel he was genuinely interested in making it better for me. I was only charged with office visits and procedures. He made great suggestions including other docs to see. What doc does that? What dotor gives you hours of his free time? I have now been trying to afford what will be my third and hopefully final fix/revision.
I've got mild to moderate eye bags that are hereditary, and they've gotten worse over the last couple years. I decided to go see Dr. J. Dal Canto at the Alta View Speialty Center to discuss my options. Dr. Dal Canto is an Oculoplastic Surgeon, and I was referred to him by Dr. Jason Hancey who is a hand surgeon in the same office who I had come to know through a hand injury that required surgery. I'd already been to another office to consider Lazer Bleph, but I wanted another opinion before just "pulling the trigger", and I'm sooo glad I did!!! Dr. Dal Canto recommended repositioning the fat pads, and thoroughly explained why. The other doctor would have chosen to just remove them, without really addressing my concerns of droopy skin around the eye area, which may have likely been enhanced with the fat completely removed. Dr. J. Said that I'm not the best candidate for surgery right now, because he wouldn't be able to remove the skin without causing my lower lids to droop. But what impressed me most about him is that he was sure to address what concerned me the most, which are the fat pads that sit lower on the face (more on the upper cheek area) that I thought would be removed during the procedure. He explained that if those pads are what really bothered me, that this would be another reason he wouldn't recommend surgery right now, because those pads are connected to the muscle and wouldn't be removed, so I'd likely not be satisfied with the overall results since those are what bug me the most. This was never addressed during my 'other' consultation. Ultimately, we came up with a plan to inject Belotero under the eyes, and Radiesse in the cheeks to really help smooth everything out. I've go another review under Belotero, but I'm reviewing Radiesse here, and have another review for the Belotero. Ultimately, had I decided to go with the Lazer Bleph, I would have spent a lot of money, and quite possibly would not have been satisfied because my 'main concern' was never fully identified. Dr. J. took the time required to make sure he really understood what bothered me, and made recommendations based on what he learned. He could have very easily steered me in the direction of surgery, but didn't. Because of that, I'll be a long time customer and will continue to work with him until I'm finally a candidate for the surgery. He's charging $450 for the Belotero (free touch up if required), $650 for the Radiesse (free touch up too), and a $75 consultation visit charge that goes toward any procedure from there. The 'other' doctor was a free consultation, but I'm so glad I decided to go with another opinion. Well worth the $75 to get good advice. I'm posting before pictures now, and will update with afters soon! :) nervous and excited at the same time!! Updated on 21 Aug 2015: After seeing comments about bad reactions to Radiesse and the overall consesus from a doctor's on here being that they use Restalyne as their preferred product for the tear troughs (I posted a question for doctors, and they all came back saying Restalyne over Belotero because it's firmer and lasts longer), I decided to get another opinion, and like every other doctor, Restalyne was recommended. Radiesse wasn't recommended for my cheek area either (I didn't bring up my concerns, I just wanted an unbiased recommendation), instead Voluma was recommended for the cheek area. I'll have to look into Voluma, but when I then asked about Radiesse, the doc said it was not something he preferred using in the cheek area, and that it can create nodules. He also recommended laser fraxel (Clear and Brilliant with Perma) to tighten, refresh, and reduce wrinkles. So I think that's where I'm headed from here. I'm going to cancel my appointment with Dr. Dal Canto, and go with the other plan. I will be working with Dal Canto in the future when I'm a candidate for surgery when I'm getting opinions on that because I really did like him and thought he was a really professional doctor with attention to detail. I very likely could have went with him and his recommends and had beautiful results, but when it comes to the face, I think it's better to be safe than sorry, and I thank the real self community for raising my awareness level and waking me up to the fact that it doesn't hirt to get another opinion. From here I guess I'll be adding reviews to the appropriate products. Thank you everyone who commented. You're all beautiful!
I've got mild to moderate eye bags that are hereditary, and they gotta worse over the last couple years. I decided to go see Dr. J. Dal Canto at the Alta View Speialty Center to discuss my options. Dr. Dal Canto is a Oculoplastic Surgeon, and I was referred to him by Dr. Jason Hancey who is a hand surgeon in the same office who I had come to know through a hand injury that required surgery. If already been to another office to consider Lazer Bleth, but I wanted another opinion before just "pulling the trigger", and I'm sooo glad I did. Dr. Dal Canto recommended repositioning the fat pads, and thoroughly explained why. The other doctor would have chosen to just remove them, without really addressing my concerns of droopy skin around the eye area, which may have likely been enhanced with the fat completely removed. Dr. J. Said that I'm not the best candidate for surgery right now, because he wouldn't be able to remove the skin without causing my lower lids to droop. But what impressed me most about him is that he was sure to address what concerned me the most, which are the fat pads that sit lower on the face (more on the upper cheek area) that I thought would be removed during the procedure. He explained that if those pads are what really bothered me, that this would be another reason he wouldn't recommend surgery right now, because those pads are connected to the muscle and wouldn't be removed, so I'd likely not be satisfied with the overall results since those are what bug me the most. This was never addressed during my 'other' consultation. Ultimately, we came up with a plan to inject Belotero under the eyes, and Radiesse in the cheeks to really help smooth everything out. This review is under Belotero because I feel it's the main product even though there will be two. Ultimately, had I decided to go with the Lazer Bleth, I would have spent a lot of money, and white possibly not been satisfied because my 'main concern' was never fully identified. Dr. J. took the time required to make sure he really understood what bothered me, and made recommendations based on what he learned. He could have very easily steered me in the direction of surgery, but didn't. Because of that, I'll be a long time customer and will continue to work with him until I'm finally a candidate for the surgery. He's charging $450 for the Belotero (free touch up if required), $650 for the Radiesse (free touch up too), and a $75 consultation visit charge. The 'other' doctor was a free consultation, but I'm so glad I decided to go with another opinion. Well worth the $75 to get good advice. I'm posting before pictures now, and will update with afters soon! :) nervous and excited at the same time!!
Each patient is different and has his or her own combination of problems, options, concerns and structural/functional and aesthetic goals which must be addressed individually and personally. As a result, cost of various procedures and options will be reviewed with you after your initial visit.