I am recently back from a weekend cadaver course in Ashland, OR cleverly named Jubilant Head and Breakfast. This anatomy-focused and educational weekend is put on by renowned nurse practitioner Julie Bass Kaplan. With two of us to a head, we spent most of the weekend in the lab, injecting and then dissecting our work. There was a live injection day as well, where we got to see Julie at work. We studied anatomy with an emphasis on safety, and had an opportunity to use an ultrasound. Some of you may recall when I wrote on another cadaver course about one year ago; I am following through on a personal commitment to attend one each year because knowledge of facial anatomy is power when it comes to aesthetics. 

This was a unique learning experience because it was a small group of ten other injectors and we slept in the same quarters and spent the long weekend learning together. Half of us stayed downtown in a Victorian house and the other half stayed in her home. Julie and her husband fed us home cooked meals, and nourished us with information. It was fun to meet other injectors and nerd out on our common passion.

Working with a cadaver in this way allows for a deeper understanding into where the injectable products end up when we inject. With botox, you want to be sure you administer directly into the muscle. Working with the cadaver, we could see when we achieved that and when or if we fell short of that goal. With fillers, whether we place these products on the bone or in the skin, it’s quite informative to get a visual as to where it’s going with your injection style.

There was a big focus on the vasculature anatomy because this knowledge is foundational to keeping you safe when it comes to filler treatments. While serious adverse events are extremely rare when it comes to filler treatments, they do happen; studying vascular anatomy is certainly prudent as an aesthetic injector. Working closely with a real body to see the complexity of the vascular system is such an important reminder of how variable and intricate our anatomy is. 

Receiving knowledge is the first step, and then it’s important to implement it, to practice it. So far, I’ve been loving a new lip technique I learned this weekend. This technique applies a small amount of filler to an area of the lip that naturally fills at the perimeter. The results look natural and beautiful, and I’ve felt proud to do some of my best lip work yet with this application.

The more I learn, the more nuance and contradiction I notice. This is why I always fall back on anatomy. Knowing anatomy is the most important part of injecting, and there is always more to learn. I continue to feel humbled as I learn, and it’s a core value of my work to take the time necessary to integrate new information and technology into my practice so that I can maintain the safest and highest quality results possible.

Schedule a complimentary consultation any time to see what treatments are best for your goals.  Thanks for reading.

With love and gratitude,
Heather