The Map of Places We Do Not Go

The Map

There are places on the face where we do not go. The glabella. The nasal dorsum. The deep temple. The nasolabial fold near the alar base.

You can read about them in textbooks. You can watch them on video. You should still, always, assume the vessel is closer than the diagram says.

**Aspirate.** Even with small-needle protocols, hesitate.

**Slow, low pressure.** Pace is a safety instrument.

**Dissolve kit, in the room.** Before the first patient of the day.

**The five-minute pause.** If it looks different, stop.

Humility is a clinical tool. Use it.