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Voluma – Radiesse

Voluma and Radiesse are two favorites for cheek fillers.  Both produce great results, but each one has it’s own pros and cons.  Voluma is a nice soft filler that comes in a 1ml syringe, whereas Radiesse is a 1.5ml syringe. Radiess has some characteristics that are called “biostimulators”.  A biostimulatory filler will cause the body to produce more collagen over time.  We have seen Radiesse last for over 2 years due to these biostimulatory traits, where Voluma will last about 12 months.  Depending on how Radiesse is placed, it mimics a injectable implant and can be firm.  Radiess can also have a soft feel when slightly hyperdiluted to help fill in large hallow areas.  Voluma is much softer and very natural feeling, which many people like.  Radiesse will tend to cause more swelling after injections than Voluma. Both are great fillers, but we recommend having your provider let you know what would be the best for you.

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Botox – Dysport

Botox is great for helping to reduce the lines on the forehead, between the eye brows and around the eyes.  Botox works in the muscle by blocking the impulse going to the muscle which causes it to contract.  When there are strong muscles, it causes micro injuries into the epidermis of the skin which cause lines to form where the muscle squeezes together.  Botox or Dysport will not fill in deep lines or wrinkles, so we suggest a “filler” at the point.  Fillers are gel substances that help plump up sunken areas or deep lines. What is a good age to start Botox?  It is hard to say exactly what age is appropriate, but we typically recommend around the age of 30.  A lot of this has to do with the strength of the muscles, and not so much about the age of the person.  We have had 20 year old women with very strong muscles, and I have had 60 year old women with no lines and have never had Botox or Dysport before.  When you are younger, we typically recommend Botox every 6-9 months as more of a preventative measure. Is Botox Safe?  We uses thousands of units every month and have never experienced any severe side effects.  Possible side effects may include a slight headache, blurred vision and flu like symptoms.  These possible side effects only last 24-48 hours and resolve on their own.

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Botox

When injecting Botox, you can not inject everyone the same way.  Muscles vary in location from one person to the next.  Having a trained injector who has a great deal of knowledge about the facial muscles will make your Botox come out much better.  When doing an assessment of a person’s facial muscles it is best to have them make different facial expressions to evaluate the muscles. When going to a new place, it is important to know what you want and what you don’t want.  Many places work on commission and will try and up sell you on more Botox than you may even need.  The problem is, when you have too much Botox it can cause the forehead to get very heavy and make the eyelids droopy.  If you don’t get enough injected you will still have a lot of movement and the lines will never go away.  The other problem with treating sub-therapeutically, or placing too small of an amount is that it will not last very long. Typically for the forehead I find the sweet spot to be 30 units of Botox or 60 units of Dysport.  Around the eyes can be a tricky place to inject because it is the highest rate of bruising associated with this area.  Blood vessels are very difficult to see around the eyes and it is a very tender area.  If you place too much Botox around the eyes it will effect the way you smile.

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Facial Injections

When performing facial injections I prefer to achieve a natural look.  One way of avoiding over filling of the face is to make sure you see plenty of before and after photos.  I always recommend asking for photos and bringing a photo of what you looked like 10 years ago.  A major problem as we age is volume loss.  We loose fat, muscle and bone over the years.  This fat loss will lead to sagging of the face, because fat acts as a support structure under the skin.  There is deep fat as well as superficial fat.  Area that may have a lot of animation, such as around the mouth area, tend to get more lines and wrinkles.  Over filling the face may leave you with no lines or wrinkles, but it will also make people appear very artificial and overweight.  There are many fillers on the market such as Juvederm, restylane, voluma, radiesse.  A good provider will know which filler is appropriate for different parts of the face.

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Botox

Botox is a great way to help reduce and eliminate wrinkles and fine lines.  I typically recommend starting Botox when you start to see fine lines in the forehead or around the eyes.  When adding Botox into your routine of anti-aging the benefits will pay off greatly down the road.  Many people ask what a good age to begin Botox?  Unfortunately there is no right answer since everyone has different types of muscle strengths.  I have had clients as young as 20 begin Botox, and other women starting at the age of 45.  When getting Botox for “preventative” measures, I generally let people know they need a smaller amount and not as frequent.  The best idea is to have a consult to determine whether Botox is right for you. Dangers of Botox… When injected incorrectly, Botox can cause a “Droopy eye” or when injected inside the orbital rim it can migrate into the muscles that move the eye causing a lazy eye.  I have personally injected hundreds of thousands of Botox units and have never had any serious problems.  The good thing is that Botox is not permanent and will wear off in 3-6 months.  I always encourage people to do their research before undergoing any type of cosmetic procedure.  There are plenty of good injectors, but finding the one you like can take time, so be patient and do your homework.

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Fibroblast Skin Tightening

Fibroblast skin tightening has become a hot new trend in 2018 for achieving permanent, long lasting results.  Fibroblast has been very popular in Europe and Canada, and now made its way into the US.  Fibroblast creates small currents of plasma energy to burn off a small portion of the skin, causing a reaction that tightens the skin.  The plasma energy stimulates the small fibroblast cells to produce more collagen and tighten up the skin. During the procedure, you are first numbed with a topical numbing cream to decrease the amount of pain.   Depending on the size of the area being treated, the procedure may take 20-30 minutes.   We generally suggest to split up big areas to allow swelling to resolve.  Areas you can treat would include upper eye lid, lower eyelid, face, labia, stomach, stretch marks, jowls, and much more. The downtime is about 5-7 days where you will have small dots from the device creating small burn marks.  These spots will scab up and flake off in about a week.  We recommend not picking at them or scratching them off since this may cause scars or hyperpigmentation. This is a fantastic new procedure that offers long lasting results.

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Lip Injections

Lip injections are defiantly an art.  Before getting your lips done, always look for pictures of what you like.  By showing photos to the injector, this will help them get a better idea of what they need to do.  Before lip injections, it is good to know if you have a tendency to get cold sores.  If you are prone to getting cold sores, I would highly recommend starting on an antiviral such as Valtrex the day before and day of the procedure. Do you research as far as what type of product they like to use for lip injections.  I prefer to use Juvederm Ultra XC, because of its longevity.  Other fillers such as Restylane, Volbella, Vallure, Bellotero are a total waste of time and money.  The reason I say this is due to the fact that the molecules in these fillers are very small and break down quickly.  Many inexperienced injectors like these fillers because they are easily correctable when they make a mistake. Always research and look at their before & after photos of lip injections that they have done.  Believe it or not, some places do a very poor quality of lip injections and actually steal pictures from other medspas and take credit for the work.  I hope this blog helped inform you about the decision to get your lips filled.  We perform thousands of lip injections and create some of the best lips.

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PDO Facial Threading

PDO facial threading has become a very popular procedure recently.  This procedure has actually been around for over 10 years, but has again gained traction in aesthetics.  Many years ago the “Threads” were made of a material that did not dissolve.  The new threads are now made of a material called Polydioxanone which dissolves over a period of time.  There are many different types of threads, which all depend on what area of the body you are working on. The results all depend on the providers experience and training.  Many providers try and use 3 or 4 threads to lift sagging skin.  When I perform a “thread lift” i generally do not like to limit myself on how many threads I use.  I always explain to people that the more threads I use, the better the weight is distributed and not relying on a few threads to hold everything up.  This is one of my favorite procedures because I get such great results.

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Botox

What to know before getting your first Botox treatment.  First, it is important to know if you have any muscular issues such as myasthenia gravis or bell’s palsy.  Many times when someone is getting Botox for the first time I recommend being a bit conservative.  With Botox, you can always put more in, but you can’t take it out.  By being a little more conservative it will possibly keep you from having any complications.  The dose of Botox needs to be enough to achieve results, but too much may cause complete lack of movement or possibly a droopy eye.  Typically it is not recommended to have Botox when you are pregnant or breast feeding.  Although Botox does not have systemic effects, I always recommend to be safe, rather than sorry. Is bruising common?  The face have many blood vessels and the chances of bruising is always present.  The most common place for bruising to occur is around the eyes.  The bruising has no effect on the results of the Botox.  Above all else, I always recommend doing your research and you get what you pay for.

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PDO Threadlift

Glo Medspa has been performing the PDO facial threadlift for over 2 years, and was the first in Arizona to offer this service.  We have seen many other medical facilities that have attempted to perform this procedure, but the results were very poor.  A few things I highly recommend before having this procedure performed.  First I highly recommend that you ask the person performing injections for “Before & After” photos.  Many medical professionals try and use 3 or maybe 4 threads to lift the face. Complications – Unfortunately when you only use 3-4 threads, the results are not the best.  The reason clinicians will use only 3-4 threads is to save money.  A few complications I have seen from other facilities are threads that are poking out, or threads coming out of the mouth.  When a thread is poking out against the skin, it means the thread was placed too shallow.  When a thread protrudes into the mouth, that means it was placed too deep.  There are other complications such as puckering or buckling that may resolve on it’s own.  Threads can also slip out of place or even break. Facial threading is a great alternative to a face lift if you are a candidate.  PDO threads will last up to 18 months and then slowly breakdown and are absorbed by the body.  The best thing about threads are that they appear very natural and reduce the amount of dermal fillers by over 50%.  There is generally no downtime with this procedure, but swelling can be expected for 4-5 days and tenderness for 2 weeks.

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