After much research both here on the BTF and internet I booked my consultation with the ARC clinic over the internet about 2 months prior to going to Bali. I was quoted 1.5 million per Aptos Thread and 6 million per mil of Aquamid filler. They could not tell me how many threads I would need nor how many mil of Aquamid I would need until I had my first consultation.
Two days before leaving for Bali I read here on the BTF that Dr Ian Gregory had left the ARC Clinic. I was quite disheartened but decided that I would still go for my free consultation.
The day after arriving in Bali I visited the clinic and had my consultation with Dr Murino. My initial consultation lasted approx 1 hour where I was shown the threads and needles (all samples of course) that would be used. I felt quite at ease with Dr Murino and after discussion with Handyman decided to go ahead the following day. I was told that I would need 4 threads on each side of my face but the Aquamid filler was not suitable for my top lip. I opted for Restalyn filler at 1.5 million per mil. I had made a list of questions but most of these were answered during the consultation. I was given tranquilizers to take 1 hour before the procedure to relax me which they certainly did, I was almost asleep in the waiting room. Also I was given a 5 day course of precautionary antibiotics to take along with Saline solution for cleaning the wound area and paw paw cream to assist in healing.
I am not going to go into all of the procedure but if you are genuinely interested I plan on doing a step by step procedure that I can e-mail to you if you want to send me your e-mail address - (please remove the no-spam). The procedure took approx 2 hours.
I have a fairly high pain tolerance but I felt every local injection. If you are wary of needles this may not be the procedure for you. I had approx 40 local injections into my face and top lip. I ended up with 5 stitches above my ears.
Unfortunately the day that my stitches were removed I went for a massage and even though I told the girl NO FACE or HEAD she forgot and before I knew it she pulled up on my face and broke open the wound on one side of my face. Because by this stage the clinic had closed I had to find a doctor to re stitch me up - 5 hours before my return flight to Perth. Great little Apotik/Doctor in Poppies 1 going towards the beach just past Fat Yogis, did the job for 240,000rp.
On the day that the stitches were removed I had botox injected into the creases around my eyes. Excellent result - Cost was 1.5 mil per mil - which was approx 20 injections.
It is now day 11 and I am feeling really great. I returned to work yesterday and am finding that regular customers are looking at me as if thinking there is something different about me but they are maybe not sure or not wanting to ask. My friends and work colleagues say that I look approx 7 years younger. I can still feel the threads in my face but only one of them is still visible. This treatment takes up to 6 weeks for the full effects to be seen.
If you are going to have this treatment in Bali you need to be there for a minimum of 5 - 7 days. I was not allowed to get the stitches wet (They are above your ears) so as long as you don't want to put your head under the water and you can cope with sweaty hair (around the ears) for the 7 days you will be OK. The procedure really only slowed me down for the first 2 days but I still really enjoyed my holiday - I needed to relax so I did for those few days.
If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me and I will do what I can to tell you all about it. I do not feel that the Forum is the place to discuss medical type procedures and also the emotional side of things, as it really is a personal thing that you need to do for all the right reasons, I know I did.
Thanks for reading and I hope that perhaps I have answered a few question for a few people that were wondering about the ARC Clinic treatments.