A Tale of Three Aesthetic Clinics

When I was away from the blogging world, I escaped into another virtual world: Pokemon Go.

I was so avid that it occupied most of my waking time whenever I was not working. The game was absorbing, and one often has to commit a lot of time to 'play it well', so to speak.

What made me wake up was the passing of time. One morning in June, I looked into the mirror as usual, and I saw *gasp* two eye bags, which I realised later were 'tear troughs', hanging on my face!

I always swore that I would not spend my old age playing PoGo like those silly lao uncles in my estate. But it has come to pass! I am a lao aunty now!

I went on a desperate search for the best eye cream. 'Best eye cream 2018', 'Best eye cream 2017', 'Best eye cream for eye bags' ... Alas, for every 'best eye cream' a woman swore by, there would be 3 to 10 women who claimed it 'did not work'!

I have had eye cream from History of Whoo and it didn't eliminate my eye bags. I have tried Lancome's Advanced Night Repair when I was younger and didn't see dramatic results. So I went in search of the quest for better eye cream. I used the samples from Sulwahsoo and Clarins but they didn't work, as usual. Perhaps the amount of cream in the sachets was too little for me to see substantial results but by then, I was losing faith in eye creams. I also chanced upon Remescar that promises to magically remove eye bags when applied, which unfortunately didn't satisfy me.

I was looking into the mirror more fervently than ever, to see if my tear troughs had reduced by any margin, or even diminished. Of course, to my dismay, on a few occasions, they might, or could, have seemed somewhat reduced, but they were undeniably there. On. My. Face.

I also noticed that my skin was sagging.

Despaired, I typed 'face lift' in Google. I found that there were 'non-invasive' and 'non-surgical' methods to lift our skin. For someone who is averse to any form of plastic surgery and injections, I was particularly interested in Sygmalift, a painless way to lift our skin using a machine. After reading many reviews, I shortlisted a few aesthetic clinics to visit and decided to ask questions about the few 'non-surgical' options:

1) Sygmalift

2) Threadlift

1. Kowayo Clinic

Dr Wong is the doctor who hems the clinic. After a short wait, I was led to a consultation room in which he suggested the best solution for me: fillers, something that I did not consider.

I asked about Sygmalift and he said that the effect would not be obvious, and I was not a suitable candidate for Threadlift as my face did not have enough volume. I would look more haggard when the skin is pulled.

He showed me samples of people who had fillers done. It was a culture shock to me. I was under the impression that only young and/or attractive people such as beauty bloggers and models would do it, but the pictures he showed me belonged to the commoners we see on the street, or at worst, aunties we see at wet markets.

It thrust me into a whole new world of aesthetics!

Dr Wong concluded that my best option was fillers and he asked me to think over it.

At the reception counter, the 27-year-old lady gave me a few filler pamphlets and assured me that it's a very common procedure. She said she has had '2 fillers and 1 Ellanse (a brand of filler) done" on her face to fill the hollowness on her cheeks.

A pity I did not jot down the prices Dr Wong charged. As best as I can remember, he charges $1500 (w/o GST) for the first millilitre of Ellanse and $900 for the subsequent millilitre. He told me he would inject 2 ml of Ellanse on my cheeks to lift my skin and eliminate the tear troughs.

A friendly and nice doctor, but for some reason, I felt that the whole consultation felt clinically professional.

I decided to check two other clinics out before I made any decision. So I paid the consultation charges of $64 and left the clinic at The Link Mall.

Address:
1 Raffles Link #01-03B
Singapore 039393
Tel: 68844280

2. The Knightsbridge Clinic

My appointment was at 11am. Dr Israr Wong did not turn up until 12pm. Before he appeared, the nice nurse was stalling time for him by asking me questions and explaining superficially the treatments the clinic offered. He asked his nurse to whatsapp him my picture for his diagnosis. After that, the nurse told me that the doctor recommended fillers for my sunken cheeks and asked me to have my face numbed.

I was taken aback. "Huh? I haven't even seen the doctor. I need to talk to him first."

She replied that many of their patients also have their faces numbed whether they get their treatment on the very day. Numbing of face would not be chargeable if I decided not to undergo any treatment after that. I was uncomfortable with such an idea: wouldn't I leave the clinic with a numbed face later, since I was not ready to have any form of treatment done that day?

When Dr Israr Wong finally arrived, he did not think that an apology for the one-hour wait was due.

He stood a distance from me while I sat on the treatment chair, studying my face. I asked him what he would recommend. He suggested fillers and threadlift for my left cheek since it was more sunken and caused my face to be 'unbalanced'. In fact, he said it curtly,"Your face is unbalanced." I was quite shocked that a doctor could be so insensitive. Isn't there a better way to phrase it?

Then I enquired about the charges. He listed two types of fillers available at his clinic:

$950 x 3 (syringes) = $2850 for fillers that last up to 1 year

$1800 x 3 (syringes) = $5400 for Ellanse that lasts up to 2 years

As usual, I said I would consider.

And he said the damning sentence which tells me he is not the doctor for me,"Why? Price too expensive is it?"

True. Your charges are high. But for someone who equates quality with prices, I rarely forfeit an expensive item or service based on its price tag. In fact, most of the time, I pay premium for the best. My siblings always say I always choose the most expensive to buy because I believe 'the more expensive, the better." and William says I always 'overkill' when I buy something, which is true.

To set the record straight, I am not ruling your treatment out based on prices. In fact, I paid more for a similar procedure at another doctor's. If a doctor can be so arrogant and insensitive, I don't think he is the right doctor to undergo any procedure with.

And because he was an hour late for our appointment, I almost skipped the appointment at the third clinic.

I understand that he appears to be very popular on the internet. When I googled for face-lift, his pages would be at the top the search. He is also very active in providing general online consultations for beauty-related or minimally-invasive face-lift procedures. He sounded like a personable and approachable doctor from what I read but the meeting sure was a huge let-down. 

I paid my $60's worth of treatment of arrogance and left.

Address:

Not worth my trouble to Google

3. Radium Medical Aesthetic

My appointment was at 12.30pm, right after Knightsbridge, thinking that I would have an hour to travel at my leisure to get there. I actually sent a Facebook message to the clinic saying I had to cancel the appointment since Dr Israr Wong did not turn up until 12.10pm.

Fortunately, there was no reply from the clinic. I also realised that the clinic was only four MRT stops away from Chinatown so I decided to go to the clinic even though I would be late.

I turned up at 12.50pm and after waiting for a short while, I was led to a small consultation room with Dr Siew Tuck Wah.

I told him my concerns: tear troughs and saggy face.

Like the other two doctors, he recommended fillers, but addressed my interest in the other two procedures. 

He said that Sygmalift would see very little results and I would not be happy with threadlift either. He felt that fillers would give me the best results for my case.

By then, I was convinced that filler is my best bet. Three doctors can't be wrong.

Dr studied my face and asked if I had the upper lines on my cheeks (which I just learnt is called 'arcus deformity) since young, as my facial anatomy is constructed as such and my ligaments are pulling at those lines. I was surprised he mentioned this since no other doctor seemed to notice it.

Then he got up from his seat and walked up to me, and used a finger to prop up a little of my left cheek, and said,"You would look like that with fillers."

I liked what I saw in the mirror. I looked younger and my arcus deformity, nasolabial line and tear trough were gone. I think this gesture sealed the deal.

Dr Siew made it mandatory to list all the possible risks with fillers to his prospective patients, which also impressed me. Other doctors had not mentioned them at all. And since other doctors did not mention them, I figured the possibility of the five risks happening was not high. I was more concerned about the pain level of the treatment and he was very confident about the way he manages pain. He said that pain was not a consideration since he would numb my face and give me nerve-block and that instead, I should be more concerned about the risks because they could happen.

He then left the discussion of charges to his nurse, Xiao Wei, and I was led out of the room.

Xiao Wei, like the nurses in the other two clinics, was patient and obliging. She told me that she had tried a few fillers on her cheeks. The last one she did was by the brand Radiesse and it was done a week ago when Dr Siew needed to show other doctors how fillers were done.

She said that she trusts Dr Siew and he would not do beyond what is necessary, which in this case is a good thing.

I usually would not make a hasty decision for big-ticket items, especially when it involves injecting foreign bodies into my body. But strangely, till date, I am not sure why, I made the decision of getting the filler works done on the spot, on that day! 

I guess the chemistry between the doctor and patient is very important. Dr Siew, while professional, also appeared to be more personal than the other two doctors. For a high-anxiety person, I felt very comfortable and at ease with him. 

I had another engagement after my consultation with Dr Siew, so I returned to the clinic at 4.30pm to have the fillers done.

I'll update my filler adventure on the next entry.

Address:

3 Temasek Boulevard #03-326

Suntec City Mall, Singapore 038983

Tel: 68370507