TOPIC: The Radiesse Option - Prices and Thoughts

As some of you may know, I camouflaged some of my PMMA lumps with Radiesse after having a few others cut out. It is 1 year post-disaster with Linnea Safe. (My lumps are as hard as they were 1 year ago.)

Given the anniversary, I was a little motivated to see what was new in the world of fillers. Not much...really. But, I had a chance to have a chat with someone who does a lot of Radiesse. Here are some interesting things, I found out:

The price (direct from Merz - there is no middle man or risk of counterfeit) for most injectors is $220 / cc (min order = 6 cc). She didn\'t know about the discounts (will update when I know).

(It is $331 for a 1.5 cc syringe)

Radiesse is 30% CaHa. It is estimated to last about 1.5 years in the face. Some of the collagen around it will be somewhat permanent. The red stained tissue is collagen. It dissolves faster in areas that are more active, metabolically (muscle). It may have longer life in the penis.


Cannulas to inject Radiesse safely are $5-7 each. One session may require a few cannulas as they start to get backed up after so many CCs. They aren\'t made for large volume.

Prices for Radiesse as 30% (Out of the Box)
9 cc Radiesse at 30% =$2000 (Cost) + Physician surcharge (roughly) = $1500 = $3500
18 cc Radiesse at 30% = $4000 (Cost) + Physician surcharge (roughly) = $3000 = $7500

Prices for Radiesse Diluted with more Carrier (Manually with a sterile Y connector to a new syringe)
9 cc Radiesse at 15% =$1050* (Cost) + Physician surcharge (roughly) = $1500 = $2550
18 cc Radiesse at 15% = $2050* (Cost) + Physician surcharge (roughly) = $3000 = $5550

(*) $50 cost for sterile tubing and connector with syringes + Carrier

I wonder if this would catch on in the USA & at what price point. It seems safer than PMMA in the following respects:

1. No risk of product mysteries (groups of \"huge results\" followed by nothing) - was there a manufacturing defect? Hard to know with Brazil.

2. Closer USA locations encourage multiple small rounds rather than few large rounds (reducing lump risk)

3. In the event of lumps, the product will largely dissolve in 1.5 years and is more responsive to Kenalog and 5fu since the CaHa will be gone (PMMA never goes away).

The obvious cost issue is that it is not permanent, but there are men who may not mind this in favor of some other benefits.

There is no \"out of the box\" 10%. We discussed dilution - which is routinely done with lidcaine (pure liquid), and could likely be done with saline, though it could make it too watery to do this as 50/50 (lidocaine is just a small %). She\'ll follow up with more info the price of a carrier (if it exists) as we\'ve seem to have agreed here on this board that the best concentration is around 15% (which would also cut prices in half as shown above).

So, this is an interesting option, I think. Unfortunately, American docs seem hell bent on ripping people off with Radiesse. Even my \"friend\" gave it to me for $600-700.