Josie L. Tenore, MD

Great Question and I am sorry no one has answer this yet. 

There is a LOT of difference in properties from all sorts of "light" therapy that we use in medicine. 

First let's clarify whether you mean RED light OR INFRARED light. They are not the same thing.

Red light is part of the visible light spectrum and can help with speeding up the healing process and can also help create a healthy environment on the scalp for hair growth or re-growth. It can penetrate to 10 millimeters into the skin. [Meaning very superficial] 


INFRARED is not visible and is perceived by the body as heat. This form of light energy is also useful for healing but can penetrate deeper into the body. It has been stated that infrared penetrates to 2 to 7 centimeters which means it can reach to muscles, nerves and even bones. 

Both forms of light do have some effect on stimulating the production of collagen and elastin in skin fibroblasts. 

Radiofrequency is a form of energy that is also perceived as heat. This form also stimulates the production of collagen and elastin but seems to work at the sub-dermal level. 

In my practice I use all of these forms of energy and based on my clinical experience, I think the results of radio frequency are seen sooner and are more robust. 

Hope this helps! 

Hello 

I'm sorry no one has answered this yet....  but it is an important question! 

Radiesse is a dermal filler, so you should have had SOME results if you had 8 syringes placed in your face!  That said, it does depend on where the product was placed.... I get better longevity with Radiesse when I use it as a product that I put right down on bone as a scaffold. Even if placed intradermal you should have had some benefits.  All fillers breakdown in a consistent fashion, but in my patients they tend to last a long time especially if I treated to full correction which it sounds like you were. In addition, I always recommend that my patient use medical grade skincare products, neuromodulators and laser or light treatments because doing this will also help to prolong the benefits of filler. 

Now, there are some factors that make fillers get reabsorbed quickly. these include smoking, having a LOT of stress in your life, or if you have some sort of wasting disease. In these situations, fillers will not last very long. If I have patients with any of the above, I usually steer them towards other products. [see below] 

In addition and with respect to collagen... Radiesse is NOT BELLAFILL. While it may stimulate the production of some collagen, it is a filler with mild to moderate capacity to stimulate collagen. If you were looking for pure collagen stimulation, then I usually use either Sculptra [with platelet rich plasma] or Bellafill.

Finally, when I perform any treatment that can potentially create collagen, I always have my patients take 1000 mg of Vitamin C twice per day. Vitamin C is important in collagen synthesis, so making sure you have lots of vitamin C in your system will help. 

Let me know if this helped! 

First of all - congratulations on being a new mother! 

There are many options for treating these lines from medical grade skin care products [which you can start while breastfeeding] neuromodulators like botox, laser treatments and PDO threads. 

I would start with appropriate skincare as that is the foundation of everything beauty. Then depending on your budget and goals I would do a little botox and then I would place PDO threads along the wrinkled area.  The threads are completely converted to collagen and so offer a longer term solution. 

I hope this helps! 

I'm sorry no-one answered this question yet!

I personally would not go to a medical spa or medical office that didn't assign one tech for all of my treatments. As you can see, techniques vary dramatically, so having a consistent tech is important.

As for which of the above is the "correct" technique. We always cleans the skin prior to all of our treatments, including Legacy. The hand piece should fit the face and the treatment should be tolerable. Too much heat theoretically may cause fat loss in the face, something we do NOT want. The gel should be a VERY thin layer only. Too much gel interferes with the treatment. 

You should let the clinic manager know about these inconsistencies as it sounds like they need to have a training refresher course. 

Hope this helps!

I'm sorry no-one has answered this question! 

Photos would have been helpful.  Redness and the sensation of heat can be normal for hours after a treatment if you are very fair. I am assuming the treatment was comfortable throughout.

Normally we push the temperature to the threshold of uncomfortable and then we back off the temperature so it is comfortable. If this is what the provider did, then it should have resolved by morning.

If it was uncomfortable then you may have had a burn. I hope it wasn't that! 

Let us know how you faired.