Facial balancing in Alpharetta
Facial balancing is not a product, it is an approach: assessing the face as a whole and treating the areas that are actually driving what you see, which is frequently not the area you came in pointing at. Chin projection changes how a jawline reads. Midface support changes how the under-eye reads. This is the treatment most likely to end with us recommending less than you asked for, in a different place.
What it is
Faces are read as proportions rather than as features. The eye compares the projection of the chin against the projection of the lips, the width of the lower face against the width of the cheekbones, the height of the forehead against the middle third. Change one of those relationships and several apparently unrelated complaints resolve, because they were descriptions of the same proportion from different angles.
The practical consequence is that the assessment is the treatment. Photographs from the front and both profiles, measured against the way your face actually moves, decide where a small amount of support does the most work. Frequently that is a millimeter or two of projection at the chin, or support high on the mid-face — and the complaint that brought you in, about the jawline or the under-eye, improves without either being injected.
What it feels like
The same as any filler treatment in the areas involved: numbing cream, pressure rather than pain, and a firm push where product is placed on bone. The consultation is the long part. A balancing appointment is usually forty-five to seventy-five minutes, and staged across two visits more often than not.
Downtime
Two to fourteen days depending on the areas treated. Chin and jaw swell modestly; mid-face swells more and takes longer to settle. Bruising is common. We plan these around your calendar and would decline to do one inside two weeks of an event.
How long it lasts
Twelve to eighteen months for structural placement on bone, less for anything softer or more mobile. Staged treatment means the review point is usually six weeks after the first appointment rather than a year later.
Who it’s for — and who it isn’t
A good fit
- Someone whose complaint is about how their face reads overall rather than about one line or one hollow.
- Anyone who has been told elsewhere that they need a large quantity in the area they pointed at, and wants a second opinion.
- A profile concern — chin projection, jaw definition — where a small structural change does disproportionate work.
Not a fit
- Anyone who wants the specific area they came in about treated regardless of what the assessment says. That is a valid preference and it is not what this is.
- A face already carrying substantial product, where the honest recommendation is dissolving and a year off before any planning happens.
- Anyone expecting a jaw or a profile that requires surgery. We will say which changes need a surgeon rather than a syringe.
Who performs it here
Jordan Keel
MSN, NP-C
Founder & Lead Injector
Practices under a nurse protocol agreement with, and under the medical direction of, Anita Rao, MD.
Sydney Pham
PA-C
Physician Assistant, Injector
Practices under a job description approved by, and under the medical direction of, Anita Rao, MD.
What it costs
There is no price for this because there is no fixed treatment — it is an assessment that produces a plan, and the plan is priced once it exists. The assessment and the consultation are free, and a written total comes with the plan. It is also, more often than any other appointment here, the one that ends with a recommendation to do less than you came in for.
Questions about facial balancing
Why would you treat my chin when I came in about my jawline?
Because a jawline is read against the projection of the chin in front of it. Adding definition along the jaw without addressing a chin that sits back frequently makes the lower face look wider rather than sharper. The assessment is what tells us which one you are.
Does this cost more than treating one area?
Usually less, and that is not a sales line — it is the arithmetic of treating the driver rather than the symptom. The most expensive plans we see are the ones where someone has been treated in three areas that were all downstream of one.
How many appointments does it take?
Two, most of the time. One to treat the structural change, then a review at four to six weeks to see what resolved on its own before deciding whether anything further is warranted. A substantial proportion of second appointments end with nothing being placed.