Radiesse

Results from Radiesse injections for volumetric changes are visible right away, but the final result takes months to develop. That’s because Radiesse is an injectable that offers some volume replacement in the short-term, but over the long-term Radiesse stimulates the body to build new collagen, a process which can take 3-6 months, and this improves the result you see over time. Results from Radiesse are usually seen immediately but improve over the first week after injection. For skin tightening and skin improvement using hyperdilute Radiesse, the result is not visible until that collagen has started to build up, around month 3 to 6.

Radiesse is a bio-stimulatory injectable comprised of \u201cCalcium hydroxylapatite\u201d in a gel base. It is a filler most commonly used for the following areas: Cheeks, NLF (nasolabial folds) peri-oral area, jaw line and hands. We also use it in a hyper-dilute manner to improve texture and firmness of the skin on the face as well as the chest, knees, arms and buttocks. The beauty of Radiesse is that it stimulates your body to naturally produce your own collagen.

Each person reacts differently to Radiesse, and each individual will need different things to reach their cosmetic goals, which is why it’s difficult to answer if you’ll need more than one treatment. However, in general, patients seeking volume restoration (liquid facelift, hand rejuvenation, etc.) need only 1 treatment to see great results from Radiesse. Typically those results last about 1 to 2 years. For skin tightening, we do see that patients with mild skin laxity can get great results from a single treatment, whereas those patients with more severe skin looseness and textural issues may need more. Again, theseresults last from 1 to 2 years. Typically we see all patients back for a 3 month check-in after Radiesse injections to make sure we’ve reached your goal, or are very close (since you can have more results develop between month 3 and 6).

Results from Radiesse have been shown to last at least 1 year from the final injections.

We can only speak to what we charge for Radiesse, and this does vary quite a bit by practice. We are neither the cheapest, nor the most expensive, and we make sure our pricing allows our physicians to spend quality time with our patients, working in their best interest to create the very best possible results. Radiesse starts at $750 at our practice. The total cost of your Radiesse procedure may be more, depending upon how much Radiesse you’ll need to accomplish your cosmetic goals.

Most people are good candidates for Radiesse injections, but there are a few people who should avoid Radiesse as a treatment option. You should avoid Radiesse if: - you have severe allergic reactions that have included throat swelling (anaphylaxis), or have multiple severe allergies, and there is a concern that you might have a reaction to one or more of the ingredients in Radiesse - you have a bleeding disorder - you have an active skin infection near the area you want treated (we will just need to clear up the infection prior to injection)

We use lidocaine in our injections of Radiesse. Radiesse + (Radiesse Plus) comes with some lidocaine already mixed in, but when we use Radiesse we always mix lidocaine in with it (so long as the patient is not allergic to lidocaine). Lidocaine is a numbing agent that works very similarly to the novocaine that dentists inject right before filling a cavity. Since we do not typically inject into the nerve bundles as dentists do, the effect is much less widespread and doesn’t last as long, but the numbing effect makes Radiesse injections an easy procedure.

There’s no real \u201cdowntime\u201d with Radiesse. You should expect, as with any injection, to have some redness and swelling. You’ll likely be numb for an hour or so after injection. Redness usually dissipates within an hour, too. Swelling can take 24-48 hours to go down, but is generally not noticeable to others.

It is not advised to take Ibuprofen or any other NSAIDs for a 24 hour period after Radiesse injections. You may however take Tylenol.

It is recommended to wait 24 hours prior to working our or doing strenuous activity following Radiesse injections. Any increased blood flow may increase swelling and bruising.

No, unlike hyaluronic acid fillers, radiesse is not reversible. Radiesse is a dermal filler comprise of a biostimulatory agent in a gel base. The gel base give an immediate improvement and then breaks down over a period of weeks. The biostimulatory agent stimulates your body to produce collagen and this breaks down over a period of 12-15 months.

A lot of patients have asked us to compare Radiesse vs. Radiesse Plus. The truth is, they’re the exact same product, but Radiesse comes pre-mixed with a numbing agent called lidocaine. When we use Radiesse we mix in lidocaine, making the treatments exactly the same for our patients. The only person who would really need to know which one of these 2 was used is someone who has an allergy to lidocaine. If that is something you’ve experienced, please do let us know, as lidocaine is the most common numbing injection we use in our practice, but we do have other options available to make your procedures comfortable.

Radiesse is a safe and effective treatment that creates natural results in the hands of a skilled physician injector. Unfortunately, we live in a world with lots of inexperienced and under-qualified injectors. Most of the serious side effects of Radiesse can be attributed to a lack of knowledge and skill on the injectors’ part. There have been published incidences of nodules (lumps) forming when Radiesse is injected into the lips and when Radiesse is not diluted enough for superficial injections. For this reason, we do not inject the lips with Radiesse, and we prefer \u201csuper-dilution\u201d of Radiesse for any areas with thin skin and/or superficial injection techniques. For our patients, side effects are what you would expect for any injection: - redness at the injection site (goes away within an hour) - swelling (typically gone within 24-48 hours) - bruising (very rare with Radiesse, but we can laser bruising away if this happens to you)