Sourced directly from Dr. Saami Khalifian's social posts and replies.
What is Dr. Khalifian's approach to Sculptra and Radiesse buttock augmentation?
Dr. Khalifian utilizes a combined Sculptra and Radiesse treatment for buttock augmentation, achieving beautiful results with significantly less product (e.g., 2 vials of Sculptra and 5 syringes of Radiesse per side) compared to typical monotherapy (often 20 vials of Sculptra or 40 syringes of Radiesse). This approach often requires only one treatment session, whereas monotherapy typically needs 2-3 sessions, making it more accessible and cost-effective for patients.
How does Dr. Khalifian ensure realistic expectations with before-and-after photos for buttock augmentation?
Dr. Khalifian emphasizes showing results at 3 months post-treatment, as immediate 'after' photos often include swelling and diluents (200-300 mL of water or saline) that are absorbed, not reflecting the final outcome.
What is Dr. Khalifian's advanced anatomically-based Botox technique for the glabella?
Dr. Khalifian employs an advanced, anatomically-based approach to Botox, tailoring treatment to each patient's unique facial anatomy. Unlike traditional 5-point methods that can miss parts of the glabellar complex, his technique treats all relevant areas for complete, robust, and natural-looking results with minimal product. He emphasizes that this complex technique requires thorough assessment and expertise to avoid complications like eyelid ptosis from incorrect injections.
What is Dr. Khalifian's approach to chin and jawline fillers?
Dr. Khalifian uses chin and jawline fillers to achieve overall facial harmony, defining the jaw and balancing chin projection. This approach helps eliminate jowls, improves the cervicomental angle, and can create a 'snatched' effect by redraping lower face tissue. He may treat the mentolabial crease to increase chin height and occasionally uses a cannula on the ascending limb of the ramus for further jawline definition.
What pre and post-treatment care is required for PRP hair restoration?
Patients undergoing PRP for hair restoration must avoid NSAIDs, fish oil, vitamin E supplements, prednisone, or other steroids before and after treatment.
What is Dr. Khalifian's approach to PRP for hair restoration?
Dr. Khalifian uses a partial or complete ring block with Lido and Epi for excellent, quick pain control during PRP hair restoration. He enriches the PRP product to a 3X to 5X concentration and injects 0.2 mL per point, emphasizing the frontal hairline and forelock as the most cosmetically sensitive and impactful areas. He often combines PRP with medical therapy like finasteride and oral minoxidil for comprehensive results.
What results can be expected from multi-modal laser treatment for PIH?
For a specific patient with longstanding PIH from a burn wound, Dr. Khalifian achieved nearly complete disappearance of the lesion after just one multi-modal laser treatment. The 'after' photo was taken 3 weeks post-treatment, with significant improvement noted at both 10-day and 3-week follow-ups.
What is Dr. Khalifian's multi-modal laser approach for post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH)?
Dr. Khalifian uses a multi-modal, same-day laser treatment for PIH, such as one pass of Q-switched Nd:YAG laser on the lesion, followed by Clear & Brilliant Permea laser applied to the whole face with extra passes on the PIH lesion.
What is Dr. Khalifian's systematic approach to assessing and treating tear troughs?
Dr. Khalifian employs a systematic approach to assess infraorbital hollows for tear trough treatment, evaluating orbital fat prolapse, malar edema, pigmentary issues, and skin elasticity. He notes that mild to moderate orbital fat prolapse, malar edema, shadowing hyperpigmentation, and mild to moderate loss of elasticity can be addressed with filler. However, severe orbital fat prolapse requires lower lid blepharoplasty, severe malar edema/festooning should be avoided for filler, and severe hyperpigmentation or severe loss of elasticity requires surgical intervention or laser treatments (CO2, erbium) as filler will not be effective for true pigmentary or vasculature issues. Good candidates are treated with a variety of fillers.
What is Dr. Khalifian's approach to non-surgical rhinoplasty (nose filler)?
Dr. Khalifian uses Juvederm Volux for safe and effective non-surgical rhinoplasty, employing a gradual approach with slow, low-pressure, low-volume injections (typically not exceeding ~0.3 mL per session) and very small aliquots to achieve natural-looking results. This conservative technique is crucial to avoid vascular occlusion and compression, especially in high-risk areas like the nasal sidewall (particularly post-fracture). He emphasizes that only experienced experts should perform injections in these areas.
What are the typical treatment expectations for non-surgical rhinoplasty?
While a natural-looking profile can be achieved in one session, some patients may require a subsequent treatment in about one month to reach their desired nose profile.