Category: Botox

Lip filler experience

by Natalie at Surgical Artistry

Natalie’s Lip Filler before and afters

I wanted to recount my experience pertaining to my first time getting lip fillers as a way to help others who may be thinking about getting a lip filler.

As you may know, I was very nervous and hesitant. I have always wanted to get my lips done, especially after assisting in so many of those lip procedures. I just needed to find the courage to actually do it. It was definitely a great experience being on the other side as a “patient” this time around and experiencing it from another point of view.

Before the procedure began, Dr. Lee and I had both agreed on choosing Juvederm Volbella XC as the most suitable filler for my lips. Since my lips were quite thin to begin with, it was important for me to choose a filler in which my lips could handle without it being too overblown. Volbella is known to be a smoother filler, with more of a natural look. Its also known to have the least amount of swelling. Eventually, if I want to have my lips injected again, I can also choose a different filler to coexist with Volbella. Other choices included a newer filler called Restylane Kysse. This filler, Restylane Kysse is a thicker product than Juvederm Volbella XC. There are about 10 different lip filler choices we could have used for lips. But one choice we weren’t going to do is Radiesse – that is a syringe used for growing collagen (hyperdilute radiesse) in areas where there aren’t too much muscle activity. Lips are mostly muscle and have a lot of movement.

I explained to Dr. Lee the type of results I was hoping to achieve. My top lip had a very defined “M” shape to it, while also being very thin. I wanted more volume on the top of my lip border around the cupid’s bow, without the sides looking very elongated.

“Before” photos of my lips were taken. Numbing cream was applied, and left on my lips for about 5 minutes. We went through the cold sores and lip questions. As nervous as I was, I knew I was in good hands with Dr. Lee since he is the lip filler expert! I was completely numb and felt little to no pain for the entire lip filler procedure. The most painful area I think was when he began to inject towards the middle of my lips, specifically, the philtral columns. I would rate the pain level a 4 on a scale from 1-10.

I enjoyed the fact that Dr. Lee would explain what he was doing while injecting. Lupe was also very comforting while she was assisting Dr. Lee. She put her hand on my shoulder which made a big difference in my anxiety level. They would take a moment to ask me how I was doing during the lip procedure, which was really nice and reassuring. The entire process was maybe 8-12 minutes long. The Once the procedure was over, Lupe handed me the mirror to take see my new look. I was so excited! Of course, my first reaction was being a little taken aback at my lips being bigger than they were before, but with that being said, I instantly fell in love with my new look. My lips turned out to be better than I even expected them to be.

Dr. Lee did an absolute amazing wonderful awesome job! I am so happy! I have always been very insecure about my lips being thin as well as having a gummy smile. Now I have so much more confidence and am so beyond happy.

Dr. Lee informed me that I can apply an icepack to help reduce swelling – especially for the first 30 minutes. He educated me on side effects regarding swelling for the next few days. In about 3 weeks, I should see the full results with the bruising gone and swelling gone.

I had an amazing overall lip augmentation experience for my first time getting my lips done. Thank you, Dr. Lee!!

Lip Links:

Lip fillers on YouTube with Restylane Kysse by Dr. Calvin Lee

Yelp reviews for Calvin Lee, MD many regarding lip fillers

Find us in Modesto!

Switching over to Alle

Attention Surgical Artistry Brilliant Distinctions members,

This is Alysha from Surgical Artistry. As some of you may already know Brilliant Distinctions rewards (for Botox, Juvederm, Kybella, Latisse, etc) is switching over to Allē. This switch will be happening on Wednesday September 30th , 2020. There are a few short steps you will need to take in order to merge your Brilliant Distinctions account over to Allē. You will first need to know your Brilliant Distinctions login information (Email or phone number and password). If you do not know your login information you can reset your password at www.brilliantdistinctionsprogram.com or by calling Brilliant Distinctions Customer Support (888) 324-2745 (8 AM-6 PM CT, M-F). Once you know your login information you will go to www.alle.com. Here you will merge your Brilliant Distinctions account by clicking on Join with Brilliant Distinctions. You will now enter in your login information. Once you are logged in, you will need to follow the steps on your screen to merge your account to Allē. Please be sure you follow all instructions until the process says you are complete. If you are having issues merging your account, please call our office at 209-551-1888 and our staff can send an Allē invite link to your Mobile device. We hope you will enjoy the new Allē Rewards Program and we thank you for your patience through this change. 

Best regards,

Surgical Artistry Staff

Brilliant Distinctions has been growing – 2019 stats:

In 2019, Brilliant Distinctions grew an additional 6 million members. It is in 25,000 doctor’s offices. There are 60,000 new consumers each month. I had previously estimated that there are 40,000 Allergan accounts in the USA – but that was my own personal estimate based on some statistics I’ve seen a few years ago and my own calculations. I wrote a bit about this estimate in my post about being a Top 250 Allergan Account in the USA.

Allē – the new Brilliant Distinctions

Allē is coming! Alle will be the new Brilliant Distinctions which gives you points for Botox injections, Juvederm, Kybella, and Latisse. It will have so much more than Brilliant Distinctions and be easier to use as we are told. We will be switching over around September or October of 2020. Stay tuned for further information regarding Alle.

Allē was named after the first 4 letters of Allergan.

I saw that Allē has an instagram page called Allē Aesthetics. At this point they don’t even have any followers yet.

I also heard that everything counts toward points – even non-Allergan products and services. Patients can come in for our Surgical Artistry laser treatments and earn points for their next Allergan product.

Check out with Allē to take less than a minute!

Carri Strom, Allergan’s Senior Vice President of U.S. Medical Aesthetics says that check out is seamless, and takes less than a minute which will be a huge time savings.

Brilliant Distinctions has been growing – 2019 stats:

In 2019, Brilliant Distinctions grew an additional 6 million members. It is in 25,000 doctor’s offices. There are 60,000 new consumers each month. I had previously estimated that there are 40,000 Allergan accounts in the USA – but that was my own personal estimate based on some statistics I’ve seen a few years ago and my own calculations. I wrote a bit about this estimate in my post about being a Top 250 Allergan Account in the USA.

Future webpage for Alle – we are scheduled to switch over in fall of 2020.

How many Botox injections have you done? 11,063!

I’m writing this Modesto Botox Blog as of 12/8/19 – so this doesn’t represent the entire 2019. Visit my Modesto Botox Home Page. This page is written by me, Calvin Lee, MD

11063 Botox procedures that I’ve logged since 2011 (I’ve been injecting since 2008)

So a possible estimate might be over 12,000 procedures. I consider a procedure as a separate injection, I don’t count Botox touch ups (Botox refinements) as a separate procedure.

1462 Botox injections since moving into our new building

We moved to a new building which we built ourselves. It is across the street from the Kaiser Hospital in Modesto on Dale Road. We moved in March 2019. It gives us a lot more space to work. I have three different rooms where I can inject Botox, and I have a separate room to store the Botox safely and efficiently so that all the Botox is centralized. It’s our new Surgical Artistry building.

Allergan Brilliant Distinctions

I use the Allergan Brilliant Distinctions provider portal to create reports. I’ve been injecting since 2008, but my data just goes back to 2011. So I am missing the data before 2011 – so I’m missing about 3 year’s worth of Botox Data. I’ve grown a lot with my Botox injections since I started writing about my Botox Statistics. Here is a page of my old Botox statistics in 2015

How to reconstitute 100U Botox bottle

The above video made by me on YouTube explains “how to make Botox“, well, we’re not making the Botox, we are reconstituting it from a dry Botox form to a liquid Botox injectable form.  You could mix it with as much saline as you like.  Some would call this dilution, but I prefer the word reconstitution.  Dilution implies that we are taking a known dose of Botox and making it a lesser dose.

I like 1cc = 4U of Botox

But it works well for me to place 2.5 cc’s of saline into the 100U bottle.  This way every 1.0 cc of saline results in 4 Units of Botox.

Much of how Botox is injected now involves 4U of Botox in each injection site.  Thus this would be 0.1 cc’s of Botox – and conveniently this shows up on the line in our syringes.

Some tips: When inserting a needle into the rubber top of the Botox container, consider using a 21 G needle rather than 18 G needle. Because the 18 G needle might damage the self-sealing aspect of the rubber top.

There are always subtleties and the video might give you more insight into the way I do it, which has worked well for me.

If you are curious, there are some questions in the comment section of the video. Someone asked where I get my medical degree. It was at Brown University.  And someone asked why I wear a mask.  I usually don’t talk when I’m reconstituting Botox, and I consider it to be a medication that I’m making that gets injected into a patient, I wanted to make sure I treat it like a surgery – for much of the same reasons – keep the work area from potential contamination.  Extra talking creates microdroplets from our mouth into the air.  And thus… I prefer to wear a mask if I’m doing some extra talking – for the camera or with a patient while working with Botox.  It may be a surgeon thing.  It makes me more comfortable knowing that I offered the best for my patients.

I hope the info helps.  If you are a potential patient, feel free to visit my page about Botox and we are located in Modesto, California.

Jawline with Botox

Yes, I do jawline contouring with Botox, Filler, Cannula, Threadlift, and Kybella.

I’ve been working with bringing out the beauty of the jawline using multiple techniques.  The link above is from a blog I wrote about the subject using Botox in 2015 in my Modesto, CA practice called Surgical Artistry.  Some involve filler (ie. Juvederm), Kybella, and threadlifts.  However, Botox was one of the earlier modalities that I’ve used for the past 10 years.  I use Botox for TMJ and have found that it leads to a slimming effect of the sides of the face.  This helps to accent the jawline from the top.  I’ve found that it takes a few visits with Botox along the cheek to get the results that we are looking for – usually about 3 visits (spaced about 3-4 months apart).

How many Units for Botox in the Jaw area?

The amount of units I use vary.  I inject in the masseter muscle above the jawline.  I use somewhere between 6-40 units of Botox per side depending on the situation.  I usually average around 20 units per side of Botox.

Dice Pattern for TMJ injections using Botox

I have a video where I use what I call a “dice pattern” for injection of TMJ (TMD) – click on the link above to see that injection with Botox.

My Botox Video from 2015

This is a link to my Botox video from 2015.  In this video, I inject my father who agreed to be the subject of this video and the background music is that of me playing the violin and Dr. Tammy Wu playing the piano.  My Botox technique does change from time to time and I keep trying to get better. Thus the way I inject today may be slightly different than what’s shown in the video.  This was filmed on my iPhone on the spur of the moment when my parents came to visit me in Modesto, California.  It wasn’t a planned video.  I rarely ever plan my videos.  I am mumbling and I don’t think I say anything important.  And I wanted to attach some of my music to a video to see what that was like.  Amazingly the video ends just as the music ends.  If anything – I hope you enjoy the music.

I’m sorry I haven’t updated much of my webpages. I’m waiting for wordpress 5.0 to come out and see if that would be my editor of choice for the future.

For now, visit other great Botox webpages such as the one from allergan.  Here’s my previous Botox webpage.  Here’s a listing of some of the places to get Botox in Modesto, California.

The music in the background is Massenet’s Meditation played by me on violin and Dr. Tammy Wu, plastic surgeon on piano.

 

How long have you been injecting Botox in Modesto?

I got this question today via social media.

The quick answer as of today (11/5/18) is about 12 years.

I guess it’s a question regarding my experience.  I now see about 200+ patients per month for Botox injections in my Modesto office: Surgical Artistry.

Here’s sort of a timeline for my life in Modesto.

2001:  Interviewed in Modesto and accepted job with the McHenry Medical Group as trauma and general surgeon

2003:  Started my surgery career in Modesto.  I actually had my first job Modesto as a surgeon was with the Sutter-Gould Medical Group affiliated with Memorial Hospital.  I worked there for a few weeks to help fill in for a surgeon who had to leave suddenly for his military duties.

2003:  Started with the McHenry Medical Group as trauma and general surgeon

2006:  Started Surgical Artistry with Dr. Tammy Wu, Plastic Surgeon.  Went to obtain more education in Acupuncture.  Plastic Surgery was our big focus for Surgical Artistry.

2006:  Started practicing acupuncture and started doing Botox.  I had a slow start.  It seemed to be about 1-3 patients per week even for Botox and acupuncture.  I continued doing General Surgery till about the year 2010.  But starting in 2006, I started assisting in the world of pain pumps and stimulator spine implants which I still do today.

2013:  Reached platinum level for Botox injections and Filler injections with the Allergan company.  This is based on amount of Botox purchased from Allergan.

2014:  Reached platinum plus level for Botox and Filler injections.

2015:  Selected as one of the first surgeon injectors of Kybella – a injectable product to help dissolve the double chin.

2016:  Reached Diamond level for Botox and Filler injections.  At the time, this seemed to be the highest level there was for Botox purchased from Allergan in the USA.

2017:  I was honored by being awarded the Top 25 most loved injectors in the USA by RealSelf.com.  I got a featured advertisement in Glamour magazine.

2017:  Reached the Top 500 level for Botox injections / Filler implantations.  This was a level that I didn’t know existed till I got the award.  It comes with certain benefits like a priority customer service telephone number.

2018:  Started doing thread-lifting which I also call Suture-Lifting.

2018:  Maintained Top 500 level for Botox injections (and other Allergan products).  At this point, I realize that I started by seeing about 4 Botox patients per month in 2006 and now I have the privilege of seeing over 200 Botox patients per month.

I still have much more to improve regarding my skills, communication, and results.  Thank you everyone for trusting me with your injections.

 

Calvin Lee,  MD

What cosmetic services do you offer, Dr. Lee?

I got this question today on Yelp and perhaps this post will help others.

I am interested in hearing about the services you offer and setting up a consultation.

Mr. Bear wearing my name tag and he is with acupuncture needles in his head.

Here’s my brief answer:

Thank you for your inquiry via a message on Yelp. We are closed for the weekend. But Feel free to call (209)-551-1888 on Monday- Friday 8am-5pm for more information about what we offer at Surgical Artistry. The Botox / Filler consultation with me (Dr. Calvin Lee) is free so you can hear more about what I may be able to do and customize information and treatment for you.  Heres a brief listing of what I do:

Threadlifts

Threadlifts for building collagen and lifting.  These are dissolving PDO threads.  Sometimes I call this Suture-Lifting

I do Botox

I do Botox for wrinkles, headaches, jaw pain, gummy smile, shrinking pores, sweat reduction, trigger points.

Juvederm Fillers

I do fillers for lips and wrinkles, acne scars.  I really enjoy working on lips and tear troughs as some of my favorite things to do.  I also sometimes use Radiesse and Restylane.  I do hand rejuvenation fillers and also tear trough off label fillers under the eyes.  I am fond of working with a cannula for cheek augmentation and for tear trough.  I also regularly do chin augmentation with fillers and jaw augmentation, temple filling (by the forehead), ear lobe wrinkle filling, nipple projection for inverted nipples.  I also fill various indentations in muscles or the body from various trauma/scar or from steroid injections.  I see fillers as a surgical implantation which needs to be done with surgical care.

Dermapen – Microneedling

I do dermapen microneedling to help with acne scars, and wrinkle reduction / prevention, and to help grow collagen.

Kybella

Kybella injections for double chin.  Permanent fat reduction in the FDA approved neck area.  Visit my Kybella website for more information.  I’ve done some off label Kybella for bra roll and knee area.

Chemical Peels

To help with collagen growth, brightening the skin, tightening, and wrinkle prevention.  I do the Obagi blue peel radiance and the blue peel chemical peel – both these peels are by Obagi.

Acupuncture

I do acupuncture for back pain, fertility, stress, and many other issues. There is a branch of acupuncture known as cosmetic acupuncture.  Actually threadlifts and dermapen are just extension of cosmetic acupuncture.

Vein procedures

I laser veins on the face, chest, and legs.  I have a laser and I also do cosmetic sclerotherapy – which are injections into the small veins.  On the face, the laser is my favorite modality, but on the legs, the injections of sclerotherapy is my favorite vein treatment method.  I also do ultra sound examinations of the greater saphenous vein and lesser saphenous veins to assess reflux.

Mole removal

I do cosmetic mole removal from various parts of the body using surgical excision, and I try for the smallest and least obvious scar.  I feel that surgical excision is usually best – rather than burning off a mole.

Trigger point deactivation

Trigger points are tender points in the muscle. I can do dry needling, acupuncture ah-shi, lidocaine/marcine injections

Steroid injections into over-active scars

Some scars are overactive with redness, itching, and have a raised character. I can inject a steroid solution into the scars to make them less “angry.”

More

I actually do more items than what is listed on here, but this is a short description of what I can do.

 

How long do I have to wait for Botox to work?

It takes a few days for Botox to work.

This is what I’ve told my patients regarding Botox’s ability to resist wrinkles – regarding onset:
  • It takes 4 days to reach 90% activity.
  • It takes 2 weeks to reach 100% activity.

Thus if you feel like you need more Botox, I usually recommend waiting 2 weeks before adding more Botox.  This way we see the full effect of Botox before adding more.  I do believe in using Botox efficiently (without wasting it on the patient).