TOPIC: Transitioning HA -> Ellanse

Hi there.

Last summer I had 9ccs of HA (Ultimate brand) injected, followed by another 6ccs in the early fall. While I was pleased with the results, my body has already metabolized a quarter of the filler. This would mean far more than I am willing to pay to maintain my results.

I am a Canadian who scouted the idea flying to UKs Androfill or Mexico's Avida for Ellanse, since I clearly would benefit from the longer term collagen-stimulating filler. I was advised in both cases however that these procedures require the dissolution of existing HA first.

My options are: 1. Return to the Canadian clinic and try their recently added 'harder' HA filler, 2. Wait until the existing HA totally metabolizes. This is not ideal as it will mean a long period of being quite a bit below what I'm shooting for or 3. Have HA dissolved before making a trip internationally.

Has anyone else transitioned from using HA to Ellanse? Do you have any thoughts or tips?

Thank you!

Interesting. I wonder how much of our own body's unique propensity to breakdown and dissipate filler varies in significance person-to-person? Reports of HA's longevity must certainly rely on a few variables that I've been trying to ascertain (which may also include the HA formulation/brand itself), since some reports seem to last longer than others.

Mind sharing the Clinic you visited? Good to hear a Canadian spot is performing good results, I've been actively scouting for a Sponsor from that region (and/or the American Midwest) for some time now.

As for your options, it's hard to say - if your Clinic did good work and they are close by, I can't see the harm in giving their other HA formulation a shot. Either way it's a relatively safe filler. However, if you are also budget-conscious, the UK or Mexico are viable and sensible. Kind of a toss-up in my eyes.

I'm also going through a similar process. I'm also in the same boat of having received treatments or planning to receive treatment at different clinics, albeit they were all clinics under the Calibre brand in Australia at the relevant time. First, I had HA injections at the Calibre Sydney clinic by Dr Gav (who has since left the Calibre brand and set up his own brand); but the product is not firm enough for me and it's quite prone to migration even several weeks after treatment, after it had seemingly already settled in the tissue, so this situation was not ideal to me and I thought maybe Ellanse would be the better alternative.
So I went to the Calibre clinic in Brisbane (which is where I live) to have the HA dissolved, over 3 sessions. Both a needle and a canula were used and while a substantial amount of the HA was dissolved after the first 2 sessions, there was still a little stubborn residue HA that had formed into nodules (on palpation, Nodule-like, very firm) that just did not seem to be dissolvable. These nodules remained even after a third session of hyalase injection. I would say we've attempted everything possible to fully dissolve the HA and whatever is left over is just something we have to deal with.
My plan is to have the Ellanse treatment done by Dr Danh in Melbourne, the reasons are: 1. Ellanse is not offered at Calibre Brisbane; 2. Ellanse is offered by Dr Gav at his now Pavilion Clinic, I would have gone back to him for the Ellanse treatment, after all, he is a great doctor who also knows my history, but the pricing there is substantially less competitive than Calibre's quote. So that means: Calibre Brisbane doesn't offer Ellanse, Pavillion charges a lot more, Dr Oates is in Western Australia where interstate visitors are still not allowed in; therefore I'm left with 1 option, that is to visit Dr Danh at Calibre Melbourne.
I have made an appointment to do a FaceTime consultation with Dr Danh late this month and a treatment next month, when I'll be flying to Melbourne for it.
I just really hope that the small amount of HA that could not be dissolved will pose any problem to either the Ellanse procedure itself, or the collagen production.
Do we have people on the forum who have done something similar successfully?
It would be great if Dr Oates could see this and shed some light.

The clinic is Fairview Plastic Surgery and Skin Care Centre in Vancouver, BC. Dr. Nell performed the procedures, and I daresay the results were fantastic. Indistinguishable from organic matter. He is an excellent doctor that I highly recommend. It's certainly not his fault that I seem to be a fast metabolizer!

I am certainly tempted to integrate the harder HA for the sake of maintaining results, but also aware that if i wish to transition to a more longterm Ellanse filler this will just push the goalpost further. Some thinking to do, but thanks for your input!

penningbooks wrote: The clinic is Fairview Plastic Surgery and Skin Care Centre in Vancouver, BC. Dr. Nell performed the procedures, and I daresay the results were fantastic. Indistinguishable from organic matter. He is an excellent doctor that I highly recommend. It's certainly not his fault that I seem to be a fast metabolizer!

I am certainly tempted to integrate the harder HA for the sake of maintaining results, but also aware that if i wish to transition to a more longterm Ellanse filler this will just push the goalpost further. Some thinking to do, but thanks for your input!

What is the “harder” material? I’ve had almost no decrease in size with Juvederm in the last 11 months but I’d like something firmer .

Didn’t we have reports of some or one of the Australian doctors mixing HA and Ellanse?

Paging @Dr_Oates

I have asked the clinic and will let you know.

I’m curious if Dr. Oates will respond. If there is a way to overlap existing HA and transition over to Ellansé I would make the trip to Australia since it will save money in the longterm.

Dr Oates has responded to my question in the Doctors Forum. From what he wrote, it sounds possible to envelop the HA *as long as it's only a small residue amount of HA, and the Ellanse is so firm, that it's not that likely to notice the HA underneath the Ellanse. But the question is whether the HA will hinder the collagen generation; as the mechanism of Ellanse treatment is not the carrier gel itself, but your cells being stimulated into producing collagen in response to the PCL in Ellanse. But if the HA acts as a barrier between your cells and the Ellanse, would that reduce the efficacy of the Ellanse treatment? Or is there a threshold where the remaining HA becomes so low that it will not make any difference to the collagen generation?

This post (message from Dr. Oates) is what AudienceK was referring to.

@AudienceK did you have the procedure in the end? Keen to hear how you went with Calibre in Melbourne!

penningbooks wrote: Hi there.

Last summer I had 9ccs of HA (Ultimate brand) injected, followed by another 6ccs in the early fall. While I was pleased with the results, my body has already metabolized a quarter of the filler. This would mean far more than I am willing to pay to maintain my results.

I am a Canadian who scouted the idea flying to UKs Androfill or Mexico's Avida for Ellanse, since I clearly would benefit from the longer term collagen-stimulating filler. I was advised in both cases however that these procedures require the dissolution of existing HA first.

My options are: 1. Return to the Canadian clinic and try their recently added 'harder' HA filler, 2. Wait until the existing HA totally metabolizes. This is not ideal as it will mean a long period of being quite a bit below what I'm shooting for or 3. Have HA dissolved before making a trip internationally.

Has anyone else transitioned from using HA to Ellanse? Do you have any thoughts or tips?

Thank you!

@penningbooks Any update since? Also what exactly is the “Ulimate” brand? Are you referring to Teosyal?

Hey @AudienceK ,
Any updates on your progress? I have an appointment here in Sydney with Contour clinics coming up. I'm really keen on using Ellanse and would probably consider seeing Dr Danh if I needed to.
Hope you've found good results from your effort.

Had my third and hopefully final treatment. I have a thread in the progress report section now.

Hi all.

I haven't had any additional treatments. My current clinic has offered to top me up with Teosyal Ultra Deep vs. the Teosyal Ultimate I'd had that hasn't had much lasting power compared to others. I was into it, however I haven't read phenomenal reports of Ultra Deep. There are few listed and no evidence that it will last any longer. It seems much more painful and difficult to mould and perhaps doesn't even 'fluff' out as much.

I may just wait for this to totally dissolve and make an international trip for Ellanse.