My Experience with Radiesse FIller

 I had initially gone to Dr Siew for fillers and Ultera to save my saggy face. 

However, he deemed my skin too sensitive and angrily red to be subjected to intense heat so he prescribed me with some oral medication to calm my skin down.

Knowing my concern about my skin in view of my upcoming trip, Dr Siew proposed using Radiesse fillers. 

Having utmost confidence in Dr Siew, I accepted his suggestion immediately and the procedure was done after my consultation. The whole procedure took less than an hour and I left the clinic at about 8.30pm.

Many things had changed compared to the my last trip to the clinic. Numbing cream application before the procedure was the norm but this time, Dr Siew injected anaesthesia directly into the skin which worked immediately. That meant that I did not have to spend at least 30 minutes waiting before the procedure could commence. However, it also meant that I had to endure more injections.

Before the procedure started, Dr Siew said that my face would be pierced six times - three on each side -after the anaesthetic injections. However, it was definitely more than six times. I lost count as I was nervous and busy clenching stress balls with both hands each time I was due to have an injection.

Dr Siew seemed to adore Radiesse as a filler. He said that it filled up nicely and firmed up the skin. As he was injecting it under my skin, he commented assuringly that "we are getting nice results", "looks different now, right?" (to a junior doctor who was watching on the side).

Dr Siew asked me if I was on any chronic medication. I said no, puzzled why he asked me that. He commented that I 'oozed quite a bit' as he injected. I reminded him that I did tell him about my sister who has Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP), an autoimmune disease where blood does not clot well, when he asked me if I had blood clot problems.

He asked what autoimmune disease I had, to which I replied,"Hyperthyriodism." and he told me that I had 'delayed clotting'.

Dr Siew injected a few more times to use up the filler. I could feel that he jabbed me at the laugh lines and near the jaw lines. After the procedure, Dr Siew told me that the swelling of my face would take five days to subside.

I liked the effect as well. Not dramatic but enough for my sisters and a friend to agree that I looked different and better when they saw the before-and-after pictures.

Previously, I would experience hardness on my face for the first week but this time, it was soft from the get-go although my face felt tender due to the swelling and the many injections.

I hope that by the time I go for my trip, the effect would be even better. Dr Siew mentioned that it would take a few months before the effect reached its peak. 

My Journey of Melasma Treatment

I will be going on the most expensive trip in my life this year end with my mother. 

When I looked into the mirror, I was not happy with what I saw. For the ageing woman that I am, my cheeks are sagging and my eyes droopy. I hope to look decent in the pictures. I do not think that I am being vain. Nor am I afraid of getting old. I just thought that it isn't value-for-money if I am going to look bad in pictures for the kind of money I pay the tour agency.

So a fortnight ago, I returned to my most trusted doctor to consult about filler and Ulterapy.

This time, the pre-consultation process seemed more sophisticated than the last time I was there (in 2020).

The photography session for the before-and-after treatment was more particular. I was asked to look more directions and more pictures were taken of my face.

I was also led to a small room where I was asked to rest my chin on a machine and my face was photographed up close and later shown on a screen, with the inner layer of my skin being shown on Dr Siew's computer screen.

Dr Siew was appalled at the condition of my skin. He asked me what had happened such that my skin was so red and 'angry'.

I told him that I had gone to a reputable dermatologist in a private hospital, who came highly recommended by a colleague, to treat my melasma which formed a signature butterfly shape on my cheeks. However, while it worked very well for my colleague, it did not work for me. In fact, it exacerbated my problem.

Previously, my melasma was not that obvious. I would tell others I have melasma and they would ask me, "Where is it?"

Now, let's just say I do not need to tell anyone at all. My sister literally calls the two patches 'chao-tar', a hokkien term loosely translated as 'charred'.

It worsened my depression.

It seems the philosophy of the laser treatment was to draw the melasma out and lighten it using cream, until all of them was cleared.

However, the cream had to be used in sequence. I had to first apply the first cream and wait for at least half an hour before I could apply the second cream. But I often fell asleep before the next cream could be applied. That was because I came home at 11pm daily and would be so tired that I struggled to wait for time to pass.

Honestly, I was not convinced that the method worked. It's hard to be convinced when month after month, you come home with two burnt patches after the treatment, and you see them fade a little for a few days after the burnt scabs fall off, and then they return with a vengeance for the next three weeks.

After a year, I totally lost faith in the treatment and simply stopped going.

I had spent about $600 every month for a year and the melasma only became worse. I hated to take pictures because my cheeks would have two signature black patches. 

I also had to buy and use concealer in order to cover up the butterfly-shaped melasma on my cheeks. Worse, it didn't work perfectly. The melasma was still obvious in the pictures.

Previously, light powder would suffice. Now, even concealer had little effect. Imagine how depressing it was.

Dr Siew told me that my skin condition was not suitable to undergo Ulterapy. As the procedure required heat to penetrate the inner layer of the skin, he was worried that it could worsen my melasma. He said that my skin needed to stabilise and be calmer before he could carry out Ulterapy on me.

However, he knew I wanted to look decent in the pictures of my trip. He proposed doing filler.

At the same time, he proposed that I take oral medication for my melasma.

In fact, he said that oral medication is one of the most effective ways to treat melasma, but no doctor would tell you, because it is cheap.

My eyes widened in astonishment when he said that. I had been to a few dermatologists and aesthetic doctors but NONE of them had given me this option.

Besides the first dermatologist who prescribed me with cream, when my melasma was not so severe, the rest all proposed laser treatment.

He being Dr Siew, I decided to give oral medication a try. Indeed, a month's supply of pills targeting at treating melasma, a month's worth of oral sunblock and two weeks' worth of whitening pills set me back by just $495. 

Dr Siew said it would take six months to see the effect but just two weeks of taking the pills, I am seeing results. My melasma is lightening! Even my mother who is always critical saw the improvements. She was very happy for me. 

I will continue with the oral medication and hope my melasma could be further lightened.

I can't believe that so many doctors had been dishonest about this form of treatment just because they want to earn distressed women's money from laser treatment. It sends shudder down my spine thinking about the severe lack of integrity in doctors.

Come to think of it, I did see a poster about oral medication for melasma at a GP clinic near my mother's place. However, I chose to put my trust in the reputable dermatologist as my colleague had spoken very well of her. She said that the dermatologist genuinely wanted the best for her patients and was not working purely for money. 

How noble it sounded. Alas!

I solemnly declare that the one who is not working purely for money is Dr Siew. He is genuinely passionate about his work and wants the best results for his clients. 

For what he has done for me, I shall always be grateful. 

My Ultherapy Experience

My first aesthetic treatment was doing a dermal filler more than 1.5 years ago.

I did it because I was distressed over my tear troughs. I had sought ways to resolve them using different types of eye creams and nothing worked.

My trawling of the Internet in search for a face-lift had aesthetic treatment websites and blog pages found their way to me and that was how I started exploring these non-surgical options.

I went back to Dr Siew Tuck Wah of Radium Medical Aesthetics for an Ultherapy treatment after thinking over Threadlift for 3 months.

This time, it was because I could see how saggy my cheeks were. It felt sad to see my own reflection in the shopping mall mirrors.

Although Threadlift offered a more dramatic and instant result, I was only brave enough to do Ultherapy.

So what is Ultherapy?

Ultherapy is the only FDA (Food and Drug Administration)-cleared, non-invasive procedure that lifts and tightens the skin on the neck, chin and brow and improves lines and wrinkles. 

A handpiece which is connected to the Ultherapy machine would be placed on the area to be treated. Ultrasound energy will be delivered via the handpiece to the different layers of the skin to stimulate the production of collagen. The machine has a screen which provides the doctor with real-time visualisation so that he is able to see the layer of tissue he is treating for specific targeting. 

Ultherapy is able to reach our skin at 3 different depths: 1.5mm, 3.0mm and 4.5mm. Being that precise and able to reach 4.5mm is something that most older face-lift machines could not do.

I had read up on Hifu and Thermage as well but Ultherapy seemed to be all the rage so Ultherapy it was.

Dr Siew did warn that Ultherapy was a painful treatment. According to him, he had patients who cried because of the pain. It sounded horrendous but the desire to have a lifted face triumphed. I was given some panadols to take while waiting for the treatment to commence.

After the nurse cleansed my face, I took a quick photo before anything was applied on my face.

Then my face was numbed and cling-wrapped to prepare for the treatment. 

If only my skin is always so tight!

Right before the treatment

I was amused to see markings mapped on my face - meant for Dr Siew to treat specific areas.

The treatment itself took about an hour. When Dr Siew first started the treatment, it really hurt. I felt like there was a group of red ants biting simultaneously on the area that the handpiece was placed! According to Dr Siew, the device was reaching a depth where the numbing cream could not reach. I bit the bullet and allowed the treatment to take its course.

In all, Dr Siew ran the handpiece over my face and jaw 3 times. Each time, the pain was not as strong as the previous. In fact, other than the very first time the handpiece was placed on my lower cheek, the rest were relatively painless. He was surprised when I said I felt nothing as he checked with me the next time he placed the handpiece on my cheek.

Dr Siew talked non-stop to me to distract me from the pain of Ultherapy. He talked about how Ultherapy was the gold standard for face-lift, how he himself uses the device as he didn't trust other doctors to do it for him, how Caucasian women prefer dermal fillers as they are more concerned about volume loss, how Ultherapy is better than Threadlift, how he was one of the first doctors to use Ultherapy machines and he had Westerners flying in to Singapore for the treatment as they wanted an FDA treatment, and other things that I have largely forgotten. 

In between the treatment, Dr Siew explained that Ultherapy is very versatile. Besides lifting and tightening my lower cheeks and corners of my eyes, Ultherapy can be used to target areas to lose volume as well, and he targeted volume loss for my jawline so that my double chin would not be so obvious.

After the treatment, he said his 'thank you' and left the room after informing me that I would be back for a review in two months.

Right after the treatment. All red.

In the resting room waiting for the swelling and redness to subside

It is said that there is no downtime for Ultherapy, meaning you can still go out and carry out your usual activities after the treatment, but I had this slight pain and soreness along my jawline for a few weeks. The first few days, I had to be gentle when I cleanse my face. Even after a month or two, I still felt that my jawline nearer to the ears were very sensitive and a bit sore. 

One day after the treatment, my face swelled like a pig's head! This is not 'downtime', meh?

After two months, I went back for a review with Dr Siew. The nurse took pictures of my face. After that, I met Dr Siew who reviewed the pictures with me. He pointed out that the shape of the face did slim a bit and the corners of my eyes were a little lifted. Although I agreed that those minor improvements were evident, I bluntly told Dr Siew that I was disappointed that the effect was not significant. He reassured me that there would still be improvements in the 3rd and 4th month and the effect would continue for the next 6 months before it starts to wear off in the 6 months after that.

I went away disappointed, finding it hard to believe that anything dramatic would take place.

A couple of weeks ago, I met up a friend who kindly commented that I looked younger. She was a nice person so I felt she must have just been polite.

Then, last Sunday, I saw on Facebook a lady that I had been following show her Ultherapy results after two months. I thought to myself: hmm ... my results were not that fantastic.

Anyway, I dug out the photo I took on the day I did Ultherapy, 13 October 2019. 

After that, I took a picture of myself and put them side by side for comparison:

13 Oct '19                                     16 Feb '20

My, oh my! There were some significant results!

I looked so saggy in the 'Before' picture but my skin in the 'After' picture was significantly tightened and lifted. Even the face shape has become that of a slimmer one! While my jowls and marionette lines are not eliminated, they are less pronounced now.

Actually, even my jaw lines from the side view are more defined now. For someone as fussy as me, when I mean 'defined', it means 'jaws are clearly angled'. 

The treatment cost me $4180 or thereabout. 

I have seen ads for half-priced Ultherapy treatment. Upon checking, these treatments only serve certain parts of the face eg. eyelids and cheeks. If you are looking for an Ultherapy treatment, do remember to enquire if the price is for full-face and upper-neck treatment. 

My Filler Job at Radium Medical Aesthetics

In my circle, nobody I know has gone for facial augmentations for aesthetic reasons. In fact, any form of adjustments to what Nature has given is considered a plastic surgery. It surprised the few I divulged about my trip to the aesthetic clinic, Radium Medical Aesthetics.

The first question they asked was,"What made you do it?"

I thought hard about it.

To be honest, I surprised even myself. It's not me to decide on something so major on the spot.

Perhaps my weeks of depression over my tear troughs and my then-upcoming Boudoir shoot were strong pushes for me to take the leap.

Dr Siew Tuck Wah was the third doctor I visited.

I felt at ease with him. For a high-anxiety person, chemistry with people, especially a doctor performing treatments on me, is very important.

"Chemistry" here would probably translate to how I feel the doctor views me, and how confident he is of solving my problems for me.

The Consultation

I was first attended to by Seow Wei at the reception counter when I stepped into the clinic. She entered the consultation room with me and stood by the side while the doctor examined and advised me on my best options.

Like the other two doctors, Dr Siew suggested fillers for my hollow undereyes and cheeks. He didn't have Sygmalift at his clinic although he had the older alternatives ie. HIFU and Ulthera. However, like Dr Wong at Kowayo Clinic, he said that machine-lifting is not as effective as injections.

While injecting filler was a brand new idea to me at Kowayo Clinic, I had got used to the idea by the time I reached Radium Medical. 

I asked about his threadlift method that I had read about on one of the blogs and he candidly stated that I would not be happy with the results of threadlift or HIFU/Ultera if I had done them without fillers.

He also confidently said that he was the only doctor in Singapore who had every single brand of fillers and assured me that they managed pain very well.

After going through the risks of filler-injections, Dr Siew left me to consult on the charges with Seow Wei and gave me time and space to consider if I wanted the treatment.

It was about 1.30pm. Seow Wei showed me the types of fillers available and gave me a quick education on them. Dissolvable ones such as Restylane and Belotero are good for 1 to 1.5 years while undissolvable Ellanse will last for 2 to 4 years. Dr Siew recommended dissolvable fillers for first-timers like me as I would not have room for regrets if I had opted for Ellanse. Whether I liked it or not, I would have to stick with the look for at least 2 years.

Seow Wei told me that she had a fresh filler, Radiesse, done and asked if I wanted to touch her one-week-old cheek filler to have a feel at how fillers was like. I was a little taken aback and declined the offer.

As I was asking Seow Wei about the differences in prices and lasting powers of Ellanse and other fillers, one of the reception ladies walked over and said, coolly,"Doctor is going for lunch now. He said can numb her face now if she wants to do, and he will do filler for her when he comes back half an hour later."

It took me a few seconds before I realised the 'her' and 'she' in her speech referred to me!

I panicked a little inside. What? They are talking about plastic surgeries as if they are as normal and common as having lunch!

I said I had an appointment right after that and had to leave soon. Seow Wei fixed my filler appointment at 4.30pm so that I could have the treatment on the same day.

The Procedure

When I returned at 4.30pm, I was given some biscuits and Milo to take together with some pills that would help with the bruising and swelling after the procedure.

I was led to a room where my face was cleansed and applied with numbing cream.

My sensitive face became very red. The lady immediately used an ice-roller to roll over my face repeatedly to calm it. 

After that, I waited for another ten minutes before she returned and took my 'Before' pictures.

I was then led to another room where the doctor began the procedure. Seow Wei gave me two stress balls so that I could squeeze them when I was nervous. The numbing lady assisted the doctor by applying pressure on the injected spots to stop the bleeding. She also used a small black device to press against my face so that it vibrated to distract me whenever the doctor injected on my cheeks.

Before the procedure started, Dr Siew showed me a small bowl of 5 syringes and told me that he would be using different types of Restylane fillers for different parts of the face.

They had mentioned that it would be a 20-minute procedure but I was sure it took at least 40 minutes. Dr Siew took his time to examine the spots that needed to be filled. He also noticed that I bled more than most people each time he injected into me so he wanted to take it slowly.

He saw that my left cheek was more sunken than the right, so he injected more filler there. However, he was puzzled that it still looked more sunken even after the extra jab. He seemed to deliberate over it for a while before he said it decidedly,"I'll put in more on the left side."

He ended up giving me 3.5 units of Restylane instead of the original 3 units he had intended, and charged me as 3 units as agreed on earlier.

The injections were not as traumatic as I had imagined them to be. For someone with a low threshold for pain, while most of the injections were not the most comfortable things to go through in the whole world, I would not call them 'painful'. There were one or two jabs that were like an ant's bite but they were manageable. 

Upon closer examination after the procedure, there were about 6 tiny jab-holes on my face, 3 on each side: 2 were under each of my eyes to fill up the hollowness under the tear troughs and one nearer to the laughline to plump or fill the line up.

I was given some pills to take for the next few days to help with the swelling.

The cheeks felt hard - not rock-hard, but still 'hard', and numbed. Dr Siew mentioned that my cheeks were about '10% swollen' and the swelling would subside after 3 or 4 days.

However, nobody asked me a thing when I went to my parents' place after the procedure.

A day before the filler job

Under the lighting, my eyebags are not obvious here but they do exist

The night after my filler job

Smiling was not natural. Face felt stiff.

2 days after the filler

On the 9th day, I returned to the doctor's for a review, at which he pressed and 'molded' my face so that the fillers moved to the areas he still deemed sunken.

On the 10th day, my left cheek was still a little swollen but it was not obvious.

I must say I am quite happy with the results. It doesn't turn me into a 25-year-old or even 30-year-old but I am just glad I don't have to be depressed over my eyebags for the next one year or so.

People have told me that once you start on this pursuit-of-beauty journey, there is no turning back. I do think that perhaps I might go for Ellanse injection when my filler wears off. I just might.