Radiesse what is it? why do we use it? who cares?
I care Radiesse is not hyaluronic acid dermal filler it's made of something called calcium
hydroxyapatite which is in the hard structures of the body like the teeth and the bones that
sounds like something that you would not want to inject into your skin am i right? but actually
it's fine Radiesse is not a permanent filler but it's been around for quite a long time
and back when it was first brought out it was said that it would last longer than the equivalence
of hyaluronic acid fillers at that time these days we've got juvederm Volux for example
which also claim like 18 to 24 months of efficacy which is the same for Radiesse so there's a lot
more choice these days in whether or not you would use a hyaluronic acid or calcium hydroxyapatite
for the longevity Radiesse is not the only calcium hydroxyapatite filler on the market there are
several others there's also one by Luminera which was the company i spoke about in a different video
which were recently acquired by Ellanse so it's likely that maybe at some point Ellanse will bring
out a calcium hydroxyapatite dermal filler one of the reasons that i do particularly like Radiesse
is because it's very nice for creating crispness along a jawline for example if a patient has a
problem with water retention following hyaluronic acid treatment maybe we want to then switch them
over to using Radiesse instead because you don't get the same kind of water retention with it
something which is perceived as a negative however with Radiesse is that there is no antidote
if you like so in many countries there is easily available hyaluronidase enzyme which breaks down
hyaluronic acid this can be used in an emergency situation for example if you've got a blood vessel
occlusion or it can just be used if you have a small bump there or you know if you just don't
like the result that you've got for whatever reason that same reverser is not available
for Radiesse although they do have proof of concept that something which is used to break down kidney
stones which are also made of calcium right can be injected into an area where there is Radiesse that
maybe you want to break down and it will break it down i saw this presented at a conference once
and a doctor there was talking about how she'd actually done it for a patient and the feedback
was that it works but that it was really painful presumably because of the difference in pH maybe
they could add lidocaine i don't know i don't think that there's been a clinical trial on
something like this yet it's just proof of concept so then what's the key thing that you need to know
when you're having Radiesse i would say only place it in areas that are more safe than others
so for example in myself i tend to just use it in the jawline sometimes in the cheekbone and
i pretty much only inject it now with a cannula you would never for example use it in the nose or
around the eye or in the lips because you're pretty much asking for trouble there Radiesse comes
in three different volumes so you'll have 0.3 0.8 and 1.5 mils i have no idea why they've got such
weird numbers i tend to just use the 1.5 mils it's also available with and without lidocaine
if you're going to use it without lidocaine it's really important that lidocaine is added
to it before you actually inject into a patient because if you inject it without the lidocaine
it's really painful it really stings and it does not stop sticking for ages it's not like using a
hyaluronic acid without lidocaine which is just kind of a little bit annoying afterwards this
is like you know like a fiery sort of injection but with the lidocaine in it's fine you can't
feel it it's totally okay so if you're going to use it without the lidocaine we tend to
use the lidocaine in between two connectors and go like this in order to mix the product
in with the lidocaine properly so that it's fully saturated however it's obviously better if you can
just use it with the lidocaine added because then you're not going to have any inconsistencies of
the texture i have also heard of this product being used for example in dimples and the buttock
but in a hyper diluted fashion so it will be mixed with saline in order to create more of a wash that
you can paint very superficially under the skin i've also heard of people doing that in the neck
too i actually prefer Sculptra for doing that with but you have to make sure that it's super dilute
although the consistency of it looks kind of grainy it's actually very smooth when it's in
the skin which is surprising would i have Radiesse injected into myself definitely and in fact i have
done it's worth noting though that after you have Radiesse you're gonna get more swelling
in that immediate period afterwards definitely more swelling than with hyaluronic acid however
the swelling is a lot more short-lived so if you compare it with something like juvederm Volux for
example with the Radiesse you'll have maybe a two or three day period where it's very very
stiff and swollen there but then it will very quickly begin to dissipate off with the Volux
you can have persistent swelling for weeks afterwards it's also super cost effective
because you're getting 0.5 mils extra if you like but not actually that much more money
i'd say that i probably do Radiesse more on men for the jawline than i do on women but
it's definitely suitable for both if it's a new patient to me though i like to do something with
hyaluronic acid first in a lot of cases just to make sure that the patient likes it and
that we're both on the same page before we then proceed to using Radiesse okay guys so that's
it for this week i hope that you enjoyed the video let me know in the comments section below
if you've ever had Radiesse and what do you think and i will see you again here next week