Our office has been on pause since Governor Gavin Newsom strongly recommended that we stay at home starting the evening of 3/19/20 due to growing COVID. Links to his COVID stay home executive order. We immediately shut down that evening and didn’t come to work 3/20/20 which marked are first day of not working. We did see some urgent post op patients that day since they had their elective plastic surgeries the day before, but we had our entire staff stay at home.
We are not sure when we are going to open up again and we decided to team up with Obagi Medical to provide many Obagi products shipped to your door. Since I don’t have my staff working with me, I’m having just a small window of opportunity for patients to email me their request. Basically – it’s actually simple, just send me an email with your telephone number:
Send an email to us (Dr. Calvin Lee and Dr. Tammy Wu) at modesto.obagi@gmail.com 3/20-3/23/20
Include your name and telephone number and perhaps include what you might want from the Obagi list of products.
Get 20% off, and free delivery
Wait for our phone call on Tuesday to answer questions and firm up the details.
Wait for your product to arrive at your doorstep
If you have the Obagi Premier Points app on your phone, take a picture of the packaging slip and send it to obagi (I’ll give you details), and they will give you double points.
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
Sometimes I’m asked about my favorite lip augmentation technique.
I have about 15 different techniques I like to use for injecting lips with filler such as Juvederm. Thus I have 15 favorites which I like to combine! These include retrograde, anterograde, perpendicular injections (lip tenting), serial puncture, fanning (chicken feet), cannula, vermillion border emphasis, wet dry border emphasis, middle 2/3’s of the lips, parallel lip injections, keyhole preservation, lip tubercle preservation, starting laterally, starting medially, and our 4 hands lip technique. There is also something called the Russian Technique for lips but I’m not quite sure what that is – perhaps it is more of a white roll/vermillion border emphasis technique.
I like to have a vision in my mind for me to achieve and to maintain safety at all times. There are so many variations on what I like to do, but what I keep in mind in choosing which method I use is:
physics of elasticity, viscosity, rheology, vectors.
goals we have (shape, amount, symmetry, proportion)
One could also combine lip filler with Botox, but that’s for another topic. Thanks for reading my Lip technique blog.
About me: I am Dr. Calvin Lee, MD, former trauma surgeon. I have been injecting lips since around 2008. I use Allergan products: Juvederm volbella, and ultra most often for lip plumping. I also sometimes use Restylane for lips and also for tear troughs. I actually think that tear troughs and lips are some of the hardest filler procedures to do. The two procedures are quite opposite in the technique we would choose to do. I am located in Modesto, CA. Our address is 4754 Dale Road, Modesto, CA 95356. We moved in March, 2019. Hope you can visit us and give us a call at 209-551-1888.
Jeuveau was just FDA approved in the USA as the newest Neuromodulator to join Botox, Dysport and Xeomin.
Initially I’ve had some trouble spelling Jeuveau – is it spelled Jeauveau, Jeaveau, or is it Jeauveaux. This is the first time I’ve gotten to hear about it.
I’ve been pretty much a Botox injector. I’ve tried Xeomin and Dysport before, and I look forward to trying Jeaveau as the newest neuromodulator. Though, I have to say, that I have been extremely happy with Botox so far.
Jeuveau is made by the Evolus company. Welcome to the club! I look forward to figuring out if I like it, if my patients like it, safety, storage ease, comfort, how it looks, and how long it lasts.
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’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.
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.
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.
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.
Hi, I just saw your message. Sorry I missed this. This is Dr. Calvin Lee writing back. I don’t offer eyelid surgery or brow lift surgery. But my wife does for the surgery side. My wife is Dr. Tammy Wu. She isn’t on Yelp or social media at this time, but we are at the same office (209) 551-1888. Her consultation fee is $200 (price subject to change). Dr. Tammy Wu is the plastic surgeon and I am a surgeon who mainly does Botox and acupuncture. With Botox, I try to achieve a bit of brow lifting, but sometimes you need the surgery. I do something else called threadlifting which does lift the eyebrows a little bit, but it isn’t the same as surgery and doesn’t do much for the eyelid. Best wishes, and I hope some of this answers your questions. Regarding a list of Surgery and Injection services on a website you can consider trying www.SurgeryToday.com – on the home page there is a partial listing of what we do. Thank you for writing
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.
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.
