Laser Skin Resurfacing
What does the procedure entail?
Laser skin resurfacing is a non-invasive treatment that helps patients improve their skin tone, texture, clarity, and quality. The procedure is convenient and effective, along with safe for all skin types. During your consultation, our experts will determine the best laser to use, along with the amount of treatments that will be best for your skin and individual needs.
What will my recovery be like?
Depending on the exact treatment, your recovery will be extremely simple. You will have to apply a thick layer of aquaphor every day to the treated area for seven days, but this is a painless process. The treated area will be red for a short while, but you should be able to return to normal activities quickly. Avoid any sun exposure for two weeks, and no makeup can be worn for ten days after.
Non-Surgical Procedures
Which non-surgical face lift is the best?
Nonsurgical facelift is truly a misnomer as utilizing Botox and fillers does not accomplish a true facelift. Facial aging nearly always includes a combination of volume depletion and laxity of soft tissues. Combining lifting and repositioning along with appropriate volumization achieves natural and optimal results. The nonsurgical facelift is described as utilizing fillers to achieve a facelift. This simply is not the case. Fillers can result in subtle lifting of soft tissues however, utilization of fillers alone to try and lift soft tissues in a more significant way very often results in the overfilled and unnatural appearance. Our providers use hyaluronic acid fillers to treat the aging face. There are a multitude of HA products, all with different properties, that are utilized at different levels of the skin and underlying soft tissues to diminish visible signs of facial aging. Significant improvement can be achieved with fillers alone however with significant soft tissue laxity, face lifting is also necessary to achieve optimal results.
What is the best fat removal procedure?
There are several non surgical options for fat removal with todays leading edge technologies. The first is Coolsculpting which utilizes a handpiece that is applied to the area to be contoured and freezes the underlying fat cells. Once the fat cells are frozen, they die and are absorbed. This noticeably reduces the contour of the treated area. Typically, the area is reduced by 25% with a single treatment. It is possible to have multiple treatments in an area. Another option is Kybella, which is an injectable treatment to reduce fat. The area to be treated is injected with small amount of Kybella. This does require multiple injections at the treatment site. Recovery generally takes one week and is primarily related to swelling. Kybella often requires multiple treatments. Choosing the ideal procedure is based on the area to be treated and the specifics of the patients physical exam. It is essential to have a consultation with a highly experienced provider so that the correct recommendation can be made.
How do I get rid of fine lines and wrinkles?
Skin lines and wrinkles are caused by loss of skin structure, meaning reduction of collagen and elastin, and by contracture on the surface of the skin caused by muscle movement. Factors that affect development of wrinkles are intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors are related to genetics which determine the amount of collagen and structure in the skin. Fair skin types age more quickly than darker skin types. Extrinsic factors include sun exposure and sun damage, nutrition, smoking and others. The primary treatment is botox which relaxes the muscle and minimizes skin contracture and wrinkling. This typically lasts 3 to 4 months. Hyaluronic acid fillers are another treatment option for wrinkles and skin creases. The filler is injected into the wrinkle or fold and typically lasts for 10 to 12 months. Other therapies are directed to improving skin structure. These therapeutic options are topical therapies, light and laser treatments. The leading edge laser treatment is the Halo laser .This is a fractional laser that includes two wavelngths. The first is the erbium laser, 2940nm wavelength, that treats the surface epidermis. The second is the non ablative wavelength of 1470nm that treats the deeper dermis. The result is improved collagen, tightening of pores, diminished fine lines and wrinkles. This is done with topical anesthesia and requires two to four days for recovery.
What is the best procedure for sun damaged skin?
Sun exposure damages skin by injuring collagen and elastin fibers, creating inflammation and redness, and irregular pigmentation. BBL or Broad Band Light treatment is a non invasive treatment to reduce redness and irregular pigmentation. It involves a brief flash of light on the surface of the skin. The treatment is quick, relatively painless and requires no downtime. BBL essentially improves the look of the skin by creating a more even tone to the skin. Increasing the amount of collagen in the skin is accomplished with laser treatments. A leading edge minimally invasive laser treatment is Halo. This is a unique laser that incorporates two laser wavelengths. The first is the erbium laser, 2940nm wavelength, that treats the surface epidermis. The second is the non ablative wavelength of 1470nm that treats the deeper dermis. The result is improved collagen, tightening of pores, diminished fine lines and wrinkles. This is done with topical anesthesia and requires two to four days for recovery.
How long do lip fillers last?
Fillers come in many different types. The most common is hyaluronic acid which is based on a natural sugar molecule found in skin and joints. The sugar molecule is joined together in long chains that give it a gel like consistency. This is ideal as a filler as it is natural, feels natural, and is reversible if needed. There are several different HA fillers that each have different characteristics that provide unique properties that are advantageous for different uses. These properties create varying lengths of duration of the product. One property is G prime which represents cohesiveness of the filler. This in short is the property of resisting deformation. Think of this as the filler resists the ability to compress and change the shape. This is very important is some fillers as we do not want the filler to change shape if pressure is applied, such as lying down at night with your face on a pillow. If we place filler in the cheeks to restore facial volume, we want the shape to be stable despite pressure on the tissues. Another property is viscosity. Fillers placed more superficial require less viscous properties to avoid contour irregularity whereas fillers place deep in the subcutaneous tissue should be more viscous to more closely resemble fat.
Getting back to how long fillers last. Products used to treat more superficial lines will have properties that make it last 6 to 10 months. Products that are injected into the deeper layers of the skin can last 10 to 12 months while products injected into the deep subcutaneous tissues to add volume can last 18 to 24 months.
Can chemical peels reverse sun damage?
Chemical Peels can improve sun damage when done at a medium depth level. Usually they are done in a series to minimize downtime. For the greatest resolve for sun damage would be a laser treatment. The level of treatment would depend on the severity of the sun damage.
What is the right age for a facial?
Facials can start as early as the teen years to keep acne under control and throughout the rest of the years for anti-aging and skin health benefits. We offer a wide range of facials to accommodate specific patient needs.
How do I reduce my under-eye wrinkles?
Lower eyelid wrinkles occur in the lower eyelid skin and are due to loss of skin elasticity and collagen. There are several ways to address this issue however it is essential to make the correct diagnosis so that the proper treatment can be instituted. If the problem is limited to skin laxity, then lower eyelid resurfacing can be done with a laser. The laser is used to precisely remove the outer layer of skin and then new skin along with a significant increase in collagen occurs as the skin heals. This results in new, healthy revitalized skin. If there is significant skin laxity along with bulging of the lower eyelid fat pads, then a lower eyelid blepharoplasty may be the treatment of choice. This involves an incision just below the eyelash margin and the excess fat is removed or used to fill the hollow in the tear trough area and then the lax skin muscle complex is tightened and the excess is removed. Healing for each procedure initially requires one week.