Florencia Guzman, MD

Radiesse is not recommended and should not be injected in soft tissue areas such as the lips, tear troughs, or under the eyes, where the skin is thin.  It is best used in the bony and deeper tissue areas, such as cheeks, jawlines, and hands.  It is not uncommon to have swelling, bruising, redness, a feeling of lumps in the injected areas.  Complications and risks are relatively low, providing the injector has the skill and experience in performing dermal filler injections in the most common areas of the face.  This filler is voluminous and thick and becomes more apparent, or obvious, in the thinner skin areas.  It works great to plump the cheeks and hands resulting in a younger and much improved, age defying, look.  

Juvederm is a cross linked hyaluronic acid, it is more dense and thicker with a higher molecular weight so it lasts longer than Restylane.  In deciding on any dermal filler, some things to consider is to take into account the cost, the duration of how long it will last, the medications to avoid (i.e. aspirin, blood thinners, fish oil), and allergic tendencies to similar medications.  Juvederm causes less puffiness, has a smoother appearance, contains 35% more hyaluronic acid than Restylane, therefore, Juvederm costs a little more than Restylane.

The recovery time for Voluma is not long.  You will feel the gel-like firmness of the product and may experience swelling in the injection site because it is a very dense and voluminous filler when placed in the bony areas of the cheeks.  This in not an unusual situation because when the depleted areas of the cheeks are filled with a dermal filler, like Voluma or Radiesse, the treated area may feel firmer and slightly swollen.  Some patients have said it feels like a "bump" that subsided in a couple days.  See the physician in a follow up visit to rule out an infection if you are very concerned and if the swelling persists for over 7 days.  

A patient can see results with Botox anywhere from a few minutes immediately after the injection up to 2 weeks after the injection.  It really depends how the patient metabolizes the Botox and where the Botox was injected.  Most patients state that they see their best results 3-4 days after the injection.  

Botox can be charged by unit or by area.  We charge a flat rate for 20 units and can be injected in multiple areas depending the patients needs.  If a patient wants more than 20 units, then an additional 20 units can be purchased at a discounted rate.  We offer a variety of specials throughout the year so depending on the special, the price of 20 units of Botox can range from $250-335.