During our recent Defy Your Age event, which focused on Body and Facial Contouring, I talked extensively about the art and science behind using injectables to contour and restore fullness to the aging face. This is a conversation I have ALOT with patients and people I run into at the grocery store, dry cleaner and cocktail parties (yes, I get asked these questions frequently when people find out what I do for a living). I always emphasize that we don’t want to put other people’s facial features on your your face (Anjelina Jolie has amazing lips but they may not look right on your face), we want to enhance and restore the changes that are happening to your face due to fat and bone loss and loss in skin elasticity. I am working on editing the video of the event so we can share it, but I thought in the meantime I would share the experience of one of my patients (she also happens to be a sales rep for one of our popular body contouring treatments). I thought the timing was rather ironic!

I have been working with, and also injecting Tracey for years, so I could immediately tell something was “off” when she walked in, an hour or so before our event. She hurried over to me and said she needed my help, below is her story, in her own words:

I KNOW BETTER!

I’m writing this so that others may learn from my mistake and avoid what I’m having to go through all together. First, let me say I am a very educated patient and I have been in the aesthetic industry for many years and even sold dermal fillers and toxins in the past. I agreed to be a “model” for a training and let someone other than Dr. Maltais inject me, even though she has been the only physician to perform my injectables in the last 4 years. BIG MISTAKE…No, a HUGE MISTAKE!!!!! I knew immediately that the injections were not going to turn out in my favor as the first needled poked through my face. I was left with “double cheeks” and the most feared lip botch of all, THE DREADED DUCK BILL LIP! I knew I would have to go to Dr. Maltais and have her fix the damage that had been done. Thank goodness I didn’t let the physician that was being trained inject me with Botox, I knew Dr. Maltais couldn’t do much for that type of mistake, as eyelid pstosis is hard to correct and usually you just have to wait it out.

Let me reiterate that I have been in the industry for years, I KNOW BETTER!!! In my mind I thought, Dr. Maltais is awesome, she can fix this, no problem. I knew all about hyaluronidase and that it was a lifesaver for poor fools like me who strayed from expert injectors like Dr. Maltais. Thank goodness Dr. Maltais was able to correct the hideous train wreck, but it wasn’t pleasant and was EXTREMELY painful. I don’t ever use a topical when I get injected but in order to dissolve the botched filler job, Dr. Maltais had to inject a product into my lips that sent me over the edge, but the damage HAD to be corrected as I was very self conscious walking around like a duck with four cheek bones. So I had gone through two series of painful injections, the first by a physician that wasn’t skilled in injecting the new products, and then another round of injections by Dr. Maltais to correct. Mind you, I look exactly like I did before the initial injection. All that pain and nothing to show for it!

The good news is that after a week, I can go back and see Dr. Maltais and she will be able to inject the fillers again and give me that look no one else can – a flawless, natural, youthful appearance. I have learned my lesson, I hope my mistake will benefit someone else. It REALLY does matter who injects you!!! THANK YOU AGAIN DR MALTAIS FOR YEARS OF GREAT OUTCOMES AND FIXING MY RECENT BOTCHED FILLER JOB, I WILL NEVER GO ANYWHERE ELSE!