33 yo Happy with Dr. Patel in Miami (Cheeks)

I went to the doctor concerned about hollowness in my forehead, temples, undereyes, and cheeks. I wanted something to slightly fill them back to their original state. I did not want any sculptra, radiesse, or botox. The doctor evaluated my face and said that he would recommend 20 units of botox to the forehead and Restylane Lyft to the cheeks. I asked him why not Voluma, and he said that Voluma is more expensive, and the manufacturer's claim that it lasts 2 years is unsubstantiated, so he would rather go with a shorter acting product (I guess so people get filler more often or can be more flexible with their look). I also questioned whether cheek filler alone would look strange (without small amounts of filler in undereye to balance) but he said that the cheek filler would lift my cheek up and minimize the look of the undereye.

I agreed to get the Lyft, 1 syringe per cheek. Surprisingly, it just felt like someone pressing a bic pen lid on my cheek; there was no sharp pain of a needle. With each entry I heard the sound of something like a glass crack. That was the sound of it echoing through my cheekbones through my ears. A little weird but I was so relieved that it was not painful. Maybe a 3 in pain. There was a tiny bit of filler lift so the doctor asked to put a dot each in my nasolabial folds.

I had momentary redness on the injection sites. It resolved within the day.

Currently I am terrified of my results. I already had prominent cheekbones and the filler has seemed to make them even more defined and noticeable. It is not in an attractive way; they look like 2 triangles pointing off the edge of my face. I look like some soet of cartoon villain woman with overly chiseled cheeks.

It is now 10 pm and my face is slightly tender. Redness is mostly gone. I can feel a small marble type thing under the skin next to each nostril where the nasolabial folds were injected. I tried to press them but they are hardened and one mass.

I am extremely concerned and kind of hating myself. Literally everyone thinks I naturally look younger than my age. I don't know why I let my insecurities compel me to do something invasive, expensive, and worst of all, making me look uglier. I am praying it subsides by the morning. I am cringing thinking of spending money for hyaluronidase (enzyme to reverse the filler). Basically, that would mean spending about $2000 total for a net outcome of looking...exactly the same as before. :(

I went to see Dr. Patel with concerns about my hollow undereyes, flat temples, and saggy, flattening cheeks. 

Dr. Patel listened patiently to my concerns and advised Restylane Lyft for my cheeks. It was expensive  (about $1400) but worth it. He said I did not need any filler to my tear troughs or temples. While I really wanted these 2 things, I respect that he put his aesthetic and professional judgment over monetary concerns.

I was worried that the cheek injections would hurt a lot, since they just gave me an ice pack and no anesthetic wipe. However, due to the anatomy of the cheek, it was not sensitive like an arm. It just felt like someone was pressing a bic pen cap into my cheeks. Since the cheekbone conducts to the ears, I could hear something like pop rocks with each injection.

I looked pretty normal afterwards, but the next day I looked truly horrible. My face definitely looked fake, with an exaggerated diamond shape and the appearance of golf balls in my cheeks. I was so panicked!! I cringed with regret, waiting for my husband to fall asleep so I could search up vitrase providers. I am unemployed so I felt so so bad to spend such a big portion of savings this way. For 3 whole days, I lamented at my inability to accept my aging, sagging face. At least it was better than what I had now! And now I would have to spend even more money to correct it! 

After 3 or 4 days (I forget exactly), I woke up and looked in the mirror. I felt that all the filler was gone!! Even though that's what I had wanted, now I was consumed with regret again!! Now my regret was that I had paid so much to look exactly the same as before!

I took a series of pictures. And then I realized, i did look exactly the same as before....The same as how I looked 3-4 years before! 

I could see it now- the side profile of my cheek was not perfectly straight! There was a beautiful subtle convexity to it! The appearance of my undereye hollows was diminished since my cheek volume was now higher! Finally, I was a bit satisfied.

One week later, I had an international flight. I went abroad and attended four weddings. I realized by many people's comments that they were all perceiving me as the wrong age.  People generally read me 5  years younger than my age, but now people were guessing around 8 years younger. I secretly cackled to myself when I was asked questions about college; I literally haven't been to college since 2006!!

I am thrilled that Dr. Patel was able to give me a subtle boost to my attractiveness. My pictures all came out beautiful and glamorous. Someone asked my sister-in-law, who is just 8 years older than me, if I was her daughter!! The credit for my restored face goes not to my healthy lifestyle, but to the hands of Dr. Patel. The best thing is that it is not an obvious filler face at all, even my husband didn't notice!! I would definitely recommend Dr. Patel if you are looking for conservative fillers in the Miami area.