Everything people ask before they book.
Grouped, and answered plainly. If yours is not here, send it. The answer usually ends up on this page.
Does it hurt
Does buccal massage hurt?
It is firm and it is unfamiliar. Most people describe pressure rather than pain, and you set the ceiling. I check in through the whole intraoral portion and stop when you say stop.
Does being injected hurt?
Less than people expect. Topical numbing sits for twenty minutes before filler, and the hyaluronic acid carries lidocaine of its own. The lip flip takes seconds and does not usually need numbing, and neither do the two vitamin shots. Lips are the sorest thing on the menu; the under-eye is the strangest rather than the worst.
Will I be sore afterwards?
The jaw work, often: like a muscle you have not used, for about a day. Drainage, almost never.
Gloves and hygiene
What are the gloves and what is the protocol?
Hands washed, then a fresh pair of nitrile gloves opened in front of you and changed between sides. Water and a rinse offered before and after. Nothing enters your mouth that you have not seen unwrapped.
Can I bring my own gloves, or ask for latex-free?
Everything used is already latex-free. Bring your own if you would rather; I will use them.
Before you book
How much does it cost?
Bodywork at Haus of Contour is $125 for The Contour Facial, $150 for The Lift or Buccal Release, and $175 for the Full Body Contour. Injectables run from $45 for a vitamin shot to $3,999 for the second balancing tier. Every price is on the treatments page and the aesthetics page, it is the same at Reston and at Tysons, and it is the price you pay. There is no consultation fee and nothing is quoted on request.
What does a whole series cost?
The usual bodywork series is six to eight weekly sessions, then monthly. Six sessions of The Lift at $150 is $900, and eight is $1,200. You should have that number before you start rather than after, so you get the series written down at the first visit with the dates worked backward from whatever you are aiming at.
Do I need a consultation first?
It is inside the appointment, not a separate visit. Twenty minutes of assessment before a single syringe and thirty before balancing, photographed from five angles either way, and talked through in front of the pictures before anything is opened. If the assessment shows that filler is the wrong answer for what is bothering you, I will say so.
Can I have any of this while pregnant or breastfeeding?
Not the aesthetics menu. Neurotoxin, filler, Radiesse, balancing and PRP are all ruled out, and the B12 and glutathione need your provider’s clearance rather than mine. Bodywork is a different question and often workable with your provider’s clearance, so send me the details.
Can I be treated if I take a blood thinner or have an autoimmune condition?
Filler, Radiesse and the under-eye all need your prescriber’s or provider’s clearance first. PRP is ruled out outright on anticoagulant therapy, and by a platelet or bleeding disorder. Tell me at booking rather than at the door, so the appointment is either cleared or moved rather than worked around.
I get cold sores. Can I still have lip filler?
Say so before lip filler. A history of them needs antiviral cover started beforehand, and an active one means the appointment moves, at no cost, inside the window or not. The same is true of any active infection or lesion at the site.
Injectables, bodywork and dental work
Do you place the injectables yourself?
Yes. Roya Safari, RN, places every injectable at Haus of Contour, at the Reston studio and the Tysons studio both: neurotoxin, filler, facial balancing, PRP and the two vitamin shots. The bodywork at Tysons is worked by a second practitioner trained in the same protocols. The injectable menu is not.
I have had Botox. How long before bodywork?
Two weeks after neurotoxin before anything intraoral or any drainage work. Earlier than that risks moving product away from where it was placed, and that is true whether I placed it or somebody else did.
I have had filler. How long before bodywork?
Four weeks. Tell me the area and the date when you book and I will place the appointment correctly.
I want both. What order?
Bodywork first, then injectables. Massage before filler costs you nothing; massage after it moves product you have paid for. If you are booking a course of drainage and a syringe in the same month, do the drainage first and inject at the end of it.
How long does filler last?
Twelve to eighteen months for hyaluronic acid, depending on the product and where it sits. Radiesse often longer, because it works partly by prompting your own collagen. The lip flip is the short one at six to eight weeks, because the muscle is small and you use it constantly.
I have just had dental work. When can I book?
Two weeks after a cleaning, extraction or new restoration before anything intraoral. External jaw work is usually fine sooner, and filler around the mouth waits the same two weeks. Send me the details.
Choosing between them
Lip flip or lip filler?
The flip is a few units of neurotoxin at the upper border, so the lip rolls out slightly. No volume, thirty minutes, six to eight weeks. The syringe builds shape and border and holds twelve to eighteen months. If your top lip disappears when you smile, start with the flip. If the lip itself has thinned, the flip will not fix that.
Radiesse or ordinary filler?
Hyaluronic acid fills on the day, stays soft, and can be placed anywhere including the lips. Radiesse is calcium hydroxylapatite: it fills too, then works as a scaffold your own collagen builds on from about three months, and it goes deep at the jaw, the lower face and the backs of the hands. It is never placed in lips here.
What is the difference between the two balancing tiers?
Tier 1 is two to three syringes in sixty minutes and is where to start. Tier 2 is up to four in ninety minutes with skin renewal in the same visit. Both are planned as one face rather than worked through as a list. If you want one area changed rather than a face balanced, book the single syringe: it is the cheaper answer and the better one.
I have shadows under my eyes. Is filler the answer?
Sometimes. Pigment, thin skin and true fat loss look identical in a bathroom mirror and only the hollow improves with filler. If what you have is puffiness or a fat pad, filler makes it worse. That is what the long assessment is for, and if you are not a candidate you will not be charged for a treatment you should not have.
Why is PRP sold as a course of three?
Because one session does not do it, and selling you one would be selling you nothing. Three sessions four weeks apart. Very little shows before the second, and the real change lands at three to six months as collagen builds. The price covers all three and is paid once, at the first.
Should I test before having B12?
If you have never had your level checked, yes. It is cheap and it is safe, and neither of those makes it a substitute for knowing where you actually are. If you already know you are low, exclude animal products, or take metformin or a long-term acid reducer, it is a straightforward one.
Will glutathione lighten my skin?
Not by shades. What it does to tone is gradual and modest, and it fades once you stop. Anyone promising you several shades is selling you something. Daily sunscreen will do more for you, and the two together do more than either alone.
Can I add a vitamin shot to another appointment?
Yes. Both shots are fifteen minutes with no numbing and no downtime, and adding one to a session you are already in for is the usual way people have them.
Preparing, and after
How should I prepare?
Eat something light beforehand, come without heavy makeup if you can, and skip alcohol the night before if you want the drainage to show. The same holds for injectables, where makeup comes off anyway and alcohol the night before makes bruising more likely.
What will I look like leaving?
After bodywork, slightly flushed and sometimes marginally uneven for an hour while things settle. Nothing you would not go back to work in. Injectables are the other answer, and the bruising below is the honest version of it.
Will I bruise, and how much time should I leave?
Bruising is likely at the mouth and possible anywhere filler goes, and clears in five to seven days. Under the eye it is common and can take ten. Lip swelling peaks at about forty-eight hours and will look like far more than you asked for. The lip flip and the two vitamin shots have no downtime at all. After Tier 2, plan nothing social that evening.
When do I judge the result?
Two weeks for the lip flip and for lips. Four weeks for everything else, which is when you come back and see your photographs beside the baseline. Filler is not finished at two weeks, and reviewing it earlier tops up swelling rather than shape. Most follow-ups need nothing placed at all.
How often, honestly?
Six to eight weekly sessions to change something, then monthly to hold it. Single sessions help; they do not hold.
Still deciding? Read the terms before you book.
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