I have been meaning to post this much earlier but illness and travel got in the way. In fact I have had to reschedule my tear trough top-up with Dr Lam Bee Lan at the Ageless Medical Centre twice in the last three months; once due to my ever-recurring sinusitis and the lingering flu which took six weeks to be properly banished from my system. And as soon as my nasal cavities (and calendar) cleared up, I decided to pay Dr Lam a visit thinking I was going to get more of the same, after all I was happy with the results.
Dr Lam, however, had other ideas.
Cheeks for power
My new cheekbones are not quite as razor-sharp like Angelina Jolie’s in Maleficient but they look fantastic. Photo courtesy of Disney.
Dr Lam was going to get me a new set of cheekbones. Yes you heard that right, and I already have names for them: Bonnie (left) and Clyde (right). I have always trusted Dr Lam’s sense of aesthetics and was flattered when she said I would be able to carry them off, not to mention the fun I will have shading them in with the latest seasonal hues. “Installing” new cheekbones were a way to correct and maintain mid-cheek volume which could also in help in ensuring the longevity of my tear trough top-up.
But good cheek bones are more than skin deep, according to feng shui.
According to feng shui, strong cheekbones are indicative of yang energy and are a sign of leadership, authority and power, whether you are man or woman. The cheekbones are also considered one of the wealth spots on the face and are said to be indicative of the person’s fortune after the age of 21. When the cheekbones stand out prominently and appear bright, they predict wealth. They must never appear bony or sallow.
I was hoping that this would help me influence others to see (and agree to) my point of view in the boardroom especially when pitching for new business. I was also told that this was the perfect facial enhancement for someone approaching the peak of her career – so this was timely indeed!
The procedure
After removing my makeup thoroughly, the clinic assistant put numbing cream on my mid face area and after 30 minutes, we were ready to inject.
Dr Lam felt my cheekbones before we began to ascertain the exact positioning of the filler – she was going to deposit TEOSYAL RHA* 4 on top of the zygomatic arch (cheekbone in medical speak) for both cheeks, so this was going to be a deep injection. There was some discomfort when she made the entry point and manoeuvred through the dermis to beneath the muscle and on top of the bone. When she released the filler not only had I not felt any discomfort at all — I did not feel anything — I heard a strange whirring sound, like one you hear from a vibrator. When I asked her what it was, she said the sound came from the new TEOSYAL® PEN which was designed especially for aesthetic treatment virgins or those with a low threshold for pain – like me!
Compared to manual injections, the TEOSYAL® PEN is more precise in measuring and depositing of filler which means more savings for the patient. The combination of numbing cream, lidocaine in the filler and the TEOSYAL® PEN certainly made this injection more comfortable than the previous manual injections with Dr Lam.
After injecting, Dr Lam moulded the filler to my facial contours. A quick check in the mirror revealed Bonnie and Clyde. They provided a lifting effect, which not only reduced the first signs of sagging around my jaw and made me look more attentive and refreshed, but also provided a good foundation for the tear trough treatment that followed.
Through the same entry point, Dr Lam then injected TEOSYAL RHA 4 to fill the medial cheek area (or the apple of the cheeks) and then the TEOSYAL Redensity (II) in the tear trough. She used the same fan-retrograde technique like in my previous tear trough injections that I have had with her.
I thought we were nearly done. But again, Dr Lam had other ideas: she was going to fill my nasolabial fold.
The nasolabial fold — also known as smile or laugh lines — are the two skin folds that run from each side of the nose to the corners of the mouth, separating the cheeks from the upper lip. As you get older and lose collagen and fat on your face, the lines can get deeper, making you look older and more severe.
Dr Lam used a cannula to deposit the filler in a retrograde-fan technique through an entry point along my right and left nasolabial folds. There are more nerve endings in the nasolabial area compared to the cheeks and tear troughs, so it was more uncomfortable than the tear trough treatment, but not unbearable. It might have been more uncomfortable had Dr Lam not used the TEOSYAL® Pen, so make sure to ask the doctor for the TEOSYAL® Pen to lift your nasolabial folds.
I love the fact that Dr Lam makes the time and effort to properly finishing her work — she calls this the layering effect — so that the result is more natural and soft. She finished off each of my cheeks with a sharp needle using TEOSYAL RHA 4.
Five days after treatment, do you see Bonnie and Clyde? No filter photo
What can I say? Applying blusher never used to make such a difference to my overall makeup application but now it does. A little bit of highlighter on the highest points of my cheeks can do wonders for my profile, especially in pictures and I no longer need to suck in my cheeks to know where to apply blusher; my cheekbones are out there in plain sight! I also look more awake and refreshed although I have been recovering from a short bout of the flu.
Post-treatment
There was slight soreness on my cheeks on the first day after the treatment but there was no bruising at all and the needle marks disappeared practically an hour after the treatment. Subsequently my cheeks only felt tender when I applied pressure on them (like when washing my face) and I took care to sleep on my back for the first two nights after the treatment. The usual precautions apply for three to five days after the treatment: so no alcohol, sauna, vigorous exercise or activities that will make you pull funny faces, and to be gentle on the face when you cleanse it.
I told Dr Lam that I wanted to project the tip of my nose with filler the next time I see her, but she said she would rather wait until I sorted my sinusitis out, which could take a loooong time :( However, I will be returning to Dr Lam’s clinic to get a top-up for my chin sometime soon; it has been two years since my chin treatment!
*RHA stands for Resilient Hyaluronic Acid