Botox, Fillers, and Microneedling with PRP in Medellin, Colombia
I’m sitting in the waiting room of a dermatologist’s office in Medellin, Colombia, and I can’t feel my lips. I’m opening and closing my mouth. When did my mouth close? Is it shut right now? I wouldn’t know because I can’t feel them.
Psst! Want to know where to go for botox and fillers in Medellin? Read my thorough guide here.
Sitting diagonally from me is a woman scrolling through her phone. I’m pretty sure that she doesn’t even know I’m here so I continue to open and close my mouth like a nutcracker. Then, I turn to the woman, I purse my lips together and vibrate them like a bumblebee. This snaps her out of her phone. I smack my lips and say in Spanish, “I can’t feel my lips.”
Es que no los siento.
She places her hand over her chest as if to say, you scared me and at that moment the dermatologist calls her up. I’m immediately conscious of my urge to grab my phone and answer my Whatsapp texts. I clench my fingers, I breathe. That can wait and I’m just nervous so I tell myself to stay with that feeling and acknowledge it.
Lip Filler in Medellin
I’m about to get my lips and forehead injected with filler for the first time, and I’m nervous for a few reasons:
1. This dermatologist is using a hyaluronic acid from Spain. It’s called Mesoestetic. When I asked him why he doesn’t use Juvederm or Restylane, he said that those are American brands and he prefers European brands. He likes Mesoestetic, and it works. The advantage is that it saves me $50 bucks. But that’s not why I chose him.
2. The forehead is a hazardous area to inject filler. If done incorrectly, one can go blind. Other risky areas include the nose and nasal labial folds. I’ve gotten my nasal labial folds done eight years ago before I knew about the risk.
3. My husband doesn’t like that I’m doing this and he thinks that I’m here for my regular microneedling with PRP.
Reasons why I should NOT be nervous:
- I thought long and hard about this. The dent in my forehead has bothered me for two years and it has only gotten worse. You wouldn’t notice it unless I point it out but I’m not doing this for you! I’ve asked several doctors in Medellin if they ever treated a hollow forehead. A bunch of them said that I would need to come in for a consultation. Others said no and this doctor also said no but he had the most honest explanation and for that reason, I felt that I should at least see him.
2. I also thought long and hard about my lips. I’m not here to reshape them. I’m not here to get Kylie lips or lips big enough to act as airbags if I ever got into a car accident. I simply want to restore volume. Ever since I began nursing, my daughter has sucked the hydration out of every cell in my body! This dermatologist has been filling lips for over ten years and the few examples he had on his Instagram looked decent.
3. This doctor is humble on his Instagram and he posts nowhere near as much as any of his competitors. This was a concern at first but then I saw that some of his loyal clients are Colombian celebrities and influencers with real followers. A couple of them even gave the doc a shoutout on his Instagram stories.
The syringe cost 750,000 Colombian pesos, which’s $199 in US dollars. How much does it cost to get your lips done in Los Angeles? It has been a while since I’ve been there. Blame COVID.
Forehead Qualms and the Plunge
During the consultation I explained to the doctor my qualms about becoming blind and that I still wasn’t sure if I should fill my forehead.
He said that the key is to use a cannula and to inject really slow. He showed me the syringe and said that he would use .10 mls and inject the rest into my lips.
.10 mls? That’s really little.
Yes, we don’t want it to puff up because the filler draws moisture from water. We just need to inject a little bit.
I asked him if he would inject superficially. He said no, he would have to go deep.
I wanted him to guarantee that I wouldn’t go blind but for professional reasons, he couldn’t. Every procedure has a risk and we need to minimize those risks.
Since he was confident, I decided to take the plunge, literally.
We then talked about what I wanted for my lips. He took his time to understand and I was careful not to throw out the word ‘natural’ till the very end when I said, “In summary, I want them to look natural but not hypernatural.”
I sat back and he worked his magic. He began with my forehead. The procedure was not painful but he injected really, really slow and it was successful. The results were immediate. Two weeks have passed and I love my forehead. My eyebrow bones still protrude a bit and I always liked that about me because it gave me a gentle masculine look. Now, they don’t protrude like a devil’s horns nor does it look like someone embossed a nude copper IUD on my forehead. I am very happy.
As for my lips, that hurt! He poked my lips six times and used a cannula. Every time he withdrew the needle, the pain continued to shoot to the center of my lips. He offered dental anesthesia and I refused.
Since I took arnica montana drops two days before the procedure, I reckon that it helped speed up the healing. A week later, I can still feel lumps and I know it’ll subside. As for the results, I am so, so happy. My lips look natural. They don’t look as disinflated and my upper lip looks renewed. It’s exactly what I wanted.
Good and Bad Botox in Medellin
The first time that I got botox in Medellin was about five years ago. I scoured the internet for a mention of a doctor and didn’t find too many. Today, dermatologists, aestheticians, and plastic surgeons are all over Instagram making it even more difficult to find skilled practitioners. I went to Dra Pilar Ochoa because she was mentioned in a blog. She speaks English (not that it matters to me), she’s beautiful and popular with expats.
When I learned how much a unit of Botox with a capital B cost i.e., from Allergan, I could hardly believe it. In Medellin, botox averages at around $4 a unit. That day, I got the usual suspects treated: crows feet, 11 lines for tension headaches and a subtle brow lift.
Dra Ochoa also removed two moles from my left cheek. Unlike my dermatologist in San Diego, Dra Ochoa didn’t warn me that it would cause discoloration and when I asked her about it, she said that I would be fine. She got out her pen—a technology called Electrolysis— to burn off the moles. She also removed pesky spider veins from my right cheek and below my right nostril (the latter which has returned this year).
She then placed the tiniest bandaids on the treated areas and I was on my way. I was very happy with the results. My bill was around $200 for everything.
That was about five years ago. When my husband and I moved to Medellin a couple of years ago to become residents, I went back to Dra Ochoa for botox. But the reason why I stopped going to her is that she doesn’t do microneedling with PRP. Since I was going to live in Medellin for a while I decided to venture out a bit and find someone who can do both treatments on the same visit.
I found Yulieth Figueroa on Instagram while looking for microneedling with PRP. She was not recommended to me and she was not mentioned in any of the Facebook groups. This turned out to be a bad sign.
April 2023 UPDATE with Yulieth Figueroa
I did microneedling with Yulieth after I saw a friend of mine peel from a PRP microneedling session. I had a negative experience with her a few years ago after she over-injected my forehead with botox. She also did not specify that she used a Korean brand and instead just called it botox. Many practitioners do that and I recommend that you ask to look at the box and ask what exactly you’re paying for. Yes, I had a bad botox experience with Yulieth many years ago but I’ve forgiven her since. According to a friend who has lived in Medellin longer than I have, many aestheticians in Medellin over-inject. If you do get botox with Yulieth, just be absolutely clear with what you want. She has been in business for a long time and I hope she’s learned from her brief mistake with me.
Below I’ll discuss my recent microneedling treatment with Yulieth.
Microneedling with PRP or the vampire facial
You won’t believe how much microneedling with PRP cost in Medellin. In Los Angeles, it seemed frivolous to pay $600 for someone to use your own blood to do a vampire facial. I understand that the microneedling pen and the centrifuge spinner require an upfront investment but it’s not like they’re purchasing vials of Juvederm to perform the procedure. They’re using your own blood!
So what’s the justification for paying upward $600 for this trending facial? If you ask me, it’s real estate and branding. Get this done in Beverly Hills and expect to pay an arm and a leg. In Medellin, which is known as the Silicon Valley of Colombia, microneedling with PRP cost between 180,000 to 300,000 pesos. That’s $48 to $80 in US dollars. Even better, one session will cover your scalp, your face, and your neck at no extra cost. However, I also know practitioners who will charge 180,000 per area.
Yulieth’s prices for microneedling with PRP are great and she’s located in Clinica del Prado. She’s also very good at it. Three years ago when I was losing a lot hair as a result of breastfeeding, I had done several microneedling with PRP sessions with her and it really helped! My hair stopped shedding and my baby hairs even grew out.
When I went in (today), her assistant did the treatment. I paid 375,000 for microneedling without PRP but she said that the price is the same anyway. The treat covered three areas: face, neck, and decollete. This is great because most aestheticians will charge extra for every area other than your face!
I had to clock in at 10am to work so I didn’t have time to wait around for them to draw and spin my blood.
Expect to pay more for the treatment if you use the brand Nanopore microneedling device; the assistant insists that they both give the same results.
Yulieth Figueroa no longer does HIFU because her assistant said that it was just too painful for her patients. They now have the Hollywood Laser Peel for under 600,000 COP! I plan to try it out sometime. But for now, I have an appointment with her in a few weeks for another microneedling session.
Microneedling with PRP Results
I went in for my first microneedling with PRP treatment about four months after giving birth to my daughter. This is typically when mothers start losing hair and my shower’s drain was taking a real beating. I looked for a provider on Instagram and that’s how I found Yulieth. She was offering a 2 for 1 special and I took my friend. Yulieth treated my scalp, face, and neck but forgot to treat my décolleté. I didn’t notice any results the first month but that the crepiness below my eyes smoothed out the second month.
I noticed a difference in my second treatment when my hair stopped shedding as much and the lines on my neck softened! On my third session, the baby hairs where my forehead met my hairline grew out. I still had a habit of gently tugging on my curls to de-shed but when I did that, nothing came out. It was amazing and even my husband noticed.
Yulieth said that I could go in for a treatment every 20 days until I get the desired results. I stopped going after my fourth or fifth treatment and it has been a while. I didn’t want to become obsessed with prp even though it is affordable but $80 every other month adds up.
Medical Tourism in Medellin
If you decide to get anything done in Medellin, do your research! It’s amazing how affordable things are here compared to the US. I learned the other day that a blepharoplasty in Medellin cost between $600 to just over $1,000. Medellin is filled with great plastic surgeons, botox injectors, and just about any machine that’s in the US or Europe can also be found here. Things like Ulthera and microneedling with radiofrequency can sometimes go by a different name.
Some practitioners will charge more depending on where they’re located and that might not always mean that they’re good. My friend had that experience when she got a non-surgical nose job from someone who is active on Instagram. Had she done a bit more research, she could’ve found someone more skilled. This friend of mine does not speak Spanish and the aesthetician’s English wasn’t good. If choose an aesthetician, communication is key! If you don’t have a good grasp of Spanish, find someone who speaks English well or take someone with you to help you translate.
If you hire a Medical Tourism company to help you out, great! Whoever answers the phone or helps you out, asks them what kind of experience they’ve had with these doctors or surgeons, and listen to your gut. If you’d like me to help you out, I might be available to do some freelancing and make a friend out of it.
Psst! I just wrote about my results after having 10 sessions of HIFEM in Medellin. You won’t believe how much I paid for it! HIFEM is a machine that emits electromagnetic pulses to give you chiselled abs. Read about it here.
Sculptra and Dysport in Medellin
In January of 2021, I saw yet, another aesthetician. While I love my dermatologist, Alejandro, he doesn’t do Sculptra and he does not use Dysport. That is how I found Fanisabela. My sister and I went together and she got Restalyn under her eyes. To know how that went, give this article a clap and leave a comment. That will motivate me to find time to write.
About Me
I’m a serial expat working from my laptop since 2015. I gave birth to my daughter at a hospital in Medellin, Colombia, in 2019. My husband and I have been living in Medellin since the summer of 2018. I enjoy writing about ADHD, cosmetic procedures, and mom-life in Medellin. Check out my other stories!
WHAT’S NEW!
2024 May — A Suit For Your Tooth — Orthodontics and Dentistry in Medellin
MOST READ
2022 — Where to Go For Fillers & Botox in Medellin, Colombia
LEAST READ
2024 — Microdermabrasion, Peels, CO2 Laser, And More Botox In Medellin
