Acne – Modesto Botox, Dr. Calvin Lee

Hyperdilute Radiesse

Hyper-Dilute Radiesse, written by Calvin Lee, MD / Surgical Artistry
(209) 551-1888

What is Radiesse / Hyper-dilute Radiesse?

Radiesse is made of calcium hydroxyapatite, which you also normally have in your body. Radiesse is a filler that has been around for many years. We took the Radiesse and diluted it down so it’s not as thick. We sometimes take one syringe of Radiesse and add sterile saline to turn it into 2 or 3 syringes. This is the process of diluting it and sometimes we call it hyper-dilute Radiesse.

Why do hyper-dilute Radiesse?

The purpose is to stimulate the growth of collagen and have the skin improve in texture, thickness and tightness. Subtle wrinkles can improve as can skin texture including. The skin can tighten a bit too. Hyper-dilute Radiesse works great for temples (side of forehead), lower cheek, neck, chest, buttocks, knees, arms – basically anywhere skin could use some improvement with stimulated collagen.

How often to do hyper-dilute Radiesse?

Growth phase: Consider 2-4 times the first year (spaced 2-4 months apart).
Maintenance phase: Consider 1 time a year.

How many syringes for each session?

Depends on the area. For the lower cheeks – 1 syringe. For the neck – 1 syringe. For the chest – 1-2 syringes. For the Buttocks – 2-10 syringes. For the Arms – 1-2 syringes.

When can you see results?

Immediately you see some changes because Radiesse is a filler. You will see some thickening of the area filled. But the main results that I’m excited about takes about 2-3 months to see when the collagen starts to enhance. In some patients it would be subtle and others more noticeable. Collagen growth is dependent on one’s health, diet, stress level, and many other factors like smoking (smoking is bad for collagen growth / eating lots of fruits and vegetables is good for collagen growth). Patients have seen continued results of collagen growth even after 6 months and perhaps even after 9 months.

How long do the results last?

In general I think patients will want to repeat the procedure every year. The collagen stimulated to grow is your own collagen which you could keep for many years – hard to say specifically how long. But I recommend once a year for maintenance and perhaps even more if one wants to keep improving the area injected.

What to expect afterwards?

I use numbing medicine to help in the comfort of the procedure. The numbing medicine can temporarily cause a lopsided smile for a few hours after the procedure. Some patients have a bit of dull ache in the area injected for about 1 week. Some patients get some swelling which can last 1-3 weeks after the procedure. After a few days, the saline gets absorbed and the swelling goes down. The saline is 50-75% of what we injected. No pain medicine is needed afterwards, but one is welcome to take over the counter medications used for headaches if needed, or apply ice to the areas injected.

Where to get Hyperdilute Radiesse?

At my office: Calvin Lee, MD – Surgical Artistry with Dr. Tammy Wu plastic surgeon. 4754 Dale Road, Modesto, CA 95356. (209) 551-1888.

Hydrate doesn’t cause breakouts for Vanessa and works great with tretinoin

Dr. Lee,

What I’d like to say about Obagi Hydrate is that it is the one moisturizer that I can confidently say does not break me out. Personally, I use it when I’m feeling dry or dehydrated due to tretinoin and or any other similar products. I also use it when I want to pause or relieve the peeling that I go when I use tretinoin w/Blender on a regular basis. Although I don’t use it daily, it’s always in my skincare “toolbox” and it’s been so very reliable for at least a decade for me.

Thank You!

Vanessa

Other Links:

Modesto Botox

Mark’s Obagi Hydrate thoughts

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.”

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

Foaming Gel Cleanser by Obagi Nu-derm

Obagi Nuderm Foaming Gel Cleanser

What is Obagi Foaming Gel Cleanser?

It is one of two cleansers in the Obagi Nu-derm line of products.
It is pink in color.

What makes this Foaming Gel special?

It is formulated as a gel.
Deep cleans your pores.
Alfalfa extract to detoxify and prevent breakouts.
Borage extract reduces excess oil production.
Aloe Vera Gel to soothe inflammation.
It leaves the skin feeling very fresh and clean.

Who can benefit from the Obagi Foaming Gel cleanser?

Anyone who would love to have a professional strength cleanser for deep cleansing feel for their skin
It goes very well with the Obagi Nuderm system which embraces the idea that beautiful skin is healthy skin.
People with normal to oily skin would benefit from the use of Foaming Gel.
Acne prone skin would also benefit as well – especially with the Alfalfa and Borage extracts.
This is a relatively strong cleanser but it is not excessively drying and potentially damaging as bar-soap.

Alternatives to the Obagi Foaming Gel?

If your skin is dry, a gentler cleanser is available from the Obagi Nuderm line called the “Gentle Cleanser.” We also carry the Obagi 360 cleanser which has beads, and also the Clenziderm cleanser which is geared even more for acne skin.

There is a travel size available of the Foaming Gel which is 2 oz in size.

Gentle Cleanser Nu-derm.
Obagi 360 Cleanser.
Clenziderm Daily Care Foaming Cleanser.
Travel sized version is available as well.

Side effects of Obagi Nu-derm Foaming Gel Cleanser

Minimal side effects.
Could be drying in the winter time for some skin types.
Could be drying for dryer skin types.

How to use?

Moisten finger tips and apply small amount to face and neck. Rinse thoroughly.
Can be used with the clarisonic brush.
The cap screws off the bottle and screws back on with a secure locked in feel. There is a small opening on top of the bottle which allows the product to come out the bottle is squeezed lightly.

List price for Obagi Foaming Gel Cleanser from the NuDerm Sytem:

$42.50 – the price can change, and this is the price in 2016
It is 6.7 fl oz.

Visit our Surgical Artistry webpage

www.SurgeryToday.com

Surgical Artistry is Dr. Tammy Wu and Dr. Calvin Lee’s Plastic Surgery and acupuncture practice in Modesto, California. Dr. Wu and Dr. Lee are a husband and wife surgeons who teamed while they were students at Brown University in 1989. Throughout their academic life, they had been fortunate to have acceptances to wonderful institutions such as Stanford and Harvard.

Does Acupuncture Help with Acne?

Acupuncture for Acne?

I got this question today and here’s my attempted answer:

Hi! I have tried acupuncture many times for Acne and still get requests for it – many times it’s in combination with other treatments for the patients – such as for stress or weight loss. My patients report that it helps with acne. But I’m not sure how well it really works. But I’m happy for the positive feedback from my patients. In my opinion, acupuncture is somewhat mediocre of a treatment for acne (in my hands). But because the side effects are low, I sometimes think that it’s worth a try. And by a “try” I usually tell the patients that we can try 4 sessions of acupuncture (spaced about 1 week apart) and if we see an improvement, then it’s worth continuing the acupuncture, if we don’t see an improvement, then it’s time to quit acupuncture. I currently charge $125 for the first visit then $75 for subsequent visits (prices subject to change – please call us). There is acupuncture for skin health and there is acupuncture for hormonal stabilization which are both modalities I use with acupuncture to try to help with acne. Feel free to call us if you want to schedule an appointment 209-551-1888. I also have other ways to treat acne along with acupuncture. It may involve prescribing antibiotics – topically for the skin. Or the Obagi Clenziderm system – all available with us. Or the Blue Peel Radiance which I would perform on the face for acne reduction – or perhaps a combination of all these things. Best of health!

Botox for Acne?

oh and on a side note – I can’t help but mention that Botox has been known to somewhat help with inflammatory processes of the skin – which includes Acne. Thus if there’s acne on the forehead and there are wrinkles in that same place – what a wonderful opportunity to try Botox! Same too for pebbly chin – we can inject Botox in the chin area! There is a new growing world of mesoBotox where Botox is injected in diluted amounts superficially into the cheek skin. This is supposed to create some tightness and I think it would reduce acne in that area – but I haven’t tried it enough to recommend it fully.

Calvin Lee, MD
Modesto Botox and Acupuncture

Summary:

For Active Acne we can try:

Acupuncture for skin health
Acupuncture for hormonal stabilization
Blue Peel Radiance
Obagi Clenziderm system
Topical Antibiotics – we also carry these in our office
Botox if on the forehead or chin.
MesoBotox for the cheeks perhaps something to try in the future.

Category: Acne