By guest author, Maite.
I have been working with Dr. V for over a year now. I have also been working in this industry for the last 10 years, and have never gotten filler before. You may be wondering how old I am at this point. “Doesn’t everyone who work in these offices get all kinds of treatments?” Well, I started working in aesthetics at the age of 29 and I just didn’t feel like I “needed it.” Now I’m 38, and although I resist overanalyzing every wrinkle or change– the fact is: I AM 10 years older now. In that time frame I have gone from responsibility-less to sleepless working mom of 2. So, for the first time I thought why not? I have watched Dr. V inject for the past year and her conservative but results driven approach was what made me even consider it in the first place. Her results are so natural, she believes in conserving your natural look while making you look refreshed. This is SO important to me. Plus, I have seen her results countless times, in all age groups and genders and her results really do speak for themselves (check her out on Instagram)! I took a seat in the dreaded chair and trusted my instinct telling me that it would be okay if Dr. V was in charge of the process. My nervous ticks were in full display, from wiggling my feet, to sweating and anxious butterflies in my stomach. I wondered if this would be okay? Would I look normal? Would it hurt? Would it be worth it? Why am I doing this again? OMG, those needles look HUGE!
It was all okay. In fact, it was better than okay. I literally just got my face back from my late 20s. It was a huge shock to me. I expected to look better but I guess I didn’t realize how haggard I had been this past year. Mind you the change is subtle, but nevertheless impactful. And now, I have a much deeper understanding of which features have been aging me and how. To understand the impact, see the images of me below, one in my mid-twenties, one earlier this year, one two weeks after (no make-up). You can really tell that my cheeks have become slightly more prominent and the chin area has a new and improved shape.
Can you tell where she treated me? I sure can! With just one vial of Sculptra, she improved the temples, improved the cheek area by volumizing what I had lost and treated the beginning of deep lines that were starting to form around my mouth. I love that Sculptra stimulates your own collagen to form around it over time and is long lasting. It can be subtle while still being impactful, basically exactly what I needed.
The game changer, was my chin chin area. Genetically I come from a family with weak looking chins and jawlines. In fact, when I was younger, I even had to have corrective jaw surgery to bring the lower jaw forward. What I love about Dr. V is she always listens, even to the subtlest of cues and she heard me loud and clear. I was nervous, I wanted to go slow and I wanted to look like myself. How she did that was up to her because I trust her expertise. She decided to build out my chin with Restylane Defyne. I hadn’t noticed that I had hollowness around my chin that had worsened as I aged. The results with 2 syringes blew my mind. I had no idea that the chin area had changed so much since my 20s. When I looked at the picture of me in my 20s afterward it was so obvious, something I had completely missed. The result is I feel like Dr. Vanden Bosch just shaved 10 years off of my face, and oddly I feel lighter too. Look at this before and after!
Did it hurt? The numbing helped. Between the topical cream applied beforehand and the lidocaine in the fillers, my whole face became numb rather quickly and the treatment was not painful at all. I had been so anxious, but looking back it was way easier than expected. You do feel that something is going in but it is not painful. Dr. V was very reassuring too. She made sure that I was okay as she went along. If you go to her IGTV videos on IG you can see exactly how I respond to the treatment – stoically nervous, but not in any pain.
Was the result what I imagined? No. It was WAY better. Dr. V took her time, easing me into the whole process, explaining what she was doing, where and why. And now, I can’t stop looking at myself in the mirror and obsessing about how great I look! I called my mom almost immediately and even she was impressed.
Are you bruised? I know that this varies GREATLY from patient to patients, but I only bruised in one tiny spot on my chin. It wasn't even noticeable. Though I was careful with following the pre-visit instructions.
How long was the filler visit in total? I think from beginning to end she spent about 45 minutes prepping, planning and injecting. It felt like it was over in a flash. Oh, and about 30 minutes looking at myself after and ogling my new and improved self (if you want to include that!).
How did you manage the anxiety while getting injected? Before starting I was SO nervous, you could feel it in the air. But once she started and I felt that first needle go in and treatment had begun I started to relax, not fully mind you, but I realized this is a LOT less scary than I thought it would be. Dr. V makes it okay, her bedside manner is gentle and calming.
What products did she use on you? In total I had 1 vial of Sculptra and 2 syringes of Defyne. It looked like a lot on the prep trey but it all went SO fast! Plus, the results speak for themselves.
How did you feel after you got home? My day progressed very normally. As the lidocaine wore off, I could feel soreness around my chin and eating felt a little uncomfortable but not painful. It felt like my chin had just done an extreme work out and was sore. It still felt that way 24hours later, steadily getting better. At night I chose to sleep on my back just in case but I could have easily slept on my face. At 2 weeks out all the soreness was gone!
Whats next? Will you do fillers again? Yes, absolutely. Dr. V told me she wanted me to get used to the results and then do a touch up later on. She thinks I need about 2 more syringes of filler if I want to correct some the genetic issues I have in my jaw line. I love that approach. I want to see how it all evolves and how I feel about it. For now, I feel pretty and energetic and it’s quite a refreshing feeling. I finally know why people truly love fillers and it's because there is a lot to love. The instant results are pretty neat!
Have questions? Want to know more? Email or message us on IG. I’ll happily give you the 411 on what it's like to get some antiaging love from Dr. Vanden Bosch. You can also catch some videos of my treatments and before and after’s on Instagram, so make sure to follow her @vboutique_fl.
About Maite
Maite has been a professional marketer in the aesthetics industry for the last 10 years. She is completely addicted to antioxidant skincare. She protects her face from sun damage prodigiously and thinks Botox/Dysport, and now Fillers are “so worth it!”