Restylane…Can You Inject Just Half of a Syringe of Filler?
We have recently had people calling our clinic requesting just ½ of a syringe of facial filler because another clinic injected only ½ syringe Restylane or Juvederm and only charged them ½ of the price.
In our opinion (and also the opinion of many other doctors who do their best to provide the best service to their patients while maintaining the highest standard of care and safety) this is a BAD idea. The Hyaluronic Acid (Restylane) inside the syringe is sterile, which means it has been processed to ensure that there are no possible contaminants such as bacteria. Once that syringe of filler is open and exposed to the air, it is no longer sterile and it could lead to infections and devastating results.
We want to please our patients and always provide them with the best care possible, but as doctors it is our duty and our primary responsibility to always place the safety of our patients first and not to compromise their health for an aesthetic treatment.
I want people to understand that when you are offered to be injected with ½ a syringe of Restylane (at half the cost), they may be using a product that was already used on someone else and has been open for who knows how long. This practice exposes you to infections in your face, leading to potential irreparable scars and damage to your skin.
We have had people hang up on and mistreat our staff because we refuse to inject only ½ the syringe of filler. It is common for patients to be apprehensive about the amount of volume that is being injected, especially when filling the lips for the first time. We would definitely only inject the amount of Restylane necessary to give you the natural result that you desire, but if there is any filler left over, we will dispose of it (or you can elect to have it injected in another area of your face at that same session). For that reason, you will be charged for the full syringe of filler rather than just half.
At Imagen Body Sculpting, our experienced doctors inject all of our facial fillers. This is not the case in many other practices. Regardless of who injects the filler, the ultimate responsibility for the results (including complications) rests on the doctor overseeing the practice and it should be his/her responsibility to ensure that the needs of the patient are met with the highest standards of care and safety.
We want to assure our patients that at Imagen Body Sculpting we place your safety above all else. This is something we will never compromise, even if that means some of our patients end up going to a clinic “less expensive/cheaper” options.
Frank Soto León, MD is a cosmetic surgeon who is board certified through the American Board of Aesthetic Medicine. For more advice from Dr. Soto on facial injections or other cosmetic procedures please visit www.omahaliposuction.com where you can read his blog and see Before & After Photos of actual patients. If you have a question you would like to see answered as one of our blogs, let us know!
