Greg:
Hey, welcome back everybody. This is Greg from 99.7 and Big Bay Mornings. And of course, I’m here with Board Certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Bae. But you’re on his website right now so you know who he is. Hey Dr. Bae.
Dr. Bae:
Hey Greg. Thanks for having me.
Greg:
How have you been?
Dr. Bae:
I’ve been good. I’m good. I’m better now that they’ve stopped making us wear masks outdoors, and maybe even indoors in certain situations. But of course they stay consistent with whatever your local guidelines and rules are, but it’s still, it’s showing signs of progress. That’s all, that’s the main focus.
Is Botox a gateway drug?!
Greg:
Yeah. We’re getting back to normal and feeling good. Hey, and I’ve got a question for you. Botox, it seems kind of the entry level thing that people do when they-
Dr. Bae:
Gateway drug. Yeah.
Greg:
Yeah, absolutely. And in the beginning it was to treat wrinkles mostly on the forehead, around the eyes, stuff like that. But there are so many more uses for Botox, even helping with migraine headaches these days.
Dr. Bae:
Right.
How young is too young?
Greg:
But how young is too young and how do you help determine with a patient whether they really need it and if the time is right for Botox?
Dr. Bae:
I think it would be simple enough to say, oh, if you’re 18 years old or older, the age of consent, that’s when you can start doing Botox. But even people would think, oh, that’s too young. And it’s easy to get real judgemental of people. Like a 25-year-old shouldn’t be using Botox. Wrinkles on our forehead are normal. But people should step back and realize that whatever may be appropriate for you may not be necessarily appropriate for other people. And it’s, so one of the things I would tell people is caution, caution them to not get too critical because different situations apply to different people. Specifically, I think of a girl that was, I think she was 14-years-old that called the office, scheduled a consult, said she was coming in with her mom and she wanted Botox. She actually said she wanted fillers to her lips. And so I’m thinking, okay, this is someone that’s been watching Kylie Jenner.
Greg:
I was about to say, Kylie Jenner. This Kylie Jenner.
Dr. Bae:
Exactly. It’s Kylie Jenner’s fault. And I’m thinking, all right, I’m going to have to talk this girl down. It’s like, I can’t give you fillers. You’re 14 years old.
Greg:
Yeah.
Understand what the patient wants
Dr. Bae:
And even I was being not, I wouldn’t say judgemental, but I was already coming up with reasons to not do this treatment for her. And when she got here, she came in with her mom. They obviously had a good relationship and like yeah, my daughter thinks she wants fillers. And I’ll say, “Well, so what’s your concern?” She’s like, “Well, whenever I smile, my lip gets really thin and it shows my gums and that makes me uncomfortable.” And I was like, “Well, actually, now that I better understand your situation, you don’t really need fillers.” Because fillers obviously can plump up your lips. But the thing is, if you plump up your lips so that when you smile, because it’s natural for your lip to thin out when you smile, that happens to everybody.
Dr. Bae:
So if you plump up your lips to make them fuller when you smile, that means that when you’re not smiling, your lips are going to look even more full. Like might even look a little bit weird. You’ll have this big, full upper lip when you’re not smiling.
Greg:
Yeah.
Dr. Bae:
And when you smile, it might thin out.
Greg:
Rubber ducky lips.
Dr. Bae:
Exactly, exactly. So I was like the most appropriate thing for you to treat that thinning upper lip, the gummy smile, if it’s really bothering you, if it makes you feel uncomfortable at school, which it’s kind of hard to tell somebody, don’t … Buck up. Don’t feel weird at school.
Greg:
Yeah.
Upper lip botox for this patient
Dr. Bae:
Don’t give into peer pressure. It’s just ridiculous. So one of the things that’s most appropriate for her is something we’ve talked about before is Botox to the upper lip so that when you smile, it relaxes the muscles in the upper lip. So when you smile, your upper lip doesn’t go up as high. So it doesn’t show up as much of your gums. And also because it doesn’t lift up as much, it stays fuller, doesn’t then out as much. So it ‘kills’ a couple birds with one stone that Botox, not fillers, was really the most appropriate thing for her. And because she was there with her mom, and even though she was 14, I did Botox to her upper lip and she was really happy.
Dr. Bae:
And her mom and she had reached out to me since then and thanked me for it. And it’s like how much more comfortable she is. And maybe we should get to the point where she is still so comfortable in her own skin that she won’t feel like she needs to keep coming in for it, and her face will change. But it was a really nice experience for me, a learning experience for me to just don’t be judgy, listen to what the person’s concerns are and see if there’s maybe a really less invasive way to treat them, to make them more comfortable in their own skin.
Greg:
The two important things there, if you are younger, younger than 19, obviously you need to consult your parent, bring your parent with you.
Dr. Bae:
Right.
Greg:
But also really important to just make sure you’re finding a Board Certified plastic surgeon who can give you a good consultation and is really going to do or not do what is in your best interest.
Dr. Bae:
Yeah. It’s true. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be a Board Certified plastic surgeon to do your Botox. You could go see a Board Certified dermatologist. They’re trained in all that. But it is really-
Greg:
But you want somebody who’s got your best interest at heart.
Dr. Bae:
You want somebody that’s as smart and as experienced as me. That’s what you’re really trying to say.
Greg:
There you go. And me.
Dr. Bae:
That’s why I’m here.
Greg:
And me too. All right.
Dr. Bae:
Of course.
Greg:
See more of Dr. Bae’s work, check out pricing, all that stuff. Reach out to him on his social media. He loves to interact.
Dr. Bae:
That’s right. @realdrbae, r-e-a-l-d-r-b-a-e. Not b-a-y, and realdrbae.com.
Greg:
All right. Thanks everybody.
Dr. Bae:
Thank you.
