Dr Ballentyne is an outstanding Botox and filler expert. I have tried others, none compare. I want a natural look and this is why I drive 40 mins to have him treat me. He's also a very nice guy and willing to work with you to make sure you're happy.
I have been seeing Dr. B for Botox & fillers for years. He is professional, kind and truthful. If you want something done that he doesn't think you need, he will tell you (not like some other doctors I've been too just trying to sell, sell, sell). He loves what he does and wants you to love it too. I have never felt more confident since I have been a patient of his. He is the best, hands down.
Dr. Ballentyne is, by far, the best doctor I've ever been a patient of. From the beginning, he was honest about what my results would be and checked in to see how my treatment was progressing after the procedure. I continue to see him regularly about 7 years after my first treatment and I couldn't be happier with his demeanor, professionalism, and gentle touch. I give him the highest praises. Thank you!
I am a 48 year old woman, 5'6" tall and 148 lbs. After having two 10 lb babies my stomach has never been the same even with diet and exercise. I am only 8 lbs from goal weight, and I do not see how my stomach will be what I want. So I went for a consultation for coolsculpting and Dr. Ballentyne said I was an excellent candidate for the procedure. I arrived 10 minutes early, feeling anxious about my decision to undergo the cool sculpting procedure. Once I made the appointment, I found more and more negative reviews about the procedure, so I was concerned. I was taken into the treatment room about 10 minutes later than my scheduled time which made my anxiety slightly worse. I was having two large tip treatments on my lower abdomen and one smaller tip on my upper abdomen. Once I changed, Dr. Ballentyne came in to with the placement lines for the procedure. Once done, the clinical technician took over. When she placed the cooling gel on my abdomen it was an initial shock at how cold that was on my skin. She then placed the large tip on the cooling gel and my abdomen was sucked into the machine. I had excellent placement of the fat in the tip. It was hard to breathe but within a few minutes I became comfortable. I read on my iPad for the next 60 minutes. When the procedure was over, she released the suction and revealed a very red, "stick of butter" as she called it. It was more like two sticks of butter and she massaged it smooth. She let me touch the area and yes, I could feel a change to the inside of my stomach, crystal like feeling to the fat cells. We proceeded through the remaining two sessions. I was at the clinic for slightly over 4 hours. Dr. Ballentyne saw me before I left and warned me that I would be very sore because I had such good results from the treatment. As I drove home I started noticing the tingling in my lower abdomen. I took Advil after arriving home and proceeded to rest. The afternoon turned to night and my stomach became very swollen and a stinging pain occurred. It was tolerable but unsettling. Trying to sleep was nearly impossible. My stomach hurt feeling numb, tingling and like I had been punched. Having 2 c-sections, this was nothing compared to the recovery from them, but it was still quite painful. 24 hours post procedure, my stomach is huge! Looks like it did when I was 6 months pregnant. I have taken photos every day and will post when I'm closer to results. Day 3, my upper abdomen is starting to go down slightly, but my lower abdomen is a giggly jelly belly filled with fluid. I continue to take Advil for the swelling and drinking a lot of water. Yoga pants are my clothing of choice since there is no way I could get my jeans over the swollen lower abdomen. I'm optimistic I will have a good result. Updated on 27 Apr 2014: My lower abdomen continues to be very swollen. My upper abdomen is tender but seems to be fine. My stomach is numb, sore, not painful. I'm hopeful the swelling will subside over the next few days. I'm certain it's so swollen because the procedure went so well in that area. Other reviewers said they were swollen as well so I'm not concerned....yet! Updated on 28 Apr 2014: Worst day so far. I went back to work today but had to call the doctor because of the swelling and burning pain. They wanted me to come in to the office so the doctor could take a look. They were really great! I saw the doctor and he reiterated that because I had such good results, I would experience a lot of soreness and swelling. He examined my stomach and was very pleased with the way it appeared. Basically to take it easy, and get through this week. I decided to call it a day at work and went home to rest. Updated on 30 Apr 2014: Horrible pain, no sleep and nausea for the past 2 days. The pain can only be described as a burning pain, but that's not fully it. I'm disappointed that I did not fully prepare for this type of recovery. I never planned any days out of work, yet, I have been unable to put in any form of a day at the office. I can only hope that the results are what I am expecting. The good news is that I don't seem to be gaining any water weight with all the swelling. Being optimistic! Updated on 8 May 2014: Two weeks ago I had my procedure. I am still experiencing some burning pain with the first treatment site, however, nothing like it was last week. I still have the soreness in my upper abdomen and can feel the same soreness in my mid section. My stomach is back to a normal size and I do not see any improvement yet. I am also on Weight Watchers and did lose weight this week, but I'm certain it's due to diet, not the procedure. I'm optimistic that things will start to show a good result. My stomach is not flat like most of the photos that are posted on this site. I have a pouch from my large babies and my goal was to reduce this pouch. My skin is also not tight, stretch marks for sure. So I'm not expecting amazing flat stomach, skin tightening, results, just a reduction of the pouch. The one thing to remember is that some people do experience pain, burning pain that keeps you from doing your daily activity. So plan accordingly for the worst case scenario if you are going to undergo this procedure. I didn't, which caused a problem with my work and my family. I'm still optimistic that I will see a good result. Once I am closer to results, I'll post the photos. Updated on 11 Jun 2014: I'm almost at 7 weeks since my procedure. I'm definitely seeing a reduction in fat and feel so much better about my pouch. The downside is the loose skin. I'm hopeful that exercise will help this and even if it doesn't, it's so worth the results. I haven't had a lot time to really work out for the past 7 weeks, so I'm fairly certain if I get back on track that will get me to where I need to be. I still have a slight tingling sensation, but other than that, I'm back to normal. Still doing weight watchers and have lost more weight. Over the next 5 weeks I am told I will see the full results. I can't wait! Updated on 6 Jul 2014: I am finally seeing the results, but unhappy with the lose skin. I think I may need a second procedure since I have 3 waves on my stomach from the 3 procedures done. I'm thinking this is worth it after looking at my before pictures, but still, it's a harsh reality to see the skin at this point. Yuck. So I've uploaded my beginning photo, one 2 days after the procedure, one several more days later, then just last week and today. My stomach swelled tremendously which you can see in the second and third photos. I'm happy that I did it, just not quite sure I like the "naked" results.
If you are getting wrinkles at 20 and they bother you then it is time to consider Botox or Dysport. I rarely do Botox for forehead lines alone, however. The reason for this is the same muscles that cause these lines also raise your brows. Therefore weakening these muscles with Botox can cause your brows to come down and feel "heavy". This is not the same as an abnormal droop from Botox being injected into the wrong muscles. There are 2 solutions. One would be to use very small amounts in the forehead only. As little as 6 units for the entire forehead can be effective. The other solution and the preferred one for me is to also inject the glabella area (11's). This way you are also treating the opposing muscles and it is easier to maintain the proper brow position
I find that swelling with Volbella is minimal and if you are seeing raised areas 5 days out it may be the case that these lines were over injected. Volbella is very thin and flies out of the syringe unlike other Juvederm products. It is easy to over do if the injector is not used to injecting this product. It wouldn't hurt to give it a few more days but other options would include massage of the area or even dissolving the product.
It is important to differentiate between abnormal drooping of the eyelid or lids and "heavy" brows. Abnormal drooping comes from improperly injected Botox/Dysport into the lateral brow area in an attempt to get a brow lift. "Heavy" brows come from over treating the forehead muscles (frontalis) which causes the horizontal forehead lines. If you don't have horizontal forehead lines that bother you there is no reason to put Botox into these brow elevators (frontalis is a brow elevator) because the brows will come down or feel heavy. If you do want to treat forehead lines as well as the glabella it is a tricky balance to get the brows just right and you need to see someone who really understands this and listens to you.
Generally think it is a good idea to wait at least a week for the filler to settle in and then see what you think. If you still want it dissolved after a week it is hard to partially remove it. You may have to have it all removed then start over with someone well known for quality lip injections.
