Secret of cosmetic fillers revealed! (that may get me into trouble)

Today, the word dermafiller is often associated with brand names such as Restylane, Juvederm, Esthelis, etc. These are fillers of non animal based products unlike collagen based used previously.
Each of there products comes in a prefilled 1ml  syringe irrespective of the brands. Market price for filler injections ranges between RM3k-RM5k per syringe, depending upon which area that is being treated, and of course, the "who" factor is determines the cost.
Most plastic surgeons( please note that i don't refer them as cosmetic surgeons as those doctors who attained their Masters degree locally, and overseas do not have "Cosmetic Medicine" as part of their syllabus). Despite of that, most plastic surgeons and dermatologist often claim that the field of aesthetics should belong to them, and not practiced by general practitioners. I did my plastic surgery posting for 6 months in Kuala Lumpur General Hospital, hoping to get some practical experience in cosmetic medicine. I was quite disappointed when i realized that they don't do any cosmetic procedures, only purely reconstructive surgeries, cleft palate correction and orbital fracture surgeries mainly.
I did not waste any time upon completion of my government service when I flew over to Australia to pursue my training in Cosmetic Medicine. (my last day of government service being 31th August, by the 1st of September 2005, i was already in Australia, attending my Laser Safety Officer course.
I had an extensive training especially in techniques of filler injections, botox, sclerotherapy, and skin rejuvenation with IPL(Intense Pulse Light) and laser.(Nd Yag, Co2, Erbium), and liposucution.
By the time I've completed my training, I was well versed with lasers and IPL, Botox, filler injection technique, etc. Well verse enough to question why are there so many doctors locally who uses laser is skin rejuvenation when Asian skin aren't suitable for both IPL and laser as we tend to burn easily.
Hence ladies and gentleman, very often you need to go for a few sessions of laser treatment as they had to power down the intensity of laser to prevent burns. Therefore, the more you visit, the more you pay. Asian skin aren't good candidate for laser or IPL treatment.
Anyway, i will elaborate about this topic later. Back to  fillers.
Yes, market price ranges from RM3k -RM5k per syringe. While I charged only RM1650 per syringe, I was commented by the sales rep that I might affect the pricing of fillers by charging so low.
Ok, I might revise the price later. Perhaps to RM2 k by the end of the month.
As for most Chinese patients that I've had so far, most often done procedures are improvement of nasal profile with filler, increasing the prominence of cheek bones, Marionette  and nasolabial fold correction.

As I had mentioned earlier, these fillers comes in a 1ml prefilled syringe. Very often in increasing the prominence of the cheek bone,  the doctor often need to use more than 1ml. Hence, imagine RM3k per syringe x2.
That's RM6k already. Say then you want a better nasal profile, then another RM3K.
Then you asked for correction of signs of aging particularly Marionette lines and nasolabial lines, another 2ml needed. That's an additional of RM6K. A beautiful and youthful face would be a triangular shape face. In aging, the triangle slowly turns into an inverse triangle, characterized by sagging of the cheeks, lose of facial volume, lose flabby skin under the neck. Doctors would try a combination of botox and filler to maintain the triangular shape.  One effective but subtle way is to injection of filler into the chin are to create a prominent chin, hence maintaining the apex of the triangle.
1ml is needed. Now, do the maths. 2+1+2+1=6ml (6ml= 6syringes x RM3k = RM18K for only the cost of fillers, excluding botox)

These are the fillers that I use. Every patient have their own preference.  Personally, I was fully trained with Restylane, and it being the most widely used filler, it is often considered as the gold standard of fillers.

Restylane is a Swedish product. 

While Juvederm is made in France.

While Esthelis is made from Switzerland, unlike other industries where the word "Swiss made" is often synonym with best quality, I am still more comfortable with Restylane. 

Perhaps it is the first non animal base filler, its pioneering NASHA technology adopted by other filler makers in making fillers of their own. 

I have a patient who is a Datin who comes regularly for filler injection for facial revolumization. After a while, I felt bad as she had spent so much money despite my charges being one of the lowest around KL area! Once in a while, I would offer free botox treatment for her to show her my appreciation. Recently, I felt so bad as she had spent so much (even if she is loaded, that doesn't mean I should encourage her to spend unnecessarily.) hence I offered her a solution what would save her loads of money! 

Instead of using these conventional facial fillers that comes in 1ml, I introduced her Hyacorp. 

A German made product which is meant for body recontouring, particularly for increasing the size of buttocks and breast.

Its made from the same non animal base substance called hyaluronic acid.

It's one of the two approved filler used in non invasive breast augmentation, the other being Macrolane. 

Why do I introduce Hyacorp to her? Because for the same price as 1ml of dermafiller used on face, this comes in a 10ml syringe. 

10 times the amount but same price, produces the same result as the facial fillers, which one would you chose?

I know by revealing this, I anticipate getting phone calls or email from other practitioners condemning my action. 

I guess its my nature to take into consideration from the patient's perspective, and not only about earning the $$. 

But the catch is, you would need to get your procedures (procedureS= multiple sites that you want to be treated) all done up on one the same time. DO NOT ever agree if the doctor ever suggested to do in 2 separate times, as once the balance fillers is stored in the fridge, it's not sterile anymore. You DO NOT want to have something non sterile injected into you.

Even if the doctor decides to charge you RM5k for that 1 single syringe, it's still worth it if you do the maths.