Skin Care Treatment

You can peel away damaged outer layers of skin surface in an easy, inexpensive and quick medi-spa visit.

As much as we like to believe otherwise, our daily lives show up on our body in one obvious place -–our faces. For men, the slightly weathered look can be an attractive option as can well groomed gray hair. For women, facial blemishes, wrinkles and uneven pigmentation can give rise to unhappiness with your appearance. Peels offer one option to counter the impact.

A facial peel is designed to restore the youthful look of your skin. It is not a form of facelift nor a surgery per se. Instead, it is a technique where the outer layer of your skin is literally peeled off to reveal new skin below. The technique can produce dynamite results when the goal is to resolve wrinkles and blemishes. It can also be used to addressed skin weathered from excessive exposure to the sun or which has developed uneven pigmentation. Importantly, a peel is not designed nor will it accomplish any kind of a lift for parts of the face that have developed a droop including eyelids. Such restorations require facelift surgery.

Unlike a surgical procedure, a peel is not for everyone. This is because the peel is only best for certain skin types and pigments. You should consult with a medical professional to find out if you are a candidate for the procedure. In general, however, individuals with fair skin and light damage gain the best benefits.

In general, a peel takes roughly one to two hours for the entire face. Some candidates require less extensive peels and less time is required as a result. You are not sedated unless there is reason specific to your situation.

Following the procedure, you are going to have some unique sensations. New skin is being exposed to air for the first time, so throbbing, tingling and so on can be common. Your medical professional can fill you on the impact based upon your specific skin condition and procedure.

Peels are a very common procedure. They can make a marked difference in appearance without the necessity of invasive surgery.

In coming posts I will provide an alternative – and I swear you’ll love the option! – to Botox. Please don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a thing against Botox, but advancements in technology have made it less appealing as an anti-aging option.

Botox was once the darling”of the celebrity crowd has moved front and center into the business world where daring men and women go to great lengths to disguise frown lines, age lines and anything resembling Mother Nature’s wicked march across their faces.

Why?

They know their jobs require them to look fresh and healthy; old, deeply lined, tired, faces are becoming passé because ideas coming from someone wearing an out of shape, soft, sagging face can equate to old, stale ideas in the business arena. Botox, once used primarily by women is now used by more and more men as they, too, realize the importance of maintaining a more youthful appearance. Their jobs may just depend on it.

Some say Botox is a wonder drug that smoothes wrinkles and indeed it does; however there are a few drawbacks that are a concern. According to a London based newspaper (The Independant), people who have used or considered Botox are worried about possible side-effects. These may include developing fresh wrinkles as they change expressions to compensate for the paralysis in parts of their faces.”

Develop fresh wrinkles?

Dr. David Becker, professor of dermatology at Cornell Medical College, issued a caution linking Botox injections to development of new wrinkles when users recreate facial expressions. The paralyzed muscles cannot respond so nearby muscles are automatically summoned. The result? New wrinkles.

Botox has been used since the early 1990s to treat lines and wrinkles associated with the motion of underlying facial muscles. Expressions such as excessive brow movements can cause horizontal lines, eye squints produce crows feet and subtle sagging of the facial muscles can make skin drape unnaturally.

Botox cannot stop the sagging muscles. In fact Dr. Michelle Copeland, a plastic surgeon in NY said, because Botox wears off more frequent injections are required to maintain its effects or the patient’s face will return to its wrinkly state. Now this statement cased a lot of controversy and I’m not a believer – in fact what I have seen and heard is just the opposite – that fewer injections in smaller quantities are required over time. You’ll have to ask your doctor about the specifics of your skin’s elasticity, your age, and the point of injection for Botox treatments.

Is this true or just one doctor’s manner to stir up controversy?

1. Botox can result in the development of fine lines and wrinkles in other areas of the face.

2. Botox requires more painful injections to maintain results.
3. Botox is costly; treatments range from $200-$600.
4. Botox can result in undesirable side effects including allergic reactions, difficulty breathing, unusual muscle weakness, chest pain, headaches and dizziness.

What if you could avoid needles and scalpels and look younger? What if you could be in charge of the aging process and look healthier? What if you could manipulate and retrain your facial muscles to look and act younger without resorting to expensive, barbaric measures that are risky and dangerous?

Well, you can!

This is what I want to discuss with you next, so stay tuned to this website. As you’re about to see, less expensive and intrusive with longer lasting results is what has hit the rejuevenation clinics lately and I’ve seen results first hand.

A popular filler used in medi-spas are collagen based. Collagen is a substance created naturally by your own skin, but diminishes in production as you age.

Collagen is injected, beneath each wrinkle, to fill the lines in your face and plump up the area to give you a more youthful look. On a “how bad does it hurt” scale, it is no worse than an injection of any other dermal filler although some areas of your face will be more sensitive than others.

The nice part about dermal fillers of any sort is once the swelling of the injection point has subsided you have immediate results that could last up to 18 months.

It is important to ask your doctor which type of collagen will be used. Although not all are popular in Canada, make a point of knowing which you are being injected with.

• Bovine collagen is extracted from cow skin. The collagen is then purified, sterilized, and processed into a usable liquid substance.

• Autologen collagen is extracted from your own skin during a previous operation (such as a tummy tuck), then processed into a useable liquid substance.
• Isolagen collagen is similar to Autologen as it is made by cloning collagen that has been collected from your own skin.
• Finally, Dermalogen is extracted from human cadaver skin. It is then sterilized, purified, and processed into a usable liquid substance.

No doubt you want to know more about these four collagens, so here’s the skinny, the way I best understand it.

Description of Various Collagen Treatments

Bovine collagen injections will last only 6-12 weeks. Short effect times (given synthetic fillers and new technology), and possible side effects such as allergic reactions or connective tissue disorders, make this a less than desirable option.

Autologen on the other hand is harvested from your own skin, processed in a lab and stored up to five years. Standard practice is to give you 2-4 injections every 1-3 months. Although some doctors have been quoted as saying that Autologen is permanent I haven’t found any research studies to prove it yet.

Isolagen may be a good alternative for you if you’re not planning on having a tummy tuck or other cosmetic surgery. Your natural collagen is harvested from a tiny piece of skin from behind your ear. The lab then processes and clones the collagen which is returned to your doctor for injection within a few weeks.

Finally, I suppose I should be objective about Dermalogen, but I find it difficult. Even though the collagen is harveted is sterlized and processed I personally have a hard time considering this as an option for a cosmetic practice. I suppose I would feel different if it was a life saving operation. And, ultimately, it is your skin care, your decision.

As for prices for these various injections, they generally fall into this order: bovine, demalogen, autologen and isolagen.

Used most often on acne prone skin, as a treatment for wrinkles, scars and large pores, the Obagi Blue Peel is also in wide use for sun damaged skin and to remove unwanted pigmentation.

If you haven’t heard of the Obagi line of skin care products please allow me to introduce you to them. This is the premier line of creams, home treatments, spa and medi-spa treatments, preferred by professionals. Although the products are high end and expensive, they work better than most (and that is only personal opinion).

The Blue Peel is a chemical peel that includes both the ‘Nu Derm’ and Blender products from Obagi. The treatment was developed by Read the rest of this entry »