TOPIC: Tijuana Lockdown

Anyone cancel their appointment with Avanti due to what is happening in TJ right now? I'm scheduled to be there this Monday and wondering if I should reschedule myself. Same with the hotel reservation.

I just came from Avanti yesterday. I’m glad I missed all that chaos.

one of my LE buddys from the bay area just cancelled - if that helps anyone make a proper decision at this moment. Im sure it will calm down soon, it always does. eventually.

Was there last week. Nothing out of the ordinary. But I have heard about the situation. I think if you take the shuttle directly to the grand, and not leave that immediate area until you are ready to shuttle back over the border, than you’d be alright.

I’m headed for round 3 at the end of the month. Hopefully it is over by then.

I’m scheduled to be there Thursday and Friday this week for my second round of PMMA after a pretty bad round 1. I just texted the Doctor’s assistant to see if I can reschedule. I’ve never been scarred of traveling to Mexico, I used to go all the time when I was in my early 20’s. But this seems a bit dicey. I was actually there on a day a government official got shot and killed on the walkway across from Mexico to the US.



ktla.com/news/nationworld/cartel-threate...ll-of-northern-baja/

I had no idea of what was going on in Tijuana. I am scheduled to be at Avanti Derma next Monday for my first ever PMMA session. Needless to say PhalloBoards has been a great source of information about my decision making. Thank you all for sharing the information about what’s going on in Tijuana. If any of you do travel to Avanti this week please share your experience and above all stay safe.

I texted with the staff at the Dr.’s office today and they said on their side of the border and at their location there has been only one incident last Sunday. She said she would reschedule me if I wanted or if not she would keep me updated on anything that occurs between today and Thursday morning when I fly to San Diego. So I’m still planning on going Thursday for the moment.

However, unfortunately I’m not going to Avanti which was my first choice. They have a fantastic staff and answered all of my questions but said that they could not take me as a patient a few weeks ago and gave a very good explanation as to why.

Are you saying you aren’t keeping your scheduled appointment with Avanti due to the cartel activity? I’m going to watch closely this week before I make a decision.

I spoke with Dr. Casavantes as the recent events may prove challenging logistically for those schedule or planning to schedule/reschedule/cancel; he's monitored the situation closely and says the violence has largely been contained by a sizeable presence of the Mexican National Guard & Special Forces. I believe there are also 30+ arrests in association with the arson according to some reports.

As I understand it, the violence has largely been arson & vandalism, with multiple car burnings - this allegedly is tied to the Cartel seeking the return of some of their own who are in Mexican custody, a "political message" by way of destroying property in an intimidating fashion (i.e. forcing people out of their cars and setting the vehicles ablaze) - what I have not seen are any murders or attempted murders reported in Tijuana during this spike of violence (I could be mistaken), so that's good news since it indicates citizens & travelers are not being targeted directly.

I should also note that in my many times visiting Baja California, I've found it relatively safe - if you know where you're going and stick to your route you're relatively okay. Most of the violence is cartel-on-cartel and is usually going to be more common on the outskirts/ghettos of the city, and NOT in broad daylight highways and busy public roads like we saw recently. So the nature of this recent violence is indeed quite uncommon.

I also believe a soccer match and large concert event went on as scheduled, indicating faith in law enforcement's control of the matter -- as they would have otherwise been postponed.

Dr. Casavantes having direct communications with people in Tijuana has expressed confidence that the presence of military forces has largely subdued this public disruption. He believes normalcy is being achieved and that he doesn't expect anymore violence. He also believes the attacks were isolated to this past weekend, and that these types of disruptions happen in short bursts time and time again throughout the country whenever the government makes a major assault or arrest to cartel agents. In a nutshell, he doesn't believe it necessary to postpone/reschedule if you have an appointment coming up, and that you'll see a notable armed force throughout the city remain until they can ensure public safety is restored.

Obviously the decision is up to those who have appointments this week and the next, but I thought it'd be good to summarize what I've gathered from multiple new sources PLUS Avanti Derma's position on the matter. Personally, given no killings took place during that spree, I can't imagine traveling to Memphis, Baltimore, or Chicago be any safer. For context on how much time you'll spend on the roads of Tijuana --> it's only a 10-15min drive to the Clinic once you cross the border, then safety of shelter at your hotel (order room service if you must), then at 10-15min drive back to the border. That would be 30min max out in a city of 2million, largely on roads heavily patrolled by armed personnel. However, if the situation is above your risk threshold, I don't blame that either.

Good luck and stay safe, either way!

So I ended up going and didn't cancel after all. After hearing what was happening on Friday, I almost cancelled, but I kept researching updates online to see if anything else would happen. My hotel reservation was at the Marriott, which was a 15-20 minute walk to Avanti. (Grand Hotel didn't have any rooms during the dates I needed) My reservation was Sunday-Tuesday (check out was 1pm) and my appointment with Avanti was on Sunday 10am.

I called Marriott and asked to speak with a manager who assured me there were no disruptions reported since Friday. He explained that a ton of soldiers/military were flown in that Saturday. We kept watching the news all day Saturday to see if anything new unfolded, which hadn't. Based on this, my partner and I decided to make the drive.

We parked in a big lot on the San Diego side near the Mexico bridge, once we crossed over to TJ we took an Uber straight to our hotel. We noticed lots people and cars on the streets. We were told the streets were empty, which was not the case at all. We also read that the border back to the states was closed also not the case. We checked into our hotel, put our things in our room and walked to a nearby shopping mall. The Caliente was right across the street from our hotel and we spent a few hours playing and drinking. Afterwards, we walked to a restaurant had dinner then walked back to the hotel.

Sunday morning we walked to get breakfast then over to Avanti for my 10 am appointment; I was out of Avanti by 11:45am. There are two towers that look alike. One tower is the Grand Hotel and the other for several medical offices. Avanti is on the side where all the medical offices are. I took the elevator up to the 11th floor. Avanti offices are clean, the employees professional, and all very welcoming. They will walk you to a waiting lobby where you will fill out some paperwork. Ian then took me to the room where the procedure would take place, asked me to change into a gown and then took a couple of face and penis pictures for my file. I laid on the bed, Dr Morales came in and began with anesthesia. I've done this type of procedure before so I was ready for the pinches, which yes they are uncomfortable, but not painful. After she was done with the anesthesia she began injecting Ellanse L. I got 12 cc's, PRP and LED treatment. The LED treatment I didn't get until my next day visit. Ian wrapped me up and asked me to return later that afternoon to see how things were looking. He handed me an aftercare treatment bag with my prescriptions. By the way, take medical gloves with you so that you don't have to buy them there. I needed some to massage the implant myself later so that I didn't use my bare hands. There is a store across the street called Roma where I bought gloves, regular baby wipes and Cialis. Roma is also a pharmacy.

I walked back to the hotel and started using the stretching device over the wrap. Ian asked me not to massage until he would see me again. I met with Ian again around 4pm and he showed me the massaging techniques. At first they seem complicated, but you will get the hang of it. He allowed my partner to record too, which is so helpful. You will see blood and white pusslike liquid coming out of the entry points, but don't be alarmed. That's just some of the Ellanse coming out which he says is normal. You need to wipe and massage until the oozing eventually stops. Ian is very thorough and they will email you instructions as well. After Ian was done with me, my partner and I then walked to dinner and back to to the hotel for more stretching. The next day I walked back to Avanti again for the LED Treatment and my last follow-up visit. All was in place and looked good.

We checked out of the hotel and took an Uber back to the border. We waited in line to cross over to SD about 1.5 hours. Overall, our experience was great. I recommend staying nearby, don't roam around at night and always have someone with you. I personally don't think you need to cancel your arrangements after my experience, but everyone is different. I say "walked" a lot as I type my experience, but that is to show we felt safe.

I hope this information helps those that were wondering what it's like after Friday's events, Honestly, it felt back to normal.
Feel free to message me if you have any questions.

Ahhh what went wrong with round one….I guess I would say almost everything that could go wrong lol. I had round one done about 4 months ago before I found this forum. Unfortunately I went with a company that I have since learned has such a bad reputation that it’s discouraged from even being discussed on this forum. I can say firsthand that is for good reason. I could probably write a book about all of the things that the provider and myself did wrong but I don’t think anyone really wants to read pages of that.
I had planned on having 2 procedures over the course of 3 days. The first one was cancelled about 20 minutes before it was supposed to begin(long story so I’ll move on). The second procedure (I had already paid for both in full at the provider’s request….that was even after the first procedure was cancelled…but I went with it) was PMMA. I had paid for the 60cc package. The brand was Linea Safe, it was 30%. I did think it was strange one of the helpers said there was only one box on site and he showed it to me. It was 10 syringes that were 3CCs each. So that’s only 30CCs, I mentioned that and the helper said I was wrong and I wasn’t calculating the amount right….I let that go…probably for the best in the end. I’m not sure at all honestly how much PMMA I was injected with. Someone had said they brought in a second box but I definitely didn’t see that. After the procedure things went pretty normally actually, everything looked good initially. One of the providers came by the hotel a few hours after the procedure to go over wrapping and answer questions. A lot of what he told me conflicted with what the other staff members had told me, I asked him about that and he said to go by what he said so I did. He said not to stretch my penis at all, to just leave it wrapped and re-wrap it once or twice a day. He gave me some really brief instructions on massaging but I had issues with that straight from the start. To do the procedure the Dr used three entry points at like 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock and 9 o’clock. All were made just above the glans which I think was a big problem. I’m not sure how the different doctors that do PMMA each do their injections but I seem to see a lot that use entry points up at the very base of the penis, I think that is absolutely the way to go. The problem with going just above the glans is that it is the thinnest most sensitive skin on the penis because it’s exposed after Circumcision. The Dr put in 2 or 3 dissolving stitches at each of the three injection points. The stitches and their placement made it very very difficult to massage because they would immediately break open and start bleeding when starting to massage ( I think this is because of placement AND because of using too much filler that is only being held in by the stitches themselves). I think making the entry points in the thicker less sensitive skin up at the base of the shaft would have made things much much better. So I massaged twice a day for about the first 21 days. The PMMA settled pretty darn badly despite my best efforts, it bunched up A LOT mid shaft and had big indentions at the base and by the Circumcision scar on one side. Definitely lopsided and very uneven. I think a lot of this was because I was instructed to not stretch my penis at all, so when Flaccid and retracted it caused the filler to bunch up and be lopsided despite the massaging. I was told to wait 4 weeks before having sex and I did. The entry points were still opening up until about 21 or so days at that point they finally healed over and closed so at the 30 day mark I let my girlfriend give me a blow job, that was the first thing sexual at all since the procedure. Despite being pretty rough looking and misshapen it was definitely much thicker. At 30 days post PMMA I was at about 6” MSEG. Pre PMMA I was 5.25” MSEG, so this was a great gain in my opinion. However, the extra Girth came at the cost of losing a full Inch in Erect length. I think this was from the bunching of the PMMA and from being told not to stretch or anything afterwards and a little residual swelling maybe. The next day after the blow job there was some swelling which I partly expected just from it being used again for the first time. The day after that there was a lot of swelling, I was at around 6.25 Mid shaft Girth but that was Flaccid not Erect! That night I started getting a really bad fever, body aches etc. I definitely had an infection from the BJ. I had a full course of strong antibiotics on hand and communicated that to one of the Dr.’s assistants that had been in communication with me since the day of the procedure so I started taking those. That is the one compliment I think is deserved is that despite everything that ended up going wrong the assistant was super cool, answered all of my questions and always stayed in contact. I believe (and the doctor agreed) that some little bacteria got in through one of the entry points that looked completely closed but maybe was not 100% fully healed and that caused the infection. The infection caused a crazy amount of swelling with fluid of course, so that opened up two of the three entry points (we are at about 32-33 days post PMMA procedure) over the course of the next three to five days the entry points pretty much constantly oozed god awful smelling liquid that was part fluid and part PMMA. After about 5 days on the antibiotics the oozing finally stopped. There was so much discharge from the two entry points oozing that I had to change underwear two or three times a day because of the smell and the wetness, it was definitely disgusting.

The antibiotics killed the infection and luckily it never returned but I believe I lost the vast majority of whatever amount of PMMA I received. However some must have stayed in because I did stay at my current measurement of about 5.75 MSEG up from my previous 5.25” MSEG. Everything is still pretty misshapen but I’ve learned to live with it and it’s not as uneven when Erect so I’m the only one who really sees it that way. After reading a lot on this forum I started using a stretcher and Hanging weights for twenty or thirty minutes whenever my gf is not around which is incredibly rare. I didn’t tell her about the procedure, long story there.
But now 5 months or so post procedure I’ve gained back 3/4 of the Inch in length I had lost and I feel like I’ll gain back the last 1/4” pretty soon. Overall the extra Girth is really nice, yeah it’s misshapen and just a little shorter now but I’m not completely unhappy I got the procedure done. I’m looking forward to doing a second round (with a different provider of course) to gain some extra Girth but mostly to even things out a lot. Like I mentioned in an earlier post because of the provider I used, Avanti would not take me as a patient which I totally understand! As a regular practice they won’t accept patients that have been worked on previously by the provider I went to, especially any that had issues of any kind, which is very understandable. I understand they just don’t want the end product of their work built on a very bad foundation of another provider’s work. Luckily I found another provider in Tijuana. I didn’t end up making my appointment which was supposed to be yesterday because of some other unrelated health issues but I am scheduled for early September so I’m looking forward to that and hoping for a better outcome.

Just made it to the Grand Hotel here in Tijuana. My appointment was originally today but had to be rescheduled for tomorrow due to my flight being cancelled this morning because of flooding in Dallas. Anyway I had zero issues crossing the border and it doesn’t look like anyone is scared of anything down here. I don’t know what the normal looks like in Tijuana but I’m not getting any type of bad vibes. Of course that doesn’t mean bad things can’t happen but my gut instinct tells me that it’s business as usual down here. Hope this helps anyone on the fence about the recent issues in Tijuana.

@Meth82 Sorry to hear about your ordeal and I know exactly which company you saw. You are right about their reputation, they are the only black-listed topic on this forum, and that's saying a lot considering the fact that the very unpopular Dr. Elist & Dr. Loria are still permitted topics of discussion.

I just wanted to also clarify for the sake of clearing any misinformation (which I know was not your intention) but you did not have PMMA injected into you. Firstly, 60cc's is not the volume used with PMMA, it's more common with silicone oil. Second, this company is notorious for using silicone oil. Third, they showed you only one Linnea Safe box, which is criminally absurd, they all should have boxes & serial numbers.

Why they openly lie to their patients is beyond me and if they were doing this in the U.S., they would already be locked up behind bars.

It's companies like these that give the industry of penis enlargement a bad name, give Tijuana & Medical Tourism a bad name, and PMMA a bad name. For those who are researching options abroad, Avanti Derma is the only trusted Clinic to receive girth enhancement injections in Tijuana, MX - don't bother risking your penis's health to any other medical outfit.

And that goes for you too Meth82, I'd consider seeking a 2nd opinion in the U.S. I don't even know who this third clinic in Mexico is and its simply not worth it. You've been convinced PMMA is inside you and it is not. By providing this information to a new provider, it may only exacerbate your results because the information is invalid. Please heed my warning and best of luck.