It has been nearly 12 months since my last tear trough treatment so I thought it was time to get my tear troughs checked out at Dr Lam Bee Lan’s Ageless Medical Centre at Orchard Parade Hotel.
After registering and removing my makeup, Dr Lam’s assistant took photos of various angles of my face. Then she applied numbing cream onto my face and stretched cling film over it, which she said would help in the absorption of the cream. The best part about this prepping process was when I was left to nap in the treatment room for at least 15 minutes as Dr Lam was with another patient. That certainly helped me relax for the consultation and the treatments that followed.
The Ageless Medical Centre at Orchard Parade Hotel – I had a nap before my treatment!
When Dr Lam came to examine me, she said the filler that she had injected in my mid-cheek area during the previous treatment to subtly raise the apples of my cheeks is mostly intact. However there is some loss of volume in my tear trough area resulting in my dark eye circles becoming more obvious again, so she would correct my tear trough this time with a new filler which is very soft and natural known as TEOSYAL Resilient Hyaluronic Acid (RHA) (I) from the TEOSYAL® Hyaluronic Acid Dermal Fillers range. I previously had some natural dimpling on my chin whenever I frowned which has disappeared; Dr Lam attributed this to the TEOSYAL Ultradeep Filler, which she injected into my chin in early May this year.
My glabellar lines have also started showing up due to the involuntary frowning in my sleep, so it was also a good time for another round of Dysport Dermalift.
Dr Lam began the treatment with the botulinum toxin (Dysport) injections; again she injected the toxin in the same zig-zag pattern on my forehead near my hairline. She also made me frown and clench my eyes shut as hard as I could so that she could locate my corrugator muscles along the top of my eyebrows and inject the botulinum toxin into the points experiencing the most activity. This was intended to give my eyebrows a subtle lift while relaxing the corrugator muscles so that I would look less stern when frowning. She also injected the botulinum toxin around my eyes, which in addition to eliminating wrinkles around the eyes were also instrumental in keeping the tear trough filler in place.
Before and after my third Dysport treatment (last one was six months ago in May 2015). This was also my second time topping up my tear trough (last treatment was end October 2014, nearly 12 months ago)
For the tear trough treatment, I was sat up on an inclined bed and told to look straight ahead. She made an entry with the needle in the middle of my right cheek. Then in a fan-like pattern under my right eye, she released the filler in a retrograde motion, moulding the filled area with gloved hands after fully withdrawing the needle from my skin. There was minimal discomfort other than the strange sensation of the needle moving under the skin. Dr Lam then repeated the same technique under my left eye.
The Dysport Dermalift session took about 15 minutes while the tear trough treatment took about 20 minutes. I have actually become quite accustomed to both treatments that I no longer need Dr Lam’s assistants to tap me on my forehead, massage my leg or press a vibrator against my ear to distract me from the discomfort of the proceedings.
The usual things apply to post-treatment care: namely no alcohol, saunas, swimming, vigorous exercise or sleeping on my face or in any way that might move the fillers, and to be gentle when washing my face. I had one tiny bruise under my right eye and tiny needle marks near my hairline that disappeared overnight which was handy as I was meeting a potential client in Kuala Lumpur for the first time the following day. A friend of mine who is a professional makeup artiste remarked that my skin of late looks moist and toned which can only be good news as makeup stays on healthy skin better and for longer!
For more information, visit agelessmedicalcentre.com.sg or call +65 67344007 or clinic mobile +65 81810680.