I’m 36, an ex-smoker, and weigh less than 100 pounds, so my facial fat pads are long gone. Thankfully, a little help goes a long way, which is why I’ve been dabbling in fillers for about a year. I’m one day out from having 1 syringe of Radiesse injected into the corners of my mouth, where I’d previously had Juvederm. (I’d also used Juvederm to treat my nasolabial folds.)
This is the first time I’ve tried Radiesse. I was hesitant because there’s nothing (or very little, apparently) that can be done to dissolve/remedy if something goes wrong, but it was about one hundred bucks cheaper than Juvederm, and apparently lasts longer, so I went for it. Also, I went against all good advice and had an RN at a med spa do the treatment. Luckily, everything worked out.
The main difference between Radiesse and Juvederm is that Radiesse is harder, so the injections have to go deeper. (This is not as uncomfortable as it sounds, in fact, if anything, my Radiesse injections were less painful than Juvederm.)
But the hard factor is taking a bit of getting used to, since it’s right there in my inner cheek. I can feel it on the inside of my mouth. It kind of freaked me out, and I had weird dreams about it last night, but honestly, it looks great.
It’s not hard like plaster, but it’s a big immovable lump in a way I never noticed with Juvederm. I didn’t bruise at all because I was a tyrant with the ice, before and after – I’d make the practitioner wait in between sides so I could ice up again.
But right now, I can’t tell if I’m a bit swollen, or if the effects are slightly more exaggerated than they should or could be. If it stays exactly like this, I’d be happy, but I guess I wouldn’t mind if the puffiness went down a tad (which, based on one doc’s response on this site, much of it will go down within the first 3 months).
Next time I go for fillers, I’m going to flip flop, and have Radiesse put in my nasolabials and Juvederm for the corners of the mouth. But the difference is really personal preference. I think I want something softer where naturally very soft tissue should be. Again, this is based on how it feels from the inside, not how it looks from the outside.
